The anchor trip line: what it is, why it goes on the crown and how it frees a fouled anchor
On rocky bottoms the anchor can get stuck, and hauling on the chain only wedges it in harder. A thin line with a small buoy, rigged properly, is the difference between weighing anchor in two minutes and leaving it on the seabed.
Ricard Prehn, professional skipper and yacht captain Updated 9 October 2026 6 min
Published on
· By Ricard Prehn, professional recreational skipper (PPER), Spanish Yacht Captain (capitán de yate), Yacht Captain up to 200 GT and sailing instructor for over 27 years
A trip line is a thin line with a small buoy tied to the crown of the anchor, never to the shackle. If the anchor gets stuck, pulling the trip line brings it out backwards, the way it went in; pulling the chain only jams it harder.
Make it a little longer than the depth. It is essential over rock, loose stones or debris, and unnecessary on clean sand or mud.
What is an anchor trip line?
It is a thin line tied to the crown of the anchor, with a small buoy on the other end. It does two jobs: it marks where your anchor is and, above all, lets you pull the anchor out from the crown if it gets stuck on the bottom.
To understand it you need two parts of the anchor clear. The shackle (or ring) sits at the end of the shank, where the chain is made fast. The crown is the other end, where the shank meets the arms that end in the flukes. When the anchor is working, the chain pulls on the shackle and the fluke digs into the bottom.
Why does the trip line go on the crown and not the shackle?
Because the chain is already on the shackle. If the anchor is fouled, pulling from the shackle, with the chain or with the trip line, means pulling in the same direction it dug in: the fluke jams harder against the rock. From the crown, the pull comes from the opposite side and the anchor comes out backwards, the way it went in. A trip line on the shackle is useless.
It is the most common mistake, and we see it every summer: the trip line tied to the shackle “so it does not get in the way”. Then, when the anchor jams under a rock ledge, pulling the trip line is like pulling the chain from higher up: the anchor pivots on the fluke and digs in further. If it is not on the crown, the trip line is just a marker buoy.
Watch it right here
Animation: the fouled anchor, with and without a trip line
Press ▶ and follow the anchoring over a rocky bottom: the anchor jams under a ledge and the chain cannot free it. Then untick «Con orinque» (with trip line) to see what happens without one, and try the self-adjusting trip line.
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This animation belongs to the Aula Virtual, the online classroom of our PER/PNB course, with anchoring, swinging, berthing and the other manoeuvres explained the same way. It comes with the course, which is taught in Spanish: you start by paying €100 and the rest when you book the practical sessions.
How to free a fouled anchor with the trip line, step by step
Do not force the chain. If the anchor will not break out and the boat is held straight up and down, stop the windlass.
Pay out a little chain so it stops pulling on the shackle.
Pick up the buoy with the boathook, or from the tender if it is out of reach.
Haul in the trip line. The pull comes through the crown, opposite to the chain, and the anchor comes out crown first, freeing the fluke the way it went in.
Now heave in the chain. The anchor comes up hanging from the shackle. Bring the trip line and buoy aboard too before you engage the engine.
All of this starts with anchoring properly: with enough chain and on the right bottom. We explain it, with a chain simulator, in how to anchor and how much chain to let out.
How long should the trip line be?
A little more than the depth: if you anchor in 5 metres, about 6 or 7. That way the buoy floats right above the anchor. Much longer, and the spare line floats around and can foul your propeller or someone else’s.
When should you anchor with a trip line?
Whenever the bottom has rock, loose stones, debris or old mooring chains: anything that can trap the fluke. On clean sand or mud you do not need it. If in doubt, rig it: it takes a minute and can save you an anchor and its chain.
And remember: never anchor on posidonia seagrass. Besides holding poorly, it is protected and anchoring on it is banned in many areas. More in sustainable anchoring and posidonia.
What is a self-adjusting trip line?
A trip line with a small weight that takes up the slack by itself, so the buoy always sits above the anchor and there is no loose line floating about. It is the easiest option if you often anchor over rock at different depths.
What to watch out for
The propeller. A long trip line floats alongside the boat as it swings or when you weigh anchor. Before engaging the engine, check where it is.
A visible buoy. Besides helping you, it shows others where your anchor is so nobody drops theirs on top of your chain.
Nobody moors to your buoy. Another boat sometimes mistakes it for a mooring buoy. If you see one heading for it, warn them.
A line that holds. Thin, but strong enough to pull the anchor out: string will not do. And a knot that will not slip on the crown, such as a bowline or a well-secured clove hitch.
What if my anchor gets stuck and I have no trip line?
Do not force it with the windlass: that only jams the anchor harder and punishes the windlass motor. Try pulling the chain from other directions, motoring slowly around the anchor. If it will not come free, dive to release it only if it is safe, with the engine off and someone watching. Failing that, let the chain go with a buoy marking it and note the position to come back for it.
Freeing the anchor by circling it under low power is seamanship, not a rule: every bottom is different. If in doubt, the crew's safety comes before the anchor.
You learn to anchor by anchoring
In the PER practical sessions we anchor for real in the coves of the Garraf coast, with the chain, the swing and checking that you are not dragging. The Aula Virtual has these manoeuvres animated and real official exams (in Spanish).
