I spend a lot of time on pontoon boat Facebook groups and online forums, and saw a question posed last month which I thought was very interesting.
The guy was asking how to anchor a pontoon boat up on a sandbar and said that he had been looking at various fiberglass poles (anchor rods) but I wanted to hear from other pontooners on what works best for them.
Here’s what people recommended they use, including some advice from me as to whether I believe it’s a good method or not.
Fiberglass Anchor Rods & Poles
“I have two fiberglass anchor rod poles. Being in the gulf down by Boca Grande we sand bar a lot. They can also be very helpful in the wind.”
“I have a buddy that’s got a house on Little Gasparilla and sometimes we just travel down there to go to the sandbar. it’s about an hour for us to get there. I wanted to try those anchor rods but don’t know that they’re going to hold a pontoon boat definitely if it’s a little windy.”
“I made a shallow water anchor shaped like a T out of 4-inch PVC pipe cut at an angle on the sand end and 6 feet high. The part that goes in the sandbar is pointed. It really does works great and just cost me $20.”
“I bought a 3/4″ diameter, 8′ long fiberglass rod. Cut it off about 6″ to fit in my ski locker, pointed one end. Once I beach it, I push the rod in the sandbar on the downstream side of the transom up against the deck. Holds it from swinging with the current and from backing off the beach. It works well with my own pontoon boat.”
“If you want something out the front. get a T-shaped steel “Water Key” and cut the bottom end off. Then a bungee dock line and put bungee on front of boat, then stretch it out and shove the T into the sand. That will help hold but can get in the way at times, and will not stop the pontoon from swinging around.”
“I’m using pole anchors fore. They could be stiffer in the pole department. I ground a chisel tip on the ends to move rocks around for better penetration.”
My Thoughts
I’ve thought about those anchor rods but I am just not sure how they would work on a pontoon boat, especially considering some of the comments about using them on a sandbar as seen above.
I think if there’s wind, your pontoon boat will end up catching it, and you don’t really want that happening on the sandbar.
If you do want to try this method, and don’t have the time to build you own, then you can buy similar products on Amazon. For example, the Titan Shallow Stick has good reviews.
Slide Anchor Shore Spike
“A slide anchor shore spike works great for anchoring your pontoon to a sandbar. We just run the boat up on the sandbar a little and pop the spike in and it’s done.”
My Thoughts
I’ve actually used one of these before, and they do work really well. You can see a video of a shore spike in action below and go buy one for yourself on Amazon – the product has some really good online reviews too.
Whilst box anchors are great for securing your pontoon boat off shore, a shore spike gives you the holding power you need on shore.
It has a lot of power and you can drive it down through even the toughest of sandbars. But it’s also got enough holding power to keep you secure in soft sandy bottoms and stronger winds.
For me this is without doubt the best solution for holding your pontoon secure on a sandbar. It’s a cheap solution too.
Conclusion
Whilst the slide anchor shore spike shown in the above video will work wonders, you might want to add an extra layer of security and stability.
I’ve put together some additional guides on the best anchor to use on a beach area. Read that, choose an anchor, and then drop an anchor off the back of the boat as well to stop yourself from swinging around.
