My DIY sandbar spike anchor

[drewkaree]

Well, here goes nothing! Hopefully some of you guys who have already done this will chip in with your methods/improvements as well.

Sorry that you have to keep re-reading this, I blame my crap phone service at the lake house - I'll post "final version" in the 4th post when all is done. I'm gonna reserve a few posts so I can lay this out over a bit of space instead of one big long post that I may lose after hitting "send". I'll add to it as possible, and edit and tidy up as I go along.

If you have a sand/muck bottom, burying these at least 2' deep should be sufficient. After creation and usage, I am making mine modular. I will have two sections for mine, creating either a 5' spike (3' effective height) or a 7.5' spike (5.5' effective height). Anything deeper than my height, and I'm breaking out my Mantus anchors.

 

[drewkaree]

After seeing the multiple issues with anchor ropes and anchors at some of the tie-ups we've been to, and seeing the nice $$and $$pikes people were using, I wanted something similar/better.

There's a guy at every tie-up selling his DIY version for $45-$55/each, and I shamelessly stole his idea after getting a good look at it, and made some definite improvements. I also combined my copy with this idea that I stumbled across on YouTube (a breakdown version that's perfect for jet ski's, tested and verified - here's Tennessee Yankee's YouTube video that I used and adapted for my needs):

Here's a pic of all my parts. The fully assembled spikes are my original spikes, 5' versions. After using these last weekend, I realized I needed something longer for neck-deep water, but I couldn't easily carry a one-piece spike. I decided to combine Tennessee Yankee's jet ski breakdown/modular version with my full-size version, so that all pieces would stow easily in the ski locker. I cut the top foot off of my 5' spikes, shown later. The rest of the pieces are for the modular version of these spikes, cut and ready for assembly.

 

[drewkaree]

Read through this thread to make up a shopping list before you head to the hardware store. Prior to doing this, though, you will want to have your dock auger in hand so you can get the proper hardware for it. I recommend the Torq-D dock auger, MAKE SURE it is the one sized for PVC. Other dock augers may or may not work, and may not be properly sized, resulting in a bit sloppier fit. YMMV, and if you find a better product, by all means, chime in. We're here to help each other DIY a better product.

I will be laying out the items needed for a quick and dirty 5' spike. For additional fancy/modular spikes, I will go into that in a future post. If you have primer/cement, and a way to cut your PVC, you can make two of these for $56.70, based on the parts/prices listed here. There's an even "dirtier" version that eliminates the T-fitting and uses a smaller pipe for the handle that would save you $5± if all you're looking for is the least expensive way to get results, but for now, I'll let you figure out how to accomplish that feat.

Head to the hardware store with your dock auger in hand, and for each spike you are making, you will want to get 1 stainless hex bolt, 2 stainless flat washers, and 1 nylock nut for the bolt you choose. You will also need to pick up a 5' section of inch and a half (1 1/2") PVC pipe. The cheapest and common length for PVC pipe is 10', which is why I simply made 2 spikes, for the front and back of the boat. The hardware store SHOULD cut the 10' piece in half for you, and some may sell 5' sections for a ridiculous markup. If you want to make a modular spike, or a "fancy" version, buy (or bring) a PVC cutter - that's the red thing in the pic above. A regular old saw WILL work, but you must make sure your cuts are square and clean them up prior to assembly. The cutter is an additional cost, but IMO, well worth the money.

Now that you have a 5' section of PVC and your hardware, you will also need a T-fitting for the 1 1/2" pipe. For the quick and dirty version, you will also want to purchase a 2' section of inch and a quarter (1 1/4") PVC pipe. This will be your "handle" for a quick and dirty version. DO NOT think you will be able to muscle this thing into the lake bed without some sort of handle, besides, it's like two bucks. Spend the cash - I'm helping you EASILY save $30-40!

Lastly, you will need PVC primer and cement. I will mention here that if you want a "fancy" version, they sell a clear primer and cement, but the cheap purple primer and cement is perfectly fine for this purpose. If you're careful, the purple stuff can save you a few cents. Look at my two assembled spikes above. The T-fitting and the cross fitting were assembled with purple primer. I happened to have clear primer in my plumbing box, but when I was assembling the originals, I had to borrow primer/cement from my neighbor, and all he had was the purple stuff. Careful application can get you great results.

Here's a price breakdown on the materials needed for a quick and dirty spike:

$4.80 - 10' PVC pipe (I made 2)
$18.19 - Torq-D dock auger
$2.40 - PVC T-fitting
$2.50 - stainless hex bolt (price may be different, I guesstimated the length of the bolt I needed)
$0.50 - 2 stainless flat washers
$1.00 - 1 stainless nylock nut
$2.72 - 1 1/4" (inch and a quarter) PVC pipe, 2 feet long
$6.84 - PVC primer/cement combo @ Home Depot
$unknown - PVC cutter. I have no idea how much mine cost, I purchased mine YEARS ago. There's several, make sure it cuts 1 1/2" pipe. A miter saw works too.

If you end up satisfied with the 1 1/4" "handle" used here, you only need to buy one. You simply slip it out and use it for each spike. If you wanna "fancy" it up, that'll cost you, but IMO, there's less chance of damaging your creation with the "fancy handles" I'll show you later. Really, for the price, you will be able to afford the couple of bucks to make a new one if something breaks, but I suspect most folks will want the gussied up version I'll show later.

Now that you have all your parts, take your 5' piece of PVC and drill holes in the proper place for your dock auger. The holes molded in the Torq-D dock auger are in between sizes, so you will have a little leeway in your hole placement because you will have to go up a size for the hole you drill in the PVC pipe. After you've drilled your holes, slide the dock auger into the PVC pipe. Put a washer on your hex bolt and slide it through the PVC pipe. Put the other washer on the hex bolt sticking out of the other side of the PVC pipe, and finish the attachment of the dock auger by tightening the stainless nylock nut onto the hex bolt.



The last thing you need to do is primer and cement the T-fitting to the other end of your PVC pipe. When that is dry/cured, you are done. You have created a quick and dirty spike, suitable for sandbar use. The method I used for these was as follows - run the 1 1/4" pipe through the T-fitting and use it as a handle to give you leverage to screw your spike into the lake bed.





I would recommend sinking the auger at least 2' deep, but if some other depth works for you, then go with that. Two feet was what turned out to be ideal for my purposes. I then ran a dock line through my bow eye, and used the rest of the rope to thread through the T-fitting, then up to one of my bow cleats, across the bow to the other cleat, and finally tied it off to the T-fitting. The front of your boat is the first thing I would tie off when using these. I bought a 10' piece of PVC and made a second spike, and I used that to tie off to the back cleat. If you have any current/wave action, plan accordingly, and when using two spikes, I had zero movement of my boat. If you wanted to pin your boat in place, a third spike off the other back cleat would effectively lock your boat in that spot with zero movement, regardless of current/wave action.

I don't have pics of me making this quick and dirty version, but look at the pic above. It's the assembled one with the T-fitting. It works perfectly fine. I decided to post this thread up after I realized last week that I needed something for 5' of water or less, and the feedback from my neighbor of how well Tennessee Yankee's breakdown/modular spike worked for his jet ski. If you can't figure out how to assemble one of these after this thread is done, I will make and ship you a five foot quick and dirty spike for $150. That's the penalty price for being unable or unwilling to piece this together. What will follow is the fancy/breakdown/modular version. I am also willing to make and ship you one of those, but my price (again, for being unable or unwilling) starts at $500 and goes up from there. ? My neighbors have actually talked about "all of us" going into production on these and undercutting the tie-up "salesman", since we now know we have come up with at LEAST an equal, if not better, design than what he has.

 

[drewkaree]

Now, I wanted a spike that was at least 7' long, and I didn't feel like it would fit nicely into the ski locker, so I decided after hearing my neighbor's success with his breakdown spike for his jet ski (following Tennessee Yankee's video), I would improve on it a bit for my needs, and create two different size spikes, using the breakdown/modular idea. I wanted the 5' spike as well, so I figured I'd simply cut off the T-fitting and reuse the cutoff when I wanted/needed a 5' spike, and I'd simply create an additional section for when I wanted/needed a 7' spike. In the pic above, right next to my tape measure, you can see the section I cut off the 5' spike. I turned the 5' spike into a 4' pipe with a coupling to create the modular base that both of my handles would slip into.

To skip ahead a bit, I also wanted to "fancy up" the handles. Using the 1 1/4" pipe is fine, but you definitely want/need something to keep that pipe afloat when you drop it (and you will, multiple times - more on flotation solutions later), so I figured since it was going to go in the ski locker anyway, why not just create permanent handles for these things. To accomplish all of this, I bought a second 10' pipe. I cut it into two pieces, a 4' piece, and a 6' piece. I figured I wanted nicer cross members for all 4 handles I was creating. Doing the math, that's 8 pieces of 6" pipe for all the cross members I wanted, and I also picked up caps for each 6" piece. Then I cut the 6' piece in half, giving me the 3' piece to create the taller spike for deeper water.

We had a patio umbrella donated to our efforts, and we're going to be testing this out to see how that works - to that end, I added the cross piece you see in the pics above. That may or may not be a winning idea, but we've seen these in action, and they seem to be a pretty big hit. The tie-up "salesman" uses threaded inserts and what looks like epoxy, and a bolt holds the umbrella shaft in place. I think I've got a better/easier idea, but again, that may change based on real-world performance.

To keep everything together, I picked up a 5/16" x 2 3/4" round wire lock pin from Home Depot to keep everything together (more on this later, this is just to call out materials needed). Lastly, I happened to have clear primer from a past project, so I also bought some clear cement to tidy things up a bit (and so I didn't have to be so careful with the purple primer to not get long purple streaks all over!) For anything that needed to be doubled, you do the math - below is the additional items that were in addition to the quick and dirty 5' spike

To recap (and price list for additional parts):

$4.80 - another 10' piece of PVC
$0.95 - coupling
$4.81 - cross fitting (if you don't want an umbrella, skip this. A T-fitting works, and it's cheaper)
$3.61 - wire lock pin (one required per modular spike, perhaps two if the umbrella idea pans out, tune in for results!)
$1.14 - caps for all my cross members (this is the per piece price, you do the math on your needs)
$8.59 - 8oz clear primer
$4.73 - 8oz clear cement




Now that I had cut off the top fitting on my 5' spikes, I glued the coupling to the end of the PVC pipe that had the dock auger on it. This piece will ALWAYS be used, and the height needed will be changed by swapping out the top handle section. I then drilled a hole into the coupling for the pin that would connect everything together. You can do this with a hand drill. Use a slow-ish speed (your drill bit should take "shavings" or a nice corkscrew of material, do NOT high-speed this part), drill a hole through your coupling. At this time, I would recommend a 3/8" drill bit. The slight extra play will come in handy when you're trying to line up the holes. If it's too sloppy or results in breakage or poor performance, I will update this. When done, it should look like this:



After you've drilled your coupling, you will want to sand the ends of the PVC pipes that will be your handles. This will let them slide in AND allow them to be easily removed. Since this part will be changed out depending on conditions, there will be no primer/cement used on this part of the joint, the pin is enough to hold this together. I used 60 grit and simply cut it into strips equal to how deep I wanted the pipe to seat - about an inch - and just sanded around the pipe until it went in with very slight resistance until it bottomed out in the coupling. At that point, I then drilled the holes through the pipe as well. If you notice, there's a green ring around my couping and on the pipe as well. Since I have two different spikes, this is to differentiate the augers so they don't get mixed up. I would also put an alignment mark on your coupling and the handle section so you can easily align the holes when you're out on the water.

The last thing I did was to add the caps to the 6" pieces and assemble all the handle sections, making sure everything is cemented together, allowed to cure, and whatnot. Here's the cross members I added to the handles, and ONE of my finished sand spikes, showing both handle sections (p.s. wholeheartedly endorse and LOVE those Reduce metal 4-in-1 drink holders!):

 

[drewkaree]

This post will be updated when I finish the spikes with the cross fitting on top. Those are used to allow (hopefully) the use of a patio umbrella right off the back deck of our boat. Problem is, I set up my parts order via curbside pickup due to the coronavirus and my work schedule, and I had my wife pick it up while I was sleeping. The person who picked my order gave me the wrong size cross fitting, so I have to wait to finish after I get the proper size fitting. Why not use the other fitting/section? Well, a mistake was made by me, and I haven't fixed it yet, but it was due to an improvement I came up with.

One of my other neighbors had built something similar to this, and he borrowed one of his spikes to his stepson. The stepson somehow dropped/lost it in the water, and they couldn't find it. When I heard his story, I figured I'm going to want these to float somehow, because Murphy's Law/Karma My bright idea was to use spray foam in all of the PVC once I had everything all cut and ready for assembly. This, in itself, must have ended up being a hilarious event if you weren't myself or my wife. I used the Great Stuff foam for gaps/cracks up to 3", and started spraying it into all the pipes. I didn't think ahead, and I foamed the pipe that had the cross section on it, so it's currently full of cured/curing foam, and I have to clear the tube out. While all of this was being foamed, the funny part was when I was done talking to the neighbor, I turned around to see the foam starting to overflow EVERY PIPE I HAD PUT IT INTO! I started trying to deal with it, but I quickly figured out this was a losing battle and went in the house to tell the wife "GET THE HELL OUT HERE AND GIVE ME A HAND, AND I'M NOT MAD AT YOU, BUT I CAN'T STOP THIS STUFF FROM EXPANDING AND I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BE NICE ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!"

On the plus side, EVERYTHING floats! On the minus side, I still have to clean that dang pipe out! On a side note, I also spray foamed my table leg for the boat, and it worked awesome! I wouldn't buy the stuff just to do the table leg, but if you're making one of these, and you decide to go with the spray foam, learn from my mistake, and spray the foam into the small hole on the end GRADUALLY to build up the foam, let it expand, go work on your sand spike pieces, come back and spray some more into the table leg, back to the sand spike, etc etc. When you're finished with the small hole side of the table leg, THEN do the same to the other side with the wide open hole.

For now, the last item I have to share (and before I edit this post for the finale) is how I plan to deal with the umbrella. I'm going to get another one of the wire hitch/lock pins and drill a few holes into the pipe, and use the pin to regulate the depth of the umbrella. It's my feeling that the threaded inserts will either tear out or not be sufficient, or simply just not work all that well. I know the umbrella will flop around more with my idea, but it'll also break down a lot quicker/easier, and it'll be quicker/easier to adjust the height as well. This may or may not work out, but that's to be decided after I get thesecond spike completed. Maybe some of you will give me a better idea or inspiration before I get to finishing it, and I'll change my mind about what I'm gonna do.

Like I said, I'll let you know in THIS post when this is finalized/finished. Thanks for tuning in! *edit* Done! See post#13 for the last bit that needed to be done.

 

[Dean P]

Looks good so far...

EDIT1:
This is awesome and I love it. Having to throw anchors gets old. I was LMAO with the foam expanding. That stuff really expands.

This is great information. Do you know what the composite of the auger is? I mainly boat in salt water so this is a definite factor.

 

[tdonoughue]

Looks good so far. So is this for jet skis or are you using this for your boat? I would have thought that you would need more hold power for your boat...

 

[BeauSko]

Following!

 

[drewkaree]

Looks good so far. So is this for jet skis or are you using this for your boat? I would have thought that you would need more hold power for your boat...

I thought the same, but if I can bury it 2', I can verify that it won't move at all with one under the bow eye, and one off a back cleat. I built the 5' version, buried it at least a foot below the waterline, screwed it in 2' deep, and had ZERO problems with my boat moving.

Troy from Winnebagoland had a spike holding a 240X next to me a few weeks ago - his was the spendy non-DIY version - and identical performance. His spike was the push I needed to get off my ass and build one of these, and I already improved my original idea with what I'll post here.

My neighbor built the jet ski version, and he's sold as well. His SIL bought one from the local tie-up in "salesman", and we both agree that the non-metal auger is better (and cheaper at the moment). He's building more for his pontoon and potentially his fishing boat. Several compliments of his at a sandbar last weekend too!

 

[tdonoughue]

Suggestion, then, for your product: take a Sharpie and make a mark at 2' and then mark each foot thereafter. So a user can estimate water depth and be sure to get the spike sunk deep enough to hold...

Watching carefully...

 

[drewkaree]

I like the idea of a way to gauge the depth in the lake bed. For the shorter spike, it should be pretty easy if the top handle is a foot long. I think the longer handle would benefit most from doing something like that, since most of it will be under water. I know my wife will appreciate it, guesstimating depth was definitely difficult for her, and I had to sink her auger a bit deeper for her.

It's gonna be at least a week before I tackle the umbrella spike - we have a drive-up chicken BBQ and a 21st birthday to hit up today, and I'm taking a stab at cutting some SeaDek sheeting to see if I want to leave it to Will, or finish the rest myself. Step over pieces, and the front step between the two cup holders should be a small and easy test.

 

[drewkaree]

This is great information. Do you know what the composite of the auger is? I mainly boat in salt water so this is a definite factor.

The manufacturer says "High strength resin" and "Military grade composite". It looks like ABS plastic, but I have no idea about molding or what have you. Accu Mold is the company that molded them, not sure if they do direct sales (their website doesn't seem to offer them directly, gotta buy through some other storefront, i.e. ebay, Amazon, dock supplier, etc).

I took a look today at the neighbor's umbrella, and I've gotta pass on that thing. It's a patio table umbrella, crank and everything, and heavy as all get out, maybe 35-40 pounds, or more. The wife said Aldi sells something much lighter duty for about $30 and she'd take a look and send me a pic of the thing. I found a few on Amazon that seem to be the same thing. One of the other items Amazon suggested, that I think might be easier to find for everyone, is a golf umbrella. They make those things 5' across, and I think the handle will fit inside the pipe. I'll test that out when I get the right size cross piece.

 

[drewkaree]

Since there have been enough comments on this, I'll finish it up in this post, and edit the one above to direct to this one.

After swapping out the wrong cross piece, I finished it up today. Improvements may still come once I get out to test it. I didn't spray foam the upright piece, the handles were foamed, and that was enough to keep it afloat. I will probably add some spray foam to the end of the long piece just to keep the whole tube afloat - it points straight down and only the cross pokes above water.



I have also decided to skip the short cross handle. My thought is that we won't use the umbrella if it's 5' or deeper, and the longer section will work for both depths. If that changes, it's easy enough to build another one, or fix the existing one.

The Procella golf umbrella fits perfectly, but I'll be looking for a 60" for the boat. This one is 48", and it will do until the replacement is found






That’s all, it's "finished", pending testing and umbrella results! I'll post pics when I plant that flag in the water, and how it looks with the umbrella.

Any questions, throw 'em out

 

[BeauSko]

Man, really nice work and post. This is definitely a future project!

 

[Redneck_4Play]

Now, I wanted a spike that was at least 7' long, and I didn't feel like it would fit nicely into the ski locker, so I decided after hearing my neighbor's success with his breakdown spike for his jet ski (following Tennessee Yankee's video), I would improve on it a bit for my needs, and create two different size spikes, using the breakdown/modular idea. I wanted the 5' spike as well, so I figured I'd simply cut off the T-fitting and reuse the cutoff when I wanted/needed a 5' spike, and I'd simply create an additional section for when I wanted/needed a 7' spike. In the pic above, right next to my tape measure, you can see the section I cut off the 5' spike. I turned the 5' spike into a 4' pipe with a coupling to create the modular base that both of my handles would slip into.

To skip ahead a bit, I also wanted to "fancy up" the handles. Using the 1 1/4" pipe is fine, but you definitely want/need something to keep that pipe afloat when you drop it (and you will, multiple times - more on flotation solutions later), so I figured since it was going to go in the ski locker anyway, why not just create permanent handles for these things. To accomplish all of this, I bought a second 10' pipe. I cut it into two pieces, a 4' piece, and a 6' piece. I figured I wanted nicer cross members for all 4 handles I was creating. Doing the math, that's 8 pieces of 6" pipe for all the cross members I wanted, and I also picked up caps for each 6" piece. Then I cut the 6' piece in half, giving me the 3' piece to create the taller spike for deeper water.

We had a patio umbrella donated to our efforts, and we're going to be testing this out to see how that works - to that end, I added the cross piece you see in the pics above. That may or may not be a winning idea, but we've seen these in action, and they seem to be a pretty big hit. The tie-up "salesman" uses threaded inserts and what looks like epoxy, and a bolt holds the umbrella shaft in place. I think I've got a better/easier idea, but again, that may change based on real-world performance.

To keep everything together, I picked up a 5/16" x 2 3/4" round wire lock pin from Home Depot to keep everything together (more on this later, this is just to call out materials needed). Lastly, I happened to have clear primer from a past project, so I also bought some clear cement to tidy things up a bit (and so I didn't have to be so careful with the purple primer to not get long purple streaks all over!) For anything that needed to be doubled, you do the math - below is the additional items that were in addition to the quick and dirty 5' spike

To recap (and price list for additional parts):

$4.80 - another 10' piece of PVC
$0.95 - coupling
$4.81 - cross fitting (if you don't want an umbrella, skip this. A T-fitting works, and it's cheaper)
$3.61 - wire lock pin (one required per modular spike, perhaps two if the umbrella idea pans out, tune in for results!)
$1.14 - caps for all my cross members (this is the per piece price, you do the math on your needs)
$8.59 - 8oz clear primer
$4.73 - 8oz clear cement

View attachment 129026


Now that I had cut off the top fitting on my 5' spikes, I glued the coupling to the end of the PVC pipe that had the dock auger on it. This piece will ALWAYS be used, and the height needed will be changed by swapping out the top handle section. I then drilled a hole into the coupling for the pin that would connect everything together. You can do this with a hand drill. Use a slow-ish speed (your drill bit should take "shavings" or a nice corkscrew of material, do NOT high-speed this part), drill a hole through your coupling. At this time, I would recommend a 3/8" drill bit. The slight extra play will come in handy when you're trying to line up the holes. If it's too sloppy or results in breakage or poor performance, I will update this. When done, it should look like this:

View attachment 129027

After you've drilled your coupling, you will want to sand the ends of the PVC pipes that will be your handles. This will let them slide in AND allow them to be easily removed. Since this part will be changed out depending on conditions, there will be no primer/cement used on this part of the joint, the pin is enough to hold this together. I used 60 grit and simply cut it into strips equal to how deep I wanted the pipe to seat - about an inch - and just sanded around the pipe until it went in with very slight resistance until it bottomed out in the coupling. At that point, I then drilled the holes through the pipe as well. If you notice, there's a green ring around my couping and on the pipe as well. Since I have two different spikes, this is to differentiate the augers so they don't get mixed up. I would also put an alignment mark on your coupling and the handle section so you can easily align the holes when you're out on the water.

The last thing I did was to add the caps to the 6" pieces and assemble all the handle sections, making sure everything is cemented together, allowed to cure, and whatnot. Here's the cross members I added to the handles, and ONE of my finished sand spikes, showing both handle sections (p.s. wholeheartedly endorse and LOVE those Reduce metal 4-in-1 drink holders!):

View attachment 129030

View attachment 129031

View attachment 129033

View attachment 129034

Just got my Torq'D augers in this week and made two 5 footers. Wanted to get your feedback on your decision to cut down and joining handle with a pin. Do you have any concern with it breaking at the pin when twisting in to sand. I'm on the fence.....do I leave as one piece or make two piece as you have?

 

[anmut]

I was talking to a guy two weekends ago, he made similar sand spikes, but instead of the auger, he cut the bottom of the pvc tube to make it into a sharp point and, because the pipe is hollow, just pushed it into the sand. He put two on my boat, one at the back cleat, one on the bow, worked perfect the entire afternoon. The sandbar was on a channel too so lots of boats going by to test it. I'm going to try his version as 1) less money on augers, and 2) less length to store.

 

[drewkaree]

Just got my Torq'D augers in this week and made two 5 footers. Wanted to get your feedback on your decision to cut down and joining handle with a pin. Do you have any concern with it breaking at the pin when twisting in to sand. I'm on the fence.....do I leave as one piece or make two piece as you have?

I don't feel there's any need for concern. The pin goes through 4 different and separate pieces of Schedule 40 PVC, so unless the holes drilled for the pin are SUPER sloppy (like twice the size of your pin), it seems to me that it would be plenty strong enough, and even then, I'd think it would take quite a while for it to break. I'm basing this on the original method I was going to use for the handles. My plan was to use a smaller piece of 1" PVC to slide through the fittings as a handle to twist these into the lake bed. The fittings seem way less durable compared to the pipe itself, and it was a super sloppy fit, and the fitting showed no sign of being ripped in half. The pin is an even tighter fit. I would be more concerned about the pin breaking before the PVC were to break, and I don't see being able to break that pin.

BTW, the super sloppy fit was the reason I decided to go with the handles that I did, because the fit of the 1" was horrible, and 1 1/4" wouldn't fit through. They DO sell some "furniture grade" PVC fittings, which are a nicer finish, and they have a few other fittings that you wouldn't typically use with plumbing, and within the furniture grade stuff, they sell a Slip Fitting, which would allow you to do something like that, but they only sell those fittings in a 4-pack, and the 4-pack runs $11.07 at this time. If you wanted to make a few of these, that would be a way to make something that would be much skinnier to stow away, since you wouldn't have the horizontal handles. I'd recommend foaming the piece you use to slip into the fitting, because there's no doubt that eventually, you'll drop it when you're taking it out of the fitting.

If I were you, I'd test out what you already have. You can always turn your existing spikes into a 2-piece later if you feel the need, but you'll be buying more parts later if you want to go back to a 1-piece. I initially made two 1-piece spikes with the 10' piece of PVC simply cut in half, and decided afterwards that I needed the extra length of the 2-piece, so I was in your shoes when I first did this. Having to tie up in deeper water was the deciding factor for me. We will typically visit two sandbars in the area, one will have 3' waters, and the other will have 4-5' waters, and I'm prepared for both now.

 

[drewkaree]

I was talking to a guy two weekends ago, he made similar sand spikes, but instead of the auger, he cut the bottom of the pvc tube to make it into a sharp point and, because the pipe is hollow, just pushed it into the sand. He put two on my boat, one at the back cleat, one on the bow, worked perfect the entire afternoon. The sandbar was on a channel too so lots of boats going by to test it. I'm going to try his version as 1) less money on augers, and 2) less length to store.

I've seen something like those, the only issue I can envision with that is if you have a muck bottom. Show us what you end up with

 

[anmut]

I've seen something like those, the only issue I can envision with that is if you have a muck bottom. Show us what you end up with

I agree, they don't work in muck / rocks as well as a screw in.

 

[anmut]

I built mine last night - too much of a hurry to take pics though - will do this weekend. Made two 37" pipes out of 1 1/2 pvc, added a T connector to the top, cut two 2" pipe piece for the handle, added caps to the end (looks nice as pipe isn't visible but still seems to allow for ample purchase for digging). then I cut a long angle about 6" from the bottom, one side to the next to allow it to be "shovel-screwed" into the sand. Added two stainless steel eye bolts 3" below the T section on the "open" side of my point cut.

Best part about it though? I'm going to leave the handle part separate from the spike itself which allows me to store both of them in my clean-out hatch port! That'll be the first time I've found that "wet storage area" useful for anything!

Testing on Friday - will take pics and show results.