Two problems are Intrinsic to the "free-fall" anchor principle: 

 (1) the means of handling the connective cable or line as the anchor 

 falls to the seafloor and (2) the means of embedding the anchor a 

 sufficient distance into the seafloor to enable the development of 

 reasonable holding capacity. The first problem concerns the connective 

 cable. An anchor in the seafloor is of little use if there is no 

 method to connect to and utilize its holding ability. In deep water, 

 the only expedient approach is to keep a line attached to the anchor 

 as it is being lowered to the seafloor. If the line is permitted to 

 payout at the surface and trail the anchor to the seafloor, major 

 difficulties are encountered. Lines moving with high velocity on the 

 deck of a work platform at sea are hazardous. Long lengths of line may 

 become a drag factor slowing the anchor's descent, or conceivably in 

 some cases, portions of a moving line could overtake the anchor and 

 entangle with it. Whatever the developments on the way down, braking 

 the line would be difficult once the anchor reached the seafloor and 

 massive entanglements would result. 



An alternate solution is to attach all the cable necessary to reach 

 the seafloor to the anchor and to launch it with the anchor while 

 holding the bitter end at the surface. This procedure also has 

 disadvantages. The approximate length of the cable required must be 

 predetermined and packaged to accommodate the water depth. Long 

 lengths of cable form a bulky package that limit the size and length 

 of cable practicable to use. Nevertheless, for smaller sizes of line 

 and operation to intermediate depths, i.e., to 6,000 feet, advantages 

 of this payout approach outweigh the surface payout system. 



A. C. Electronics Corporation (formally Defense Research 

 Laboratories) Goleta, California has developed two techniques of 

 packaging cables for payout from free-falling weights in water, a coiled 

 pack and a random pack. The coiled method results in a compact package 

 but requires a twist in the cable for each layer and much energy is 

 consequently stored in the resulting bale. Even with the twist, only 

 a portion of the 360 degree turn in the cable (about 60 percent) can 

 be compensated. Thus, additional rotation of the cable must be 

 accommodated once payout is complete. The random coil method does not 

 require a preset twist for each cable layer but results in a much 

 bulkier package for a given length of cable. 



The coiled cable system for the bale was selected for use in the 

 free-fall anchor design because of its compactness. Work then proceeded 

 to obtain a practicable design to realize the potential advantages of 

 the free-fall anchor concept. 



The second problem concerns anchor embedment. Flukes are the 

 primary components of an anchor that penetrate then mobilize the 

 seafloor strata material to resist applied loads. Conventional anchors 

 are so constructed that their flukes embed as a result of an applied 

 force comparable in direction to that which they resist when in service. 



