anchor buoy= so you can find your anchor when you come back from a boat ride/ and so the rope doesn't sink if you have a heavy buckle

i think a spring line is good for the front so when 3-4 ft waves roll trough they dont pull your anchor up and move it.

 

So I pretty much grasped the concept of the anchor buoy before these answers, thanks for confirming.  It is pretty much obsolete if you're going to be pulling up your anchor when leaving the spot, right?

As for the spring line...  If I were to use simply a rope off the bow and a spring line from the transom to shore... Would this have the same affect as far as absorbing waves coming in and the boat raising/lowering?  Or would the anchor still lift and move?

another good reason to have a bouy is so no one runs over your rope.

ive seen anchors get launched when rapped around props. 

I'm new to boating and can you explain how you do a spring line? Last time I went out, I threw the anchor out nice and far from the front. It held ok but everytime a wave lifts the boat up it pull's the anchor up. I need to learn from you guys that know the tricks of the trade. Thanks for the help. TC

an anchor buoy does a few things: 
    let's you, and others, know where your line is if you leave
    keeps your holding "spot" 
    if your boat becomes detached from your anchor line - you don't loose your anchor!

You really shouldn't need a spring line.  It will take some of the jolt off the bow eye when rollers are coming, but if you bow is pulling up on your anchor you really don't have enough line out.  Now that's in a perfect world.  Where most of us boat, we don't have the luxury of pulling 7x the line per depth to properly anchor.  That's where the stretch line comes in, it takes some of the shock out of bow rise so you don't continually pull up your anchor.  Just get a few feet of bungee cord and it'll do the trick.  Don't use bungee on the shore side...


better to learn something here than the hard way in the water...  although it is fun to watch 

Thanks for the help. I'm still learning. I will get it all figured out someday. Still learning how to back up my jet boat with a sucky Panther jet around a ton of boats at the ramp. The adrenaline starts flowing.  TC