clearance dimensions between the swellable seal 18 and the surfaces 32 34 as well as the dimensions of the swellable seal 18 itself will also affect the time required to form a seal typically the greater the clearance the longer the duration before a seal is formed a designer can therefore use these parameters to set a desired time duration from initiation of swelling to initiation of sealing delay in swelling to the point of sealing may be desirable to allow time for an operator to run the tool 12 into the desired position downhole prior to forming a seal with the walls 32 for example such delays may be set from just a few hours to several days or more in embodiments of the invention an operator will set the anchor 22 prior to forming the seal the anchor 22 has slips 44 that are deployable and engagable with the walls 32 of the wellbore 26 to fixedly attach the system 10 to the wellbore 26 although the system disclosed herein has the anchor 22 positioned above the swellable seal 18 along the mandrel 14 alternate embodiments could just as well have the anchor 22 positioned below the swellable seal 18 regardless of the relative positions of the anchor 22 with the swellable seal 18 initiation to actuate the setting.