Another anchorin question!

Ross · Jul 17, 2009

We have anchored in stormy weather with winds gusting to 30 and slept through the night in peace. So I guess I could have set the anchor and gone ashore for the night and in the morning she would have still been where I put her the night before.

shemandr · Jul 17, 2009

I've had anchoring problems in my H356 that I hope are resolved with the purchase of a Manson Supreme anchor for this season. Yet, it takes time to gain confidence.
"Trust but Verify" I verify from mostly within sight so far. Last weekend we took a tootle in the dink for about an hour with 15 kts. of wind. All was well when we returned. I'm quite sure once that anchor has a bite - its good. But ....... At some time if all goes well I could leave the boat for dinner.

tsmwebb · Jul 17, 2009

Bob S said:
...
I know this is subjective depending on each person’s trust in there gear. I do trust my set up very much. How do you feel? Am I the only one uneasy doing this? ...

Unless your boat is massively over-insured or you don't care much for it I think you'll always be a bit uneasy. I am. Our boat is our home. Virtually everything we own is aboard. And, dragging anchor is like running around -- if you spend enough time cruising, it will happen. But, IMO, there isn't much point to cruising if you can't get off the boat and meet the locals and explore the land. So, we carry over-sized, quality anchoring gear (Spade plus mostly chain), pick our spots carefully and use good technique. And, in normal wx we go ashore for a day regularly and a night occasionally. I can say, though, that I tend to walk home faster than I walk away and am very happy when I first spot the boat still safe and secure.

--Tom.

zeehag · Jul 17, 2009

tsmwebb said:
Unless your boat is massively over-insured or you don't care much for it I think you'll always be a bit uneasy. I am. Our boat is our home. Virtually everything we own is aboard. And, dragging anchor is like running around -- if you spend enough time cruising, it will happen. But, IMO, there isn't much point to cruising if you can't get off the boat and meet the locals and explore the land. So, we carry over-sized, quality anchoring gear (Spade plus mostly chain), pick our spots carefully and use good technique. And, in normal wx we go ashore for a day regularly and a night occasionally. I can say, though, that I tend to walk home faster than I walk away and am very happy when I first spot the boat still safe and secure.

--Tom.

if you arento able to go ashore for provisioning without worry then there is a problem with some aspect of the procedure-----in st pete's, we found the anchoring to be good until a stoprm or big wind hits, then big boats drag..all of them....the holding is silt...nasty--make sure the bottom is good for anchoring and make sure you are well dug in---i like an anchor that is well known for re setting self in drag conditions.....each person is partial to different anchor tackle---just make sure is set well....

Stu Jackson · Jul 17, 2009

It all depends on what anchor you have! If it's a Danforth, I wouldn't even attempt sleeping on the boat!

Do some research on Manson Supreme and Rocna anchors. Rocna has a good website: http://www.rocna.com/home.php?region=na

Maine Sail has done a remarkable amount of investigation on these new generation of anchors. See his website, and these:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4990.0.html

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2705.30.html

We have a new Rocna 10 (22#) and it works much better than our old Bruce.

Paul Cossman · Jul 17, 2009

No matter what the conditions are, or how long I've been gone, I always think about the boat, and always breathe a sigh of relief when I see her safely in the same spot.

I've spent years cruising, and have anchored hundreds of times. I remember the first time we were stuck in an anchorage where it blew a solid 38-40 knots for days on end in French Polynesia. Good anchorage, with solid mud, but all the boats were bucking in the waves. It took all of us several days to get the nerve to leave our boats--first to visit other boats, and later to go ashore and explore the island. But we all did it. That was 17 years ago, and I can't count the times I've left the boat in similar conditions: big wind, waves pitching the boat, and anchored IN GOOD HOLDING.

Holding is the key. If the holding is good, with our good ground tackle, we allow ourselves to leave. If the holding is poor, we stay on board. Three times we tried to go ashore when we sailed to Maui, but all three times we had to anchor out in an area of questionable holding, where boats dragged onto shore, so we stayed on board.

Just my two bits.

zeehag · Jul 17, 2009

danforth is good in mud with no grass......bruce is a good anchor...cqr is a goood anchor which resets self in drag conditions when able.....ours had scratches on it from dragging in st petes...there are new ones which have great reputations....i would only use danforth as a back up in clean mud and have the others ready for deployment--or just as a lunch hook lol.......havent had much use for danforth since the last grassy mud i dragged in in dago years ago........holding is key--know what you anchor in --what is bottom like and what are the natives using.......

tsmwebb · Jul 17, 2009

zeehag said:
if you arento able to go ashore for provisioning without worry then there is a problem with some aspect of the procedure...

Some of us just worry more than others I suppose

. We've left the boat to go on serious inland expeditions (including hiking into the deep jungle in Vanuatu). But, IME, despite top gear and first class procedures anchoring is never 100% secure. Even on a perfectly clear day a squall can come through and flip an anchor out and it may not reset. I've seen it happen. Twice I've been involved in rescuing boats that were dragging in reasonably fair weather and both times when the crew returned they were in total denial.

In the first case in Suva Fiji a 45ish foot ketch dragged half a mile through the fleet and was in danger of hitting a cement barge when several of us mounted a rescue operation. Ultimately we put my fortress FX37 on them and that held. When they returned to the boat they thew my anchor rode over the side (it was retrieved by a friend who was nearby) and departed in a huff. Later they absolutely denied they had ever dragged and were infuriated that anyone would have touched their boat...

In the second case in Apia, Samoa a 60ish foot Italian schooner came adrift when the wind did a 360 during a passing T-storm. They were w/in inches of the cement buttresses of the commercial pier when the fleet organized a rescue. We moved the boat forward and re-set the anchor -- to do this we went below and found the master electrical switch since they had turned it off disabling the windlass. The owner came back and called the cops. The owner refused to even consider that he might have dragged and assumed the fleet was in some kind of conspiracy.

On a beautiful morning in Tonga a squall came through an spun us around 180 degrees onto a lee shore.M odest trades and perfect shelter suddenly turned to 30 knot westerlies and 2000 miles of fetch. I was on the boat an the anchor reset itself. But it could have been otherwise. I could tell war stories all day... The thing is there is always a chance that the anchor will drag. Worrying about is is reasonable and should motivate one to be very conservative. But, life goes on. For instance, we went ashore virtually all day every day while we had the boat anchored out in the Mogote in La Paz Mexico and there is a strong reversing current and often wind on tide. Hardly ideal anchoring so I always felt a little anxious even though the boat was always fine.

--Tom.

Bill Bell · Jul 17, 2009

We carry good anchors and all chain rode. Never worry about the boat dragging. Leave it for hours to provision, explore, snorkel, etc and never worry about it. I normally don't want to leave the boat when its blowing 20 - 30 knots, not because I'm afraid of dragging, Just don't like getting soaked in the dink going to shore.

sailingdog · Jul 17, 2009

A lot of it really depends on your anchor and ground tackle setup. If you have a decent anchor and are in a protected anchorage with good holding, I don't see why you couldn't leave the boat overnight.

Patrick S/V Shangra-La · Jul 17, 2009

Re: Another anchoring question!

If you are worried about dragging anchor, and you have used good technique to set the anchor, use 2. Set them opposite each other and in most cases you can rest comfortably that with a change in the wind or current the boat will hold. If there is room in the anchorage, I find this is my security blanket. It is a lot more work to weigh anchor to leave, but the feeling of security is worth it.

tsmwebb · Jul 17, 2009

Bill Bell said:
... Never worry about the boat dragging. Leave it for hours to provision, explore, snorkel, etc and never worry about it....

I know lots of folks who feel that way. The bizarre thing is I've seen some of them drag (even rescued a couple -- see above) and they still feel that way...

By and large I think that folks who have actually lived at anchor for extended periods (months or years) and anchored in widely different spots (honestly anchoring gear and technique for the East Coast is not appropriate for the Coral Sea) and anchored in places where the stakes are high, tend to be the ones who look most anxious departing and most relieved returning. YMMV. Like Paul, I'm always joy filled when I first catch sight of the boat riding safely!

Just to be clear -- I agree that in many cases it should be fine to leave the boat overnight and in most cases leaving the boat for a day will work out well. I just think worrying a bit is natural (even sane) and should motivate one to use the great care.

--Tom.

Rick I · Jul 17, 2009

Bob,

I have been anchoring since I started cruising in 1990. I cruise six months a year and am at anchor all the time. Maybe two days in a marina in the six months. I am still uneasy at leaving my boat unattended at anchor and always there's a sigh of relief when I return to the boat and she's fine.

Tim R. · Jul 17, 2009

Confidence in your gear and technique will make you sleep at night and enjoy your shoreside trips. I trust my anchoring more than I trust most guest moorings. Especially in a blow.

sailingdog · Jul 17, 2009

Especially since you know what shape your ground tackle is in... that can't be said of most guest moorings.

Tim R. said:
Confidence in your gear and technique will make you sleep at night and enjoy your shoreside trips. I trust my anchoring more than I trust most guest moorings. Especially in a blow.

Bad Obsession · Jul 18, 2009

I have a 1990 Catalina 30. I carry a 33lb bruce with 30 feet of chain. It has held through a few storms this summer with 60 knot winds. If I get a good set I really don't worry about the boat that much. I back down on the anchor at 2000-2400 RPMs also. The bruce has the ability of re-setting itself as well, especially with plenty of chain on it.

There are a lot of different anchors out there and most people will swear by what they carry. I have an Uncle that swears by his danforth. As far as I am concerned, he can keep that danforth, I'll stick with my Bruce any day of the week!!!!

Mike Holibar · Jul 18, 2009

It is a dead cert that an unmaintained mooring will fail. Nearly every decent storm in Lyttelton results in a sinking due to neglect of the mooring. And that is the problem with guest moorings, you don't know the condition of the parts you can't see. We have a system of annual inspection of moorings and reporting to the local harbormaster which works well (provided the inspections actually get done). I inspect and maintain our club moorings and my own so I would use any of those but when I am away I feel much safer with my own ground tackle. Our insurance policies over here have some wording along the lines that if your boat is left for more than 24 hours unattended at anchor, it might not be covered. That would indicate they dont have many problems with boats left anchored for short (overnite) periods.

MrBee · Jul 18, 2009

My wife and I just returned from an over night trip to Sassafras river. Anchored in calm water but a good breeze blowing across land. I used the Danforth the previous owners had on the Bow, I considered it small for the boat. We noticed dragging within an hour. So I got out the Manson Supreme 25lb that I bought for the boat when we purchased the boat back in May. (Had it in a cockpit locker till I get a proper Bow roller to fit it.)
Set that anchor and the only reason we didn't sleep good was the darn Bugs. Got tore up pretty good by them.
There was a large Danforth in one of the cockpit lockers, twice the size of the one on the bow but it don't hange in the holder right so I guess the PO left it inn the locker.
We now have the Manson tied down on the bow and the small Danforth in the locker as a stern anchor and I brought the Large Dan home to get it out of the way.
I know I went oversized with the Manson 25lb instead of the 22lb but I ain't worried about dragging when that anchor is set and I know I can sleep good.
Danforth is good for a Lunch or day Anchor when you will be on or near the boat. But I won't use opne again if I intend to sleep.

Bee