Storm Coming? Remove Your Anchor Please....

[Maine Sail]

Some of you will remember my many rantings about folks leaving anchors on their bows, in exposed mooring fields, during rough weather. If your mooring filed has the fetch to build waves that can pitch the bow of your boat then it is rather rude & inconsiderate to the boaters around you, who may get hit by your drifting boat to not remove your anchor when a blow is expected. Many times chafe comes from the chocks but after motoring around the anchorage the morning after this short storm I saw that most of the chafe was anchor related.

This thread was posted a while ago (Storm Prep - LINK)

Well for some time now I have been trying to capture the "moment" on film to really drive the point home about REMOVING your anchor if a storm is coming. Some folks actually get it, but still many don't. I think this Island Packet is a PRIME example of "my anchors are protected by a bow sprit, I don't need to remove them" line of reasoning.

Here it goes:

Both pendants still intact but hooked on a Delta. It was still holding but chafing badly:

And DOWN!!!

And UP! And SNAP!!!!!

The Parted Port Pendant IS Blowing Back Against The Hull:

Notice The CQR Holding The REMAINING Pendant And The Bend In It:

This boat owner was VERY, VERY lucky that the storm was winding down as these pics were taken. The remaining pendant actually held and was still holding as of 5:00 pm this evening. Let's hope it holds till his/her boat is hauled.

PLEASE, if not for your boat, think of the others around you and what your boat would do in 30+ knots drifting through an anchorage after the anchor has sliced through the pendants. I watched it happen in real time, it leaves a pit in your stomach. Thank god MOST moorings in Falmouth are dual pendant rigged. This boat owner came very close to owning a pile of off white fiberglass splinters..

 

[Ross]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

Can't help but notice how nicely the outboard boat in the foreground and the larger power boat in the background are riding. Most people just don't pay attention to how their boat rolls and pitched while at anchor. Is the motion substantially different on a mooring with relatively short scope and at anchor with a long scope. I have never lain to a mooring.

 

[Maine Sail]

Ross,

The large power boat in the outer edge of the mooring field was partially blocked from wave fetch by Clapboard Island but the little outboard boat was getting tossed about quite a bit. Just so happens in these shots it does not look it but it was. This was at the tail end of the higher winds.

A neighbor lost a large white oak that was about two and half feet across. It snapped right in the midle of the trunk about 14' above the ground. I suspect we saw some gusts into the low 50's but it was 25 and gusty when those shots were taken..

Thanks to the storm I lost my 24" computer monitor when my neighbors tree fell on the power line and we lost power. It was protected through a surge protector but it is still fried for some odd reason..

We lost a number of dinghy's, a center console 16' RIB, and a couple of small boats sank but as of 5:00 no sail or large power boats had parted their moorings. Most did not have anchors on the bows but some, like the Island Packet did. I only had my 16-85mm lens today and wish I had my 70-200mm so the crops would not be so grainy..

 

[Ross]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

we had some rain and some wind here and a few trees down. One of the roads to the marina parking lot has a large erosion rut in it and the water was over the bulkhead in a few places. On the Chesapeake we have so many places that are sheltered by either bends in the rivers or by made breakwaters that we rarely have conditions such a you show in your pictures. When you have passed three bends in the river in five miles the wave action from the bay is pretty much attenuated. I have weathered 30 knot winds with 2 foot waves and white caps and no more than a half mile fetch.

 

[OldCat]

The wire that supports the bow sprit would worry me as well - could it cut the lines as well?

I would not even consider a mooring here. The lake bottom slopes steeply away, and we get a version of California's Santa Ana winds called Chinooks. In the spring we had winds (sustained) of 70-80 mph and a 111 gust recorded by the marina. Because of the steep bottom, guys with bigger boats on moorings were out there running their engines to keep from dragging.

I am glad that my slip is on the protected side, even without anchors to cut the lines we have had boats take off on their own. There is a local boat called "De Fender", one guess why...

OC
(sorry about mph, that is the way stuff is reported inland and it is too late on a Friday for me to want to do conversions)

 

[OldCat]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

Forgot to say: Awesome pictures.

OC

 

[Phil Herring]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

Yeah, the photos are amazing!

I would not even consider a mooring here.

In the spring we had winds (sustained) of 70-80 mph and a 111 gust recorded by the marina.

Mooring? I would not even consider living there!

 

[zeehag]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

yes, a bobstay can and will chafe thru lines at a mooring. i have that problem. i use a bungee cord from anchor roller to ball top and 2 lines to the ball tag line from my sampson posts, one thru each side hawse hole... i try to keep the ball away from the boat-- but is difficult at best. my next attempt to keep that chafing to a minimum will involve water worm on my bobstay., as well as firehose on the lines....

we get that kind of action in winter here with winds to 90 mph during storms. the action is much like that of the island packet in mainesail's pix. excellent pix, btw!--our storms begin with south winds then turn to northwest. our breakaways have usually been during the south wind part of our storms, when wind is strongest and fetch is great.(about 2-4 mi, some areas 5 mi)

having a boat on a mooring is much more fun than in a marina. marinas get really wicked in these west coast storms of winter. was in one marina in lost angels that was very close to breaking apart during one storm. i would much rather face these kali storms in mooring situation than in a marina. i have done both--i have also been at anchor during el nino storms in this bay. anchor is better than mooring,and mooring is better than marina, imho.

 

[Roger Long]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

It's not just anchors. Why do so few boaters understand spring lines?

I moved to a dock in town that I shared with two other boats upwind of me, one a 40'ish steel trawler yacht. Neither had spring lines and were both tied so tightly that the lines were snubbing as the rolling and dock motion were putting impact loads on the lines that were pretty impressive. I had to go aboard both boats in the driving rain and add lines for self preservation. No owners in sight. One had chafed it's bow line clear through the outer braid.

The wind was blowing pretty much bow on and the lack of spring lines kept both boats pinned against the floats with their fenders grinding. Meanwhile, Strider was riding easily about two feet off the dock because the spring line let the bow swing out and the wind push her off the dock.

 

[Buck420]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

Main,

These pictures are EXCELLENT...

Have you thought about offering them to "Boat US" or any of the other boating periodicals?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

The IP's halyards are also all over the place. Whew.

 

[jibes138]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

Not looking to be argumentative but it doesn't look like a CQR in the pictures. The CQR is up tight on the roller. The anchor snagging and chafing the mooring lines looks more like a spade or Delta or some other fixed shank model. The CQR with the hinged shank may in fact be better as it might not hold the line, the hing would allow it to pivot and release the line (maybe) unless it went righ around the toe from both directions.
The owner obviously didn't tie the anchor to prevent it from hanging down like that. No sails on the boat either, how long has it been sitting unused?

 

[All U Get]

The owner obviously didn't tie the anchor to prevent it from hanging down like that. No sails on the boat either, how long has it been sitting unused?

Looks like they either remove them for safety or it was going to be hauled soon. Which again why not remove the anchors? We often sail by this moring field looking at bigger boats. Many sit all summer marking the channel so I can get through. By the way this is the third big storm since I got hauled in August.
All U Get

 

[Maine Sail]

The IP's halyards are also all over the place. Whew.

The boat, I'm sure, was and is in the process of being decommissioned for winter haul out and that could have been left that way by the yard or owner..

Not looking to be argumentative but it doesn't look like a CQR in the pictures. The CQR is up tight on the roller. The anchor snagging and chafing the mooring lines looks more like a spade or Delta or some other fixed shank model.

Spot on, it was a Delta that got snagged, not a CQR. Neither were well secured though. I have some more photos I will try to get up later..

 

[Rick D]

And, You Were On Your Boat Why?

I'll guess you were testing a new piece of equipment or maybe motion sickness remedies...

 

[Tim R.]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

We had a nice ride in our slip for this one. The airport reported a gust of 48 at 9:50am. I was on the boat at the time readjusting the lines as the wind direction swung about 90 degrees while I was at work. The boat heeled about 20 degrees with that gust. Unfortunately I refuse to take my camera out in that mess or I would have taken some photos.

Our marina staff were running all around the docks from about 6am on doubling lines and adjusting. They actually had a large spool of 1" 3 strand they were cutting up to make lines. Good to see them so proactive with boats.

 

[gettinthere]

Re: Remove Your Anchor Please....

I find it hard to believe that is a good place for a mooring field!!

 

[OldCat]

Mooring? I would not even consider living there!

I would not either, but family reasons trump sailing reasons. OTH: If you have never sailed a mountain lake like Dillon, BIG wind and flat water, then you have missed one awesome experience.

OC

 

[Maine Sail]

Web Site Updated

For those interested in more observations and LOTS of photos I have updated my web site with a LONG blog on:

Mooring Preparations & Precautions (LINK)

There are 5 pages so when you get to the bottom of one page click the numbers for the next page.

P.S. I get some work done while waiting for flight delays in airports...

 

[Roger Long]

I have updated my web site with a LONG blog

I like the part about the boat yard appearing to care less. Why should they? If a boat gets loose, they just get to repair it and the ones that are struck with the insurance companies picking up the tab.