Hal
Is this a reasonable approach to expected wind shift?
I want to anchor for an expected wind shift of 90 or 180 and don’t want to depend on one anchor resetting. So I set two anchors one off the bow and one off the stern. If I tighten up the rodes, then when the wind shifts to the beam not only will the boat be beam to the wind but also the boat will be exerting near infinite mechanical advantage on the anchors. If I let out the rodes to an angle of 120 degrees then (according to a diagram of load and angle of pull on blocks) the load presented by the boat would be the same as the load on each anchor. If beam wind is persistent then I move the stern rode forward and have a Bahamian moor with not much slack in the rodes.
Hal,
It is tough to answer your question because you have left out a bunch of info.
What anchors do you have? What is the boat/displacement? Where do you sail and what is the general bottom type encountered? What are you using for rode? Are these crowded anchorages? Do you have current or tides to deal with?
Not to bring up registering again but it is very handy. If you register there are many benefits, no entering fuzzy codes every time you post, the ability to have your computer remember who you are on this site, log you on automatically and others.. NO we don't need to know your real name or your real email address. If you want anonymity sign up for a free Yahoo mail or Hotmail account and register using it.
It is fair to other members to at least let us know the following. Boat model/length/year & where you sail out of. With these few bits of information others can answer lots of questions more effectively. You can even put this information in a signature so folks don't need to check your profile if you left pertinent information out of a post.
I would have sent this to you as a private message but you are not registered.
To answer your question as best I can.. I have rarely every used two anchors. I use a stern anchor only when there is a need which is not very often and would NEVER use one if no one else was as that is just rude in a crowded anchorage. We do see it often, one guy using a stern anchor in a crowded anchorage, and someone will invariably row over and ask them to move or lose the stern anchor so swing is not interrupted.
We swing at least 180 almost every single night we anchor and the ten+ foot tides play a big part in this. More often than not the cookie trial is a full 360 by morning. 95% of the time we use one single anchor. We've been doing this for many, many years. Use proper techniques like setting and scope, and an anchor with good re-set capabilities and you will do just fine. Two anchors can cause more problems than good in many instances and you're talking about using three which can get even more messy.
One other issue with multiple anchors is the situation where the guy in front of you is dragging his hook onto you. If you need to get out of the way fast you'll have a very tough time raising three anchors.
This happens here's a photo of it happening to me during their re-set attempt. To avoid a collision I simply shortened my single scope as they came towards me and their vessel wound up where we had been. Had I been using two or more anchors there is no way I would have had time to get out of the way. Not getting out of the way for me would have been a 8-10K paint job.. I also jumped in the dink after shortening scope to keep them at bay until the owner, still in his pajamas, could get his butt on deck..
