Last Saturday Kathy and I anchored outside of Still Pond for the night. We were about 300' off an east-west stretch of shore line in about 7' to 10' of water. Sustained winds were out of the WNW about 12 kts. Forecast was for the winds to swing between WNW and NW and drop to 5 overnight. The fetch was about 10 miles.
I deployed the anchor (60# Manson Supreme) and had Kathy back down to get it set. I noticed that it didn't bite like it normally does but I had her run the engine up to 2200 rpm until I was satisfied that we were set. I then ran out my 100' of 3/8" chain and an additional 20' of 3/4" nylon 3 strand. Scope was about 8:1 at high tide. I started a track on the chart plotter and noticed that we moved in an unusual pattern at first but eventually settled down into a normal swing pattern.
I rowed the dog ashore and eyed things up from there. When I returned we grilled and ate while I looked at the shore. I took hand bearings from the bow and explained to Kathy the concept of anchor bearings. She assured me that the people on the shore remained the same size (she is an art director and is big on perspective and other visual type things) and this meant we had not moved. I was skeptical but I took another set of bearings, set the anchor alarm, and eventually went to bed after staring at that lee shore for a while longer. I got up 3 or 4 times just to check on things but we did not move. The wind actually increased as the night passed and did not drop below 10 kts. until at least moonrise at 3:45 am.
Sunday morning we weighed anchor and I was on the bow retrieving and washing the chain as Kathy piloted the boat slowly forward until the anchor was up & down. It did not take much to break it free and when the anchor broke the surface I found that another chain was draped across my fluke. We slowly backed down and let the wayward chain slide over our anchor. I estimate 20' or more of chain followed by a length of 3 strand that eventually ran out. I assume there was an anchor attached to the chain end. When I finally retrieved our anchor I found there was a some mud accumulated from near the point to about a foot or so up the fluke; the roll bar and butt end were essentially clean.
So, having thought about this for a couple of days it would appear that when we initially deployed our anchor and backed down we must have actually snagged on the other chain. That could have explained my initial reaction that we did not get a normal set. The unusual track pattern I noted at first may have been caused by our anchor sliding down the other chain until my fluke dug in and actually did set. If that is the case then the 60# Supreme held the 24,000# boat with only half of the fluke buried. Hence my testimonial to the Manson - although having a scope of 8:1 probably contributed significantly .
I guess what I learned is that if it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. In hindsight we would have been better served had I retrieved the anchor and re-deployed it when I first noticed that the initial set did not seen right. We were at the anchorage with plenty of daylight to spare and there was no reason to hurry. Further, I knew the forecast for the wind direction and that we would be hard against a lee shore if there was a problem.
I am interested in other possible explanations of the circumstances. Please let me know your thoughts.
Regards.
DH
I deployed the anchor (60# Manson Supreme) and had Kathy back down to get it set. I noticed that it didn't bite like it normally does but I had her run the engine up to 2200 rpm until I was satisfied that we were set. I then ran out my 100' of 3/8" chain and an additional 20' of 3/4" nylon 3 strand. Scope was about 8:1 at high tide. I started a track on the chart plotter and noticed that we moved in an unusual pattern at first but eventually settled down into a normal swing pattern.
I rowed the dog ashore and eyed things up from there. When I returned we grilled and ate while I looked at the shore. I took hand bearings from the bow and explained to Kathy the concept of anchor bearings. She assured me that the people on the shore remained the same size (she is an art director and is big on perspective and other visual type things) and this meant we had not moved. I was skeptical but I took another set of bearings, set the anchor alarm, and eventually went to bed after staring at that lee shore for a while longer. I got up 3 or 4 times just to check on things but we did not move. The wind actually increased as the night passed and did not drop below 10 kts. until at least moonrise at 3:45 am.
Sunday morning we weighed anchor and I was on the bow retrieving and washing the chain as Kathy piloted the boat slowly forward until the anchor was up & down. It did not take much to break it free and when the anchor broke the surface I found that another chain was draped across my fluke. We slowly backed down and let the wayward chain slide over our anchor. I estimate 20' or more of chain followed by a length of 3 strand that eventually ran out. I assume there was an anchor attached to the chain end. When I finally retrieved our anchor I found there was a some mud accumulated from near the point to about a foot or so up the fluke; the roll bar and butt end were essentially clean.
So, having thought about this for a couple of days it would appear that when we initially deployed our anchor and backed down we must have actually snagged on the other chain. That could have explained my initial reaction that we did not get a normal set. The unusual track pattern I noted at first may have been caused by our anchor sliding down the other chain until my fluke dug in and actually did set. If that is the case then the 60# Supreme held the 24,000# boat with only half of the fluke buried. Hence my testimonial to the Manson - although having a scope of 8:1 probably contributed significantly .
I guess what I learned is that if it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. In hindsight we would have been better served had I retrieved the anchor and re-deployed it when I first noticed that the initial set did not seen right. We were at the anchorage with plenty of daylight to spare and there was no reason to hurry. Further, I knew the forecast for the wind direction and that we would be hard against a lee shore if there was a problem.
I am interested in other possible explanations of the circumstances. Please let me know your thoughts.
Regards.
DH
Your gut instinct was right but you survived!!
