Anchoring Etiquette Clashes with Local Culture

Stu Jackson · Aug 29, 2015

Kings Gambit said:
What the everyday bow-stern guys want is to anchor close to the rocks w/o having to worry about swinging into them. Fine--but then get there first. If I'm anchored off the rocks at a distance that allows me a full 360-deg swing w/ rode stretched out, and some bozo comes in and fixes himself between me and those rocks inside my radius, he's made an error and violated boater Etiquette.

You are right in your detailed analysis. This is exactly what the issue is and why the other guy was a bozo. And why I said earlier than anyone wanting to change this basic and worldwide Etiquette is off his rocker. You said it much more eloquently.

KG, in case some of the weekend warriors here "don't get it", I've thought it might be interesting to post your OP on cruisersforum and see their reaction. These "doubters" and psychologists may change their tune.

Stu

Stu Jackson · Aug 29, 2015

KG, in the second link in your other post, I found this from a well respected delivery skipper:

Personally if I'm swinging and causing no risk, and someone came over and told me I had to drop another off my stern, I would be highly amused and ask if I could have some of what he's smoking.. if he insisted, I fear gentlemanly conduct would be put under strain.

Brian D · Aug 29, 2015

Kings Gambit said:
To what purpose--boats swinging together, i.e., normal oscillation in a common wind w/ boats on single hooks, or to avoid swinging into a fixed boat on a wind shift?

Yes, boats do swing in unison, however, in your case, the other boat put out a stern anchor which would prevent it from swinging. I understand your desire not to put out a stern anchor. So you will swing while the other remains (somewhat) static. So I was wondering if you just dropped an anchor, not set, to abate your swinging. That is all.

Brian D · Aug 30, 2015

KG, please don't get me wrong. I was not challenging your decision. I actually am with you in your decision not to drop a stern hook. I also feel it was wrong for the other boat to move into your swing radius and drop both bow ans stern hooks. Just because he claims you are near his favorite anchoring spot.

My question was more of a general one, not specific to your case. I have dropped hook and noticed on my Android charts that I swing around the hook. I was wondering (openly) if dropping a 30# mushroom would retard the swinging. I know it will not hold my stern, but just prevent the boat from dancing around the hook. That is all.

JamesG161 · Aug 30, 2015

LMAO...

At least he had courtesy enough to tell you how ignorant you are.:naughty:

I gave up years ago fighting stupidity, after hearing one of the best philosophies in life by Forrest Gump...

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES....

I would have weighed anchored and moved, saying to him "Wow! I should have guess you have been coming her for 20 years!"

Life is too short not to enjoy it. Just think how much more intelligent he would have felt then.

Always smile, give them a beer and wave with all five fingers....
Jim...

Bad Obsession · Aug 30, 2015

Depending on the wind, burn a bag of popcorn in your grill, if it is blowing his way. :dance:

If you are the only two boats there run something loud and obnoxious, like a generator. Loud music works also. Just be annoying!

And if that fails, become a nudist for the day.

I would have probably picked up and moved once the whole thing started. With plenty of open water around it just isn't worth the hassle. My boat time is all about being out there and enjoying it.

I don't blame you for being aggravated. I would have been aggravated too. I would have probably said some choice words and protested some, but in the end if he is being a jackass then my safety and sleeping is first so moving is the best option, if you can.

Oh, the part about being a retired police officer...that doesn't mean a thing. In the eyes of the coast guard you are still a normal boater. I am a LEO and I can assure you that I have never had anything extended to me because of my status. If anything he should be leading by example and be courteous.

thinwater · Aug 30, 2015

agprice22 said:
Right or wrong, you are entering into a power struggle that will ruin your time. Deploy the stern anchor. Let it go. Enjoy your time there. Consider that you are both right for different reasons.

Take my word. I deal with conflict for a living. I am a psychotherapist and do lots of work with couples.

Thanks.

Andrew

I've dealt with disagreements between engenders and have a different perspective:

1. This is not folding towels. If there is a real design difference, it can be either dangerous or expensive. Some of my most memorable mistakes were in allowing someone to do something stupid when I knew better, because someone said they needed to learn by trying. Not when it counts.

2. You are not married to this person. Big difference, like comparing apples to hand grenades.

Personally, I would ONLY set a stern anchor in a narrow canal or creek, or moored stern to in a harbor. IN the open, NEVER. I will set 2 from the bow in certain circumstances. A strong beam wind, with some chop, might smarten him up.

I would place a second anchor before I wasted my breath on this dolt.

Benny17441 · Aug 30, 2015

I guess I was once at the other end of this situation. I pull into one of our local anchorages, on a day sail, to stop for lunch. I drop our anchor in front of a sloop calculating that our swing radius would clear their bow for at least two boat lengths. Conditions were calm and our scope was probably no larger than 1.5:1 in 18ft of water. After we are settled in this sailor comes on deck to shout at me that he had 200 of rode out there and that I was over his anchor. My first reaction was one of disbelief as I did not know of anyone who deployed 200' of rode in our shallow waters unless there was a storm bearing down. I informed him that this was a tight anchorage and that the conditions did not warrant that excessive scope. I had never seen the boat before and I could tell it was not from the area. I do not have problems answering questions and providing advice when asked but this guy said the wrong words, "I was here first" after he had addressed me as "Hey". I worked up an attitude and told him in a very unfriendly tone that we were here just for lunch and that as we were already anchored we were going to stay until we decided we were finished. He went down into the cabin and never saw him again. It is stupid and inconsiderate to others to lay down 200' of rode in calm waters. I for one will anchor with short scope and then adjust it as the conditions and space may warrant. When weather deteriorates I am one of the first to pick up anchor and get out of a crowded anchorage. I have never considered it very polite to anchor to bow and stern when other boats are swinging freely; it is like backing in into a parking spot at your local grocery store. It disrupts the in and out flow.

Mark Maulden · Aug 30, 2015

Wow.....in decades of sailing on PNW waters, I've never had any serious anchor wars. If I'm staying the night, I deploy appropriate scope and choose a place where i can. If a boat comes into the harbor and im on board, i will point to where my anchor lies. Its always appreciated. They usually move off or take a stern tie to shore. If the harbor is full, I'll set a hook and a stern tie to shore. Or i go somewhere else. If someone "encroaches" on the outer limits of my swing, we look at each other and agree to see how we do over time usually through a tide change and we both agree were OK. I have reminded skippers if the tide is low and expecting a high tide. I will never compromise on appropriate scope unless its "for lunch". I have been having a beer/glass of wine and dinner at 80 deg temps at 6:00 and four hrs later up all night with 40knt winds not predicted. Another case in point was the wind storm we had yesterday. I saw 45 kts in the Marina and there were reports of 60+ --MPH-- around the area. Some wont have power till Tue night. It came out of nowhere and, in my recollection, has never happened here in August or Sept. Never compromise your boat and yourselves with inappropriate scope over night no matter what the size of harbor it is or how many boats are there. If you fill it up, then its full. If someone else fills it up, then its full....

woodster · Aug 31, 2015

the more i read this thread the more i understand why they are still making those handsome bronze Quaker deck mounted cannons .....do they make the balls in a paint ball .....

Lander · Aug 31, 2015

Little Scorpion is a small anchorage with the cliffs-rock fairly close on 2 sides, and the wind often shifts around the compass. If one boat parks herself the middle, this effectively excludes other boats from a circle of about 200+ feet of where her hook was laid, or about the entire end of the anchorage.

So that more than one or two boats can be in the anchorage, etiquette would dictate that 2 anchors be set. This is true of nearly all Channel Island anchorages. There is plenty of room for everyone using 2 anchors, and everyone is usually more than willing to help set and retrieve the second anchor.

flynhi4u · Aug 31, 2015

It still amazes me that you have to have a license to drive a car but for the most part if you are of age you can just buy a boat and have at it. Not that I am suggesting requiring a license for all boaters, but it might help somewhat if we all were required to obtain and had to prove at least some level of knowledge prior to venturing out.
A couple we are friends with have had boats for years, and yet he still is clueless on how to set a anchor. He still seems to think that you drop a heavy weight straight down and it will hold you no matter what. So much so he boast often that "I don't drift". Well one evening last summer we meet up with them on the water and they came over to our boat for dinner. The lake was really churned up from all the power boats and with each wave that rolled in the bow of their run a bout would lift and it would drift a little bit further away from us. It wasn't long he had a pretty good swim to retrieve his boat.
You run into all kinds in life. Just deal with it and move on. Like you said, your time on the water is about relaxation and enjoyment. If someone causes us an issue, I just move on, it is not worth getting upset about, cutting lines, or exchanging gun fire. Maybe that is why I find myself always in search of that isolated anchorage with room for just one ;-)

Sam in IN

zeehag · Aug 31, 2015

so sorry that you bumped into an *******..oops sorry, but..... pun intended.
what i would do..
.hhmmm..
i would getthe flock outtta there.
if someone is so poor at anchoring they need 2 anchors where normally only one is used or needed, then there is a problem not with you but with the hardheaded catfish throwing 2 anchors. no one on this coast uses 2 anchors except in furycames and in zihuat at the playa madera cliffs. and here, in canes, usually folks find a decent protected marina and hunker down.
goood luck. cops and ex cops are the most hardheaded uncompromising folks i ever met. yes i had to work with many of the hardest headed of em, lost angeles 77, the head busters from the riots of rodney king.
just give up n change anchorages to be free of his hardheadedness... good luck. i know, you werethere first.
gods i hope this aint comin south this year.

primaluce · Aug 31, 2015

The first boat in the anchorage determines her own 360 degree swing, stern anchor not required. Some yachting guides describe anchoring conditions at popular bays such as Doyle's suggestions when anchoring in Wallilabou, SVG where so many boats are parallel parked with bow and stern lines. It's mayhem and we will not be back.

Stern anchoring is the exception, not the rule. When a mooring is "picked up", it is secured to the bow, not the stern. Moorings have been situated taking into consideration swinging radius; tossing out a stern anchor screws everything up. "A retired cop", ordering the general public around ... it's not surprising ...

fifedog · Aug 31, 2015

I've got as short a fuse as anybody.
That being said, I've come to appreciate that from time-to-time, I will need help on the water. Even though that captain stepped on your toe-rail a little, he did try to smooth things over, somewhat. I would have offered him a beverage. Made nice. Perhaps on his way back to the boat, he might've reconsidered.
Because the next morning, if I woke up in some type of jam, guess who I might have needed a friendly hand from...
Just saying.

Milton Critz · Aug 31, 2015

I find most often people seem to find themselves coming around to my way of thinking when they see the Glock model 37 I have on my hip or the Mossberg 12 gauge hanging on the inside of the companionway. I have an advanced carry permit to carry just about everywhere and I hope and pray that I never have to use either weapon. Just the visual is usually enough to make people a lot friendlier. I agree with Stu, where does the stupidity end?

primaluce · Aug 31, 2015

We notice boaters tying plastic bottles to their anchor via appropriately lengthed rope so everybody always knows where the anchor is and nobody could anchor over it. That's what I'm doing from now on.

jwandling · Aug 31, 2015

I would probably re-anchor elsewhere. Why try to educate a pig? "it wastes your time and annoys the pig".

Anchoring Etiquette Clashes with Local Culture

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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