Anchoring Etiquette Clashes with Local Culture

[daleyellin]

Bad Obsession is correct, we have lost 16 law enforcement officers this month, several of which cold blooded ambushes. In fact, we've lost 84 year to date, 11 more to this date last year.

There are good and bad in all occupations, or activities (as we've read in this "Anchoring Etiquette" discussion). And, as a 33 yr law enforcement veteran, now retired, I'd suggest that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are professionals doing a job, and taking risks, that, like our military, the majority of the population are unwilling to do.

Perhaps, EWOLSON should sign up for a "ride along" with his local law enforcement agency to see first hand what they deal with on a daily basis.

 

[Breezy Chris]

I have my boat in Channel Islands Harbor and have anchored at Smugglers too many times over the years and have only used my stern anchor on one occasion where the wind was coming off the island and at a 90 degree angle to the swell. I used the stern anchor to keep me into the swell. I have stayed in Smugglers on weekends with 70+ boats on at least 3 occasions and have never seen more than a few boats on 2 anchors. I know the "sweet spot" you are referring to and have been in that spot many times. No one ever said anything about a stern anchor or acted as if it were a problem.

Unless I missed it, KG hasn't clarified in which anchorage he found the "sweet spot"--in Smuggler's, it's so big, nobody would ever really need to limit swinging room (except for weather events as you note). If I'm the only boat, I'll swing to one in Fry's or Coche's, but nobody ever does so when other boats are around; I would adapt. Adjusting as boats arrive is common practice at Santa Cruz Island because it can go from remote and desolate to crowded and active overnight out there. I say be friendly and willing to adjust and compromise and it's just better "out there" for everyone. You've got a stern hook and it's getting crowded? Use it or move along...be the only boat at Hungryman's Gulch if that's what you need. Santa Cruz Island has many wonderful places and nobody needs to stay in a crowded spot if they don't want to.... More boats need to get familiar with areas beyond the East End but that's another story.

 

[kenackerman]

I know Stu said it was "wrong, wrong,wrong" to cut the OPs stern anchor and I agree with that…… But because a clean cut would truly prove intent, one should instead make the ends of the line quite "frayed". If there was then any inquiry, you could always say that it must have been an overactive sawfish that did it.

 

[Jackdaw]

bad Obsession Is Correct, We Have Lost 16 Law Enforcement Officers This Month, Several Of Which Cold Blooded Ambushes. In Fact, We've Lost 84 Year To Date, 11 More To This Date Last Year.

There Are Good And Bad In All Occupations, Or Activities (as We've Read In This "anchoring Etiquette" Discussion). And, As A 33 Yr Law Enforcement Veteran, Now Retired, I'd Suggest That The Vast Majority Of Law Enforcement Officers Are Professionals Doing A Job, And Taking Risks, That, Like Our Military, The Majority Of The Population Are Unwilling To Do.

Perhaps, Ewolson Should Sign Up For A "ride Along" With His Local Law Enforcement Agency To See First Hand What They Deal With On A Daily Basis.

All, Please No More Political Thread Drift.

 

[primaluce]

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Ro...2!3m1!1s0x8c40429dac48b5c5:0x64831184265128e2

No stern anchors here or Bahamian anchoring. Wind always Easterly 10 to 15 Knots. Look how close the boats are nearer to shore (ours is with long dinghy aft).

 

[JohnnyD71]

Just seems common these days that people don't give a crap about anyone but themselves. And it's gotten worse over time. A reflection of society in general. Just being there first doesn't mean squat anymore. I just try to avoid anchorages that are busy, I'd rather take my chances with the weather than some A-hole anchoring on top of me.

 

[ewolson]

Perhaps, EWOLSON should sign up for a "ride along" with his local law enforcement agency to see first hand what they deal with on a daily basis.[/QUOTE]

...and perhaps I've seen enough of you jack wagons to have an informed opinion of what a cop is like.

What part of he had to mention that he was a retired cop are you missing? What the hell did he think it would mean?

Did the Park Rangers respond?

Why are you afraid of a body camera?

 

[Bella Nave]

reply

Andrew

which divorce are you on and how messed up are your children?

 

[Kings Gambit]

Just for clarification, KG: Just what anchorage are we talking about? Smugglers? Scorpion? Your original post refers only to "an anchorage at the east end of Santa Cruz Island."

Thanks for all of your input--it's a little overwhelming. I've attached a picture of the situation as I recall it. A few points. There were no other boats in the anchorage when our interloper arrived. When I arrived, there were two boats as shown on single hook; I took the position I did b/c it was available, but both had left by the time he arrived. That picture shows only a small portion of Little Scorpion; there's a huge amount of room to the east behind me (See second figure.). I WAS NOT DEPRIVING ANYONE OF A SPOT IN THE ANCHORAGE. In my opinion, this guy just used the "local culture tack" as a way to justify his taking a spot that WAS NOT AVAILABLE to him, it being in my berth. We were the only two boats in there at the time (Thursday). I was basically gone by the weekend. My hailing port on the stern of the boat is out of area as I said; not Ventura. The 150 ft is the estimated radius length of my swing; 110 ft of chain + 40 ft of boat length.

 

[Bella Nave]

reply

I'll tell you what you never hear from your wife "your right" with that, pick up and move. They will only piss you off and you can't fix stupid. Anything else taxes your emotions or you end up doing something physically you will think twice about tomorrow. Not worth it and not worth ruining your evening or future. Karma will get them.

Funny story, I had a friends wife the other day who has never anchored or cruised in her life tell me my anchor was too small. I asked when she became an anchor expert. She told me she's seen pictures. Mind you she's a PHD. In education. How's that working for the children these days.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Perhaps, EWOLSON should sign up for a "ride along" with his local law enforcement agency to see first hand what they deal with on a daily basis.

...and perhaps I've seen enough of you jack wagons to have an informed opinion of what a cop is like.

What part of he had to mention that he was a retired cop are you missing? What the hell did he think it would mean?

Did the Park Rangers respond?

Why are you afraid of a body camera?[/quote]


I don't personally fear a body camera, but how would you enjoy having your every move recorded during a day. Add to this that the camera doesn't see everything or catch everything and maybe you can see a little problem with this. Body Cameras are great if you are dealing with informed people but they aren't trained as hard as a police officer is so they may miss big things that happened in front of them (such as someone reaching for a weapon in a pocket). They can be flawed and lead to people drawing uninformed conclusions before all the facts are in. I am a supervisor and I have handled use of force investigations and the last piece of evidence I want to see is the body camera or car camera. I want to go through everyone's statements first and look at physical evidence first. Educate yourself about these things before you speak on them.

The Park Ranger didn't respond: Is that solely because a retired police officer was part of the complaint? I seriously doubt it. There are so many other factors that influence the situation it is impossible to make that assumption. How did they even know that this guy was a retired LEO?

 

[Kings Gambit]

The Park Ranger didn't respond: Is that solely because a retired police officer was part of the complaint? I seriously doubt it. There are so many other factors that influence the situation it is impossible to make that assumption. How did they even know that this guy was a retired LEO?

The Ranger did not know about the former profession of the guy b/c I did not know it myself at the time. [You might reread the OP's to get the chain of events.] That Ranger [the only one I could reach by cell phone from SCI] was in his office in Ventura; he told me that he did not have a boat at SCI at that time, and that none were available to run out there. I did not expect him to send one, of course; I was surprised that he might have, however. I obviously could not run ashore and find a Ranger there since I had no dinghy set up to do so. I was happy just to have my complaint heard.

 

[Stu Jackson]

KG, that first picture is worth the thousand words we've all shared here.

Geez, what a dork. Him not You!!!

I forget: was he bow or stern in?

 

[Kings Gambit]

KG, that first picture is worth the thousand words we've all shared here.

Geez, what a dork. Him not You!!!

I forget: was he bow or stern in?

His bow to the wind facing the reef; as is mine.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Follies

Back in the good olde daze, when we had our Catalina 25, my daughter, then maybe 10, and I were anchored near an island in the California Delta, bow and anchor near the island, stern anchor behind, much like the position of your bozo.

However, I was there first!

We finished dinner, played some [FONT=&quot]Uno[/FONT], and hit the sack. Before either of us could doze of, we hear this “chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga” getting louder and louder by the second.

Both of us pop out of our bunks, grab a flashlight each and leap into the cockpit. We saw an unswerving wall of what looked like steel, the prow of huge LST 35 foot boat heading straight for our transom, about 50 feet away, moving at 5 knots!

Nothin’ we could do. He saw our flashlights and hauled to starboard, missing us by inches. He slammed into the bank of the island while at the same time streaming a stern anchor, which he only let go when he hit up front.

Five guys with Buds in their hand come out on their stern deck, look around and one of ‘em says: “Well, we sure nailed that landing, huh, Bubba?!?”

They kept up the racket until dawn, but we finally started snoring by 1200.

Next morning, over coffee, I asked my daughter: “Where do you think his anchor landed?” She thought for a minute, then said: “Right on top of ours!”

She went up to the bow of our boat, got one of the hung over guys’ attention and said: “Hey, if we pull up two anchors, we get them both!” Plucky lass.

We did!!!

We gave him his anchor back though, laughing all the way.

As we were leaving, I looked back and saw the name on the transom:

BOZO

 

[mrjfortin]

I deal with idiots all the time. Often in places that has bareboat rentals. There is no educating idiots, morons will always be morons and try to find a justification as lame it might be I might show the guy My diving gear and tell him pull his anchor. but so far I never had to do it. But if I had to I would, making sure of course that he was on board and aware of My actions. I will protect My boat in any way I can.

 

[Bear15]

No experience here using a stern anchor, so if you enter an anchorage where everybody is using a stern anchor and say the wind is on their beam, you drop your bow anchor as your parallel to other boats, your going to want to start to swing, how would you finish setting the bow anchor, launch a dink with a stern anchor and get out there to drop it and get your boat back parallel with everybody else? You would probably swing into somebody before you could even get that far.

 

[mrjfortin]

I rarely use a stern anchor, only in extreme weather and even then it is not the best solution.If the wind changes to broad side, two anchor that doe not work is not better then one that works perfectly. Also 99.9% of the blue water sailor I know, and I know an awful lot, , never use a stern anchor, again only in extreme weather and only under certain conditions. But the rule is, among blue water sailor " do as the boat that is already in does and stay out of his swing. If I come into an anchoring and someone has a stern anchor, I will set anchor well away from Him. I prefer using double bow anchor if needed it seem to work much much better

 

[BRSail12]

Thanks for all of your input--it's a little overwhelming. I've attached a picture of the situation as I recall it. A few points. There were no other boats in the anchorage when our interloper arrived. When I arrived, there were two boats as shown on single hook; I took the position I did b/c it was available, but both had left by the time he arrived. That picture shows only a small portion of Little Scorpion; there's a huge amount of room to the east behind me (See second figure.). I WAS NOT DEPRIVING ANYONE OF A SPOT IN THE ANCHORAGE. In my opinion, this guy just used the "local culture tack" as a way to justify his taking a spot that WAS NOT AVAILABLE to him, it being in my berth. We were the only two boats in there at the time (Thursday). I was basically gone by the weekend. My hailing port on the stern of the boat is out of area as I said; not Ventura. The 150 ft is the estimated radius length of my swing; 110 ft of chain + 40 ft of boat length.

For what it's worth.... Here's the advice about anchoring in Little Scorpion from Brian Fagan's Cruising Guide to Central and Southern California. (Considered by many to be an authority on this area)

"A sandy bottom gives excellent shelter in 22 to 45 feet in the lee of the two rocks. Anchor as close to the rocks as you can, consistent with your draft. A second anchor is essential, both to minimize surge and to prevent swinging into the kelp...."

Certainly seems like he was following this advice in detail, though he clearly could have explained his intentions better beforehand and likely prevented the whole issue.

 

[Kings Gambit]

For what it's worth.... Here's the advice about anchoring in Little Scorpion from Brian Fagan's Cruising Guide to Central and Southern California. (Considered by many to be an authority on this area)

"A sandy bottom gives excellent shelter in 22 to 45 feet in the lee of the two rocks. Anchor as close to the rocks as you can, consistent with your draft. A second anchor is essential, both to minimize surge and to prevent swinging into the kelp...."

Certainly seems like he was following this advice in detail, though he clearly could have explained his intentions better beforehand and likely prevented the whole issue.

Of course I've read Fagan's book as well. I don't have my copy here, however, b/c it's on the boat. Fagan spends much time writing about anchorages suitable as refuges in high wind. If it's howling out there; sure, anchor up close behind the rocks for shelter from the west and northwest wind & put out a stern anchor so you don't swing into the rocks or kelp if there is a wind shift. Of course, he's famous for sailing a Contessa 26 of 4-ft draft, long keel w/ rudder hung from the transom. Tough little boat that could really get in close. But, we're not discussing that. I doubt many others would be there anyway in big conditions.

I know how to anchor in Little Scorpion under the various conditions; if it gets too blustery in there I and others would probably pick up and go hunker down under Yellowbanks. I don't think you're suggesting everyone should always anchor by the bow and stern in Little Scorpion b/c Dr. Fagan said so in his book, or would be justified in doing so. If I'm swinging in a berth on a single hook in nice conditions a new boat coming in does not have the right to park inside my radius b/c "he read it somewhere" that that is the way to anchor in that particular anchorage even if he tells me he's going to. There's plenty of room when I'm the only other boat; I'm not denying him anything. He did not want to be in the lee of the rocks; he wanted to have the unobstructed view that I had (until he showed up); he was not looking for "shelter." If we were both in there looking for serious shelter, then maybe a different story b/c the "sheltered berths" might be few.