Anchoring

[sailboat2009]

I have Catalina 30 on the Chesapeake Bay, basically muddy bottom. Can anyone tell me where I can find information on anchoring alone? I want to know how to let the anchor down and retrieve it the next morning. Do you have advice or tell me where to look?

Thanks!

 

[Dean5735]

You can't be serious. You have a boat and don't know how to anchor? If you are afraid to leave the helm, run the anchor line back to one of the winches and hoist it from back there.

 

[Maine Sail]

Scope: This is perhaps the single most important and over looked aspect of setting your ground tackle. Scope is the “angle of attack”, if you will, of the rode or anchor line in relation to the bottom. The longer the “scope” the more parallel to the bottom the rode will be and the less likely to yank the anchor out. A short or steep scope angle will most certainly yank the anchor out of the bottom and will NOT hold when the wind picks up!

How do I know what my scope should be? Scope is easily calculated but often calculated incorrectly. Scope is the MAX water depth plus the distance of your bow chock to the water plus any off set for your depth transducer. Huh? Ok you pull into an anchorage at low tide and it has a current water depth of 10 feet. The area you are in has a ten-foot tidal range (Maine). So your max water depth will be 20 feet. You know your bow chock is 4 feet off the water and your depth transducer is 1 foot bellow the surface and not calibrated as such. So you simply add 20 feet of water depth, to 4 feet of bow height, to 1 foot of transducer depth for a total of 25 feet of scope basis.

To set your anchor you should be using a minimum of 5:1 scope but the preferred setting scope remains7:1. So the 10 feet of water you read on your depth sounder was actually 11 because your transducer is a foot bellow the waters surface and when the tide is added to the bow height your 10 feet of water depth turned into 25!!

So let’s pretend you think you set your anchor at a 5:1 scope, based on the 10 feet of water depth you saw on your depth gauge, as MANY sailors and boaters do. A 5:1 scope for 10 feet is simple it’s 5 X 10 = 50 feet of scope. Oh, oh the tide comes in and you have mis-calculated your scope! For the example from above you ACTUALLY have 25 feet from the bottom of the ocean to your bow not the ten feet you mistakenly calculated.

For this same 5:1 scope you would need 125 feet of rode not 50!!!!! 50 feet of rode for a 25 foot scope basis is a VERY dangerous 2:1 scope or almost vertical!! You are NOWHERE near a 5:1. Again, this is a VERY common mistake. Please calculate scope carefully and always add the bow height and max tide!!

Rode: This is the second most overlooked aspect of anchoring. At a minimum you should be using 1.5 times the boat length of chain then a suitably sized, & highly elastic in nature, nylon rode. An absolute bare minimum chain length is one times the boat length!! An all chain rode is always better but you will need to use a very elastic snubber to prevent shock loading of the chain.

Why is the chain important? The chain serves a few purposes: 1) It serves as a weight to help prevent the anchor line from snapping tight and it keeps a curve or caternary in it during mild to moderate winds helping to keep the angle of attack on the anchor correct. (in high winds a sentinel or kellet may be needed to maintain caternary) 2) It prevents the nylon anchor line or rode from chafing on coral or rocks on the bottom. 3) It aids the anchor in proper setting by keeping the shank down so the flukes can penetrate when backing down.

Anchors: All anchors are not created equal and there is far too much to be written on this here. Some anchors do not re-set well on a wind and tide shift and thus should not be used when a wind or tide shift is expected. Some anchors perform better than others do for certain bottom types and it should be up to the boat owner to thoroughly research which anchor will perform best for his or her environment.

In a general summary Danforth types which include the Fortress do not like to re-set on wind and tide reliably, Bruce or Claw styles are generally good setters and re-setters but offer low holding and should be up sized at least one size beyond the recommended size. CQR’s or plow styles can give false sets and MUST be properly set! The new generation anchors such as Spade, Rocna & Manson Supreme are generally excellent performers and practically set them selves..

When I mention partially set CQR's this photo is exactly what I'm referring to. This pictured CQR is NOT SET!!!!

Photo From Sail Magazine Anchor Test Report:

Technique:

#1) Examine the anchorage: Make careful observations & based on weather predictions chose a spot that will be better protected from the prevailing winds. Also take note of how others are anchored and envision a 7:1 scope to mentally picture where their anchor might be on the bottom. DO NOT drop on someone else’s anchor!!!!

If everyone is bow and stern anchored you need to do the same or there will be “swinging” issues! If everyone is bow anchored only DO NOT bow and stern anchor! All boats must swing naturally, and in unison. If one boat is bow and stern anchored it will not swing with the crowd and there will be fiberglass on fiberglass contact! Anchoring contradictory to the crowd is RUDE and inconsiderate! Boats on permanent moorings will swing around their bows, but will move very little compared to a boat on an anchor so be careful anchoring near permanently moored boats. In light air, boats with an all chain rode will not swing as far or as fast as those using a nylon/chain rode so take note of who has all chain to the deck! Choose your spot and visualize your boat swinging in unison with the others in a 360 pattern. If your spot has you hitting other boats during this 360 visualization exercise find a new one..

#2) Prepare & set: Once you’ve determined your “spot” calculate your scope as described above. For the best results use 7:1 for setting. 5:1 is an absolute bare minimum for setting and should be avoided if you want consistent results. As you approach your “spot” shorten the dinghy painter so it will not foul the prop when backing down! Slide the gear shifter into neutral and gently glide past and over where you actually want the anchor to set. Once beyond your “spot” slip it into reverse and get the boat going in a straight line backwards but SLOWLY at perhaps .3 to .5 knots!

#3 Play out the rode: As you begin to move backwards begin playing out the rode. DO NOT just drop a pile of chain or rode to the bottom it will tangle the flukes! The rode must be played out while moving backwards and gently and methodically. As you begin to get to about a 4:1 (your rode should ALWAYS BE MARKED IN FEET OR METERS) gently snub the anchor for a test bite. This will orient the anchor to a proper setting angle if it has not already happened. If you begin to feel resistance let off your snub and continue playing out line until you hit 7:1+ gently snubbing along the way every now and then. The greater the scope used in setting the better the result and better the odds of a first try set will be..

#4 Setting the Anchor: As the boat approaches a 7:1 put it in neutral and let the weight of the boat and the remaining momentum partially set the anchor and come to a stop. Once the boat has finished stopping, and is back to a taught line, not jerked forward from nylon rode stretch, run the engine up to full cruise RPM (usually 80% of max rated throttle) and finish setting or burying the anchor! If the anchor moves or drags you’ll need to start over! No AUX sailboat engine should be able to budge a properly sized and set anchor! If it does you need new ground tackle!

This last step, 80% of max throttle, is very important and is one MANY overlook. Bottoms are often made of “layers” and the top silt layer is easily penetrable and will hold fine in light conditions but not moderate or high winds. You want to dig the anchor into the next layer, the one that is much harder, and will hold even in high winds to be properly set.

I have spent a great deal of time in my life diving on anchors and I can assure you a solid 85% of the anchors out there are NOT properly set. With CQR’s this is usually represented by a partial sideways set meaning it is laying on its side with the tip partially buried! There was a perfect picture of a CQR doing this in the Sail Magazine anchor-testing article from last year! If you are not back-winding the sails or using 80% of your engines capacity your anchor is NOT set.

#5 Shortening scope: Now that you set the anchor it is somewhat safe, depending on your choice of anchor and chain/rode configuration to shorten to a safer swinging scope for the anchorage you’re in. 4:1 is the generally accepted minimum for calm conditions or winds bellow 10 knots. 5:1 can usually be safe to around 14-15 and any wind speeds over that you will want more scope or at least a 7:1. Try and pick areas that will allow you to use the max allowable scope in case of a micro-burst or wind. If you leave your self only enough room for 4:1 you’ll likely get exactly what you ordered the “disaster plate special with a side order of heartburn and severe anxiety”!

Hope this helps and that I did not forget anything…

 

[bffatcat]

Anchoring alone

Without getting to technical in crowded areas on the chesapeake 3 to 1 scope should do
it and about 15 ft of chain for most conditions. 5 x scope is better provided youve got
plenty of swinging room. As far as pulling the anchor single handed just go up on deck and pull it. With the engine running. the boat cant go any where because the anchor is holding it in position. get it up on deck and lash it quickly and temporarily. beat it back to the cockpit and motor out into plenty
of space stow the anchor and hoist sails

 

[Franklin]

Bullwagga, Bullwagga, Bullwagga hehehehehe

For real, best darn anchor in the world. Works in any bottom, rock, grass, sand, mud, soft mud, anything.

See (http://www.noteco.com/bulwagga/products.htm) for photos of how it sets.

Here is how you store it (common complaint)

 

[Mike B]

Two things to add. One, make very sure that your anchor rode is nowhere near your prop. There are times when wind and tidal current oppose each other. At those times it's possible for the current to draw the rode under the boat very quickly. The other is the Chesapeake is know for having storms blow through without any warning. When they dohey can bring strong winds with them. If you're going to anchor with anything less than a 5:1 scope be very sure there's zero chance of a pop up storm.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Anchoring alone

Hi sailboat2009
I also owned a Catalina 30' and sail the Chesapeake. I have successfully preformed the solo anchor launch and retrieval and it is pretty easy provided you don't get into and exposed anchorage and have wind and/or waves to deal with.

First of all you want to avoid at all costs the exposed anchorage. Setting the anchor is easy, retrieving it solo in a building sea after it has been COMPLEATLY buried overnight due to wave action and in a building wind can be next to impossible.

Prior to anchoring you want to prep the anchor and rode. Look at the charts and determine how much rode you will be paying out initially. Get the anchor out of the locker and pass the rode around the pullpit so you can just throw the anchor over it. Backfeed the rode on deck.
If you are using a bow roller then get that all ready to go except for releasing the last anchor hold down. Secure the rode at the proper point to a chock so when you throw the anchor overboard it will have the correct initial guess at scope.

To drop and set the anchor motor over the area you are considering and feel out the bottom depth so you can have a mental image of what the bottom is like. This is real important after dark to give you a feel for the anchorage. 3 or 4 passages across the anchorage is not too much!!!! You don't want to conduct re-anchoring drills, do the prep work!!!

Once you have chosen the spot, slow to about 1 knot (I've done it at 3 knots BTW) and motor toward the spot heading downwind. Shortly before you reach the spot lock the helm, shift into neutral and go to idle. Move forward to the bow and throw the anchor overboard. Avoid the Popeye loops as the rode pays out. The forward momentum of the boat will help set the anchor once the rode is all payed out. The boat will turn 180 degrees rapidly and set the anchor. If you want to check the set with reverse engine thrust wait till the boat has settled on its rode. There is no rush. I almost never set the anchor with reverse. I had a 30 lb danforth and it set every time with this method. I had is hold in a 70 knot thunderstorm 3 hours after setting with this method. Turn off the engine and it's Miller time. With beer in hand, stand in the cockpit and mentally register your range marks so you will know if you are dragging later on. Continue to conduct beer drinking activities and listen to the weather radio for tomorrow's forecast. If you need to let out more scope, do it after the boat has settled on the rode.

To weigh anchor start the engine, move to the bow and begin to haul in the rode. Don't worry about stowing it in the anchor locker just make a mess on deck. With gathering speed haul in the rode. When the rode is straight up and down, cleat it off by wrapping it around a cleat. You don't want a actual cleat knot, just a wrap to secure the rode rapidly. It is important to be able to "uncleat" rapidly after the anchor un-sets. The anchor will unset and begin to drag across the bottom. You can tell by the "feel of the rode". It is very important to gather as much speed as possible when hauling the rode. The energy you put into the boat is used to un-set the anchor. As the anchor pulls free, uncleat and finish the weigh. Start looking out for other boats if it is a crowded anchorage. Once the anchor is off the bottom you can, if needed, cleat (a real cleat knot this time) the rode, move to the helm and motor to deep water. Avoid crab pots! Assuming there are no "other boat" issues, complete the weigh and place the anchor on deck. Move to the helm and motor out of the anchorage. When free and clear, let Auto helm the boat and go forward and clean up your mess. Keep a good lookout.

In a building sea or wind you are going to have to have some sort of mechanical advantage. I've done it by hand but it dang near broke my arm. The trick here is getting the rode back to a winch. You can motor forward but the risk of fouling the prop is too great for me to recommend that as a standard course of action. It is a tool in the toolbox though. Use it as a last resort and try to motor in an arc around the anchor till you can drift down wind. Better I think (I've only done it once, I now NEVER anchor in an exposed anchorage) is tie a line to the rode and take the line back to a winch. Crank on the winch till the rode is able to be placed on the winch. Feed the rode to the winch and then continue to winch at increasing speed till the anchor breaks free. If you don't have a bow roller then the rode is going to take some abuse. If you have a chain leader then the boat gel coat is going to take some abuse. By the time the chain gets to the winch you have to have the anchor freed. So if you have more than about 25 ft of chain you need to think through the minimum depth you can anchor in. You can then motor to deep water and hand haul the rest of the rode on board.

I can not stress enough to scope out the anchorage and only anchor solo in places that are not exposed to the weather.

 

[Mike B]

Re: Anchoring alone

Not to scare you but if you choose to run the anchor rode back to a winch be careful to keep your fingers from getting wrapped in the line while it's moving. Heard a call on the VHF last year where a boat was using that method and a crew member lost a finger in a split second after getting it caught in the line. One other word of caution. If you use autohelm and you're up forward be damned sure you don't slip off. Wear either a harness, life vest or both. Slip and you'll watch your ride disappear into the sunset.
Mike

 

[Ross]

There is only one term here that I object to: lower your anchor into the water to the bottom don't "throw it off the boat". You have to be a bigger man than I to do that anyway with a 35 lb anchor and 20-30 feet of chain.

 

[Mike B]

Ross, you mean you don't throw it out to where you want it to set? Haven't you been eating your Wheaties? Actually I didn't have a windlass on the last boat and used a Fortress on it as a result. Even with it's lighter weight I still lowered it into the water. We would start our drift back then lower it, ensuring it pulled away from the bow cleanly. Sure beats having the rode unexpectedly snag on something and having the flukes fly back into your gel coat.

 

[Maine Sail]

There is only one term here that I object to: lower your anchor into the water to the bottom don't "throw it off the boat".

Ah the venerable "Gilligan Toss" or "Hollywood Toss". I've actually seen this is real life before and it's really quite funny...

It's kind of like people who have taught them selves to ski. You see them wiggling their butts all the way down the slopes because that is their perception of how to ski as learned by watching. You don't ski by wiggling your butt and you don't anchor by watching Gilligan re-runs...

 

[Ross]

A half hitch around a leg with the anchor rode will cure a lot of bad habits.

 

[Paul J. Rusyniak]

Ross...
If you're using both hands to toss the anchor, where else do you propose temporarily tying off the rode?

 

[Ross]

Ross...
If you're using both hands to toss the anchor, where else do you propose temporarily tying off the rode?

Paul, First off I never advocate an anchor toss.
Second, I usually layout my anchor rode on deck and cleat the 7:1 point.
We always plan a first pass over the anchorage to scope it out with the depth sounder/fish finder, (shows bottom obstructions if any). On the second pass we head up wind, stop the boat where we want the anchor and start backwards laying the anchor on the bottom and continuing until we are pulled up short and then open the throttle and see if we go any where. Then we make things tidy and shut down the engine.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Blowinganddrifting-I have a C30 and don't know how to anchor...so what? Not everyone was born on a boat. Obviously sailboat2009 wants to learn to anchor the right way and that's why he is asking questions.

 

[sailingdog]

Please note that increasing scope beyond 8:1 really doesn't do much at all but give you a really big swinging circle.

One option that hasn't been mentioned is bringing the anchor back to the cockpit, so that you can release it from there. If you bring the anchor rode outside of all the stanchions and shrouds, this shouldn't be much of a problem. Flake the anchor rode in the cockpit so that you can set out about 5:1 scope and lower the anchor over the side, then back the boat away. If you have the rode on the starboard side of the boat, you'd back away to port to remove the risk of crossing and fouling the rode as it pays out.

Retrieving the anchor is a bit trickier, but it can be done. You will need a chain pawl for an all chain rode, or a good cleat/mooring bitt for a rope or combination rode. Basically, you get the boat moving forward and then put it into neutral. Then walk forward and haul in the rode as the boat moves forward. When the boat stops moving forward, you cleat off the line or lock the chain with the chain pawl. Walk back and repeat. When the rode is basically vertical, you will generally need to break the anchor out. You can often do this by letting the boat's motion do the work. Once it has broken free, haul the anchor up as quickly as possible, and then get back to the cockpit and leave. This is relatively easy to do in calm conditions, and should be practiced in them before attempting it in rougher conditions.

 

[sailaway78]

I have watched this process

Couple of years ago, at a Blue Angels airshow over off Pennsacola Beach, I watch a power boat guy come up a little in front of me, give the anchor a big toss off the bow, and cleat it off as soon as it hit bottom. To be exact I watched him repeat this process three times. Guess by then he figured out that the holding was bad because thankfully he moved after the third attempt. I can assure you it's kind of hard to hold your breath that long.
As to pulling the anchor up. Being on the far side of 70, and not having a windlass, I normally use the engine to break the anchor free. Usually I use a Danforth, as we have mostly mud or soft sand bottom around here. I don't like motoring up the anchor line, so my usual process is to physically pull the rode up to the vertical point, cleat it off, and then break it out using the engine. Not a big deal to pull the boat up most of the time, but breaking the anchor out after it's buried pretty deep is a back breaker.

 

[Scott B]

You can't be serious. You have a boat and don't know how to anchor? If you are afraid to leave the helm, run the anchor line back to one of the winches and hoist it from back there.

Hey blowhard....... I doubt that many of us in diapers had anchoring skills.... you gotta learn sometime. At least he's asking the question in the right place and willing to learn. Anchoring can be intimidating, anchoring by yourself can be scary until you learn the technique.

 

[Franklin]

Wanna talk about intimidating...let me tell ya a story:

I had never even heard of an Mediterranean mooring until the safety briefing of the Regatta de Amigos. They showed a diagram where we motor up, drop the anchor in the middle of the channel, and then back up to a concret bulkhead and tie off with chain from the stern. Since it was the last thing to do in the race, I didn't put much thought in it.

I finished the race at about 10:30 pm. Race committee told me to go around and moore. They also said that they would send somebody over to help but warned that radio would be useless due to the loud music from the festival going on there.

We pulled around the corner and yep, the place was happenning and very loud. I could barely hear myself think, let alone talk to anybody on the bow.

I asked a crew member to prepare the anchor and then motored to the next empty area. All boats where very tightly moored just a few feet from each other due to the lack of space. I gave a hand signal to drop the anchor and then put it in reverse and backed up. Got to within 5' of the nasty concreet bulkhead and threw a couple of locals my dock lines. They went to tie off the stern but I wanted to tell them I needed to get the chain out as the dock lines would chafe in two in a matter of minutes (the channell was a bit rough and the boats bounced around a lot) but I couldn't speak Spanish and they didn't speak English.

Finally we got it all tied off and tied the plank down on the stern rail and walked across the plank directly into this big party going on. There were thousands of locals watching me and I could feel them staring at me the whole time.

I walked over to the beer stand and bought my crew a round. We exhailed a deep breath and looked at each other and at all the locals and the band playing on the big stage. We were so happy to have made it across the Gulf - it was the first time for all of us.

About a minute later the race committee docking crew showed up to help. They were surprised we were finished. They had a few boats take more then an hour and one took 3 hours. I felt better after they told me that because I felt imbarrassed at the ending because I didn't have the chains out and ready.

Now that was intimidating doing it for the first time in front of thousands...all of who spoke a different language.

 

[Benny]

Anchorying solo? Find the spot you would like to lay at. Figure your scope accordying to conditions. Approach the spot going up wind (use of engine recommended no extra points granted for approaching otherwise). Go past the lay point a distance accordying to the intended scope. Let the boat come gently to a stop, go forward and drop the anchor to the bottom. Allow the scope to pay out gently in accordance to wind and current. If wind and current are absent pay out 1/3 scope and go back to cockpit and set boat on reverse, allow boat to slowly drift back and go back up front and pay out another 1/3. When scope is full out back up forcing full set. Check the spot you are laying at and if ok accordying to your intentions go back up front and manually check the anchor is fairly set by pullying on the rode. Observe behavior for another 10-15 minutes before turning engine off (gives it time to cool off). When deparing raise your main as you shoule be heading into the wind. Release the main sheet some to allow for heading shifts. Go up front and pull on the anchor until you get the boat moving, continue to pull until the angle of the rode reaches 90 degrees; lock the rode and allow for the boat movement up and down to release the hold and then bring it up. Make sure it is locked in place and the go back to the helm and bring in the mainsheet and sail away. Weather may require you to modify the steps. Nothing happens fast on a sailboat so deliberate sure steps are the way to go. If you need to get off a leeshore under heavy wind and current realize once the anchor releases you will have to lift off quickly from the bottom at least to a point where scope will not interfere with prop. Go back to the cockpit and power the warmed up engine until you can reach a proper depth and distance to be able to haul the hook and properly stow away.