Dancing in the dark

[Benny]

Turn on the generator!!!

I survey anchoring techniques; type of anchor,chain or rode, scope, windage, wind and currents and weather prospects. Trough the night I'll check positions every two hours or so. I know what it is to get real late into a busy anchorage, hungry and tired when there is no option but squeezing real close to the big sport fishermen who had set bow and stern anchors so she would not swing(???) I let out enough scope so that we would not touch if there was a shift in wind. Luckily neither boat shifted. We carry a generator so as a courtesy we like to anchor in the perimeter and I crank it up early so any boat coming in may make their decision wheteher they want to anchor close to us or not.

 

[Ross]

I think that you have too many boats

and not enough places. In my favorite anchorages if there are three other boats I feel crowded. I make a point to not cruise on weekends, TOO many power boats!! but Monday through Friday, The bay belongs to me. We went out Tuesday. For almost four hours We were alone!!!

 

[Cap'n Ron]

The "Perfect Anchor"

Hi Trevor, Great thread here, and thank you for your diligence in running a great forum here.We anchor with a bunch of mates in Richardson's Bay, Sausalito, each year to watch the fireworks on the fourth; our patriotic duty to have a barbque, beers and remember our forefathers, long-haired dudes like: Washinton, Jefferson, Adams, et al."We should all hang together, or we'll all hang separately" said Ben methinks, he was a baldy.The achorages gets tighter and tighter each year, but we all have manners and make room for all.I was in an anchorage in Tonga, an island alone in a little cove, and my shaft was leaking, I had the wrong size flux for the gland...;-)The next morning in comes a Westsail 42 and anchors next to me, after calling on VHF.This guy ended up giving me the exact size flux that I needed for my shaft...conincedence? Welll, I let him stay....;-)

 

[tom]

Use an Anchor Float

With my Claw anchor "a Bruce knockoff" I always use an anchor float attached with a strong line. It has saved my anchor a few times as I can pull up the anchor from the front when I can't pull it up by the rode. I found a crab pot float on the beach and use it as my marker. The added advantage is that anyone coming in to anchor knows the location of my anchor and how much scope I am using. A final advantage is that it may discourage boats from motoring too close out of their fear of wrapping their prop. I use dacron but a bright yellow line floating on the surface might really discourage motoring about. The downside is that a floating line might wrap a boat trying to avoid dragging down on you in the middle of the night.

 

[Rick Webb]

Crank up the Tunes

I throw in an Ernest Tubb or Hank Williams Sr CD when the other boats come in looking for a spot. If they like Hank and ET they can't be all bad so we let them stay and turn down the music. A Vicory at Sea CD would probably work as well.

 

[DreamBoat]

Hey Tom, the same thing happened to us

in the same place. This was July 5, 2005. We had attended the Blue Angel's airshow at Pensacola Beach, and were making our way back to Fowl River. We anchored in Ingram's Bayou to enjoy the ospreys and dolphins and a cocktail. About 4:30pm, here come the waterskiers literally circling our boat. There was only 20 - 30 yards between our stern and the bank, but they didn't care. The admiral had to physically restrain me.But that is my only bad experience with anchoring in a "crowded" anchorage. Most places down here are uncrowded, and most everyone is considerate of others. I have never been in a location where I was concerned about another boat dragging down on us.

 

[Bob]

Let them know

I have a bouy on my anchor to show where the anchor is and I point it out to other boats if they anchor too close.

 

[Cliff Carter]

Spoilt romantic evening

My wonderful wife retired to the 'V' berth around 10P.M. I stayed in the cockpit to finish my 4th. bottle of wine!!!!!!!!!Another yacht arrived with a party-ing crew and anchored close by. As I was partaking in my 5th. bottle of,guess what? I felt that they were anchoring rather close, but what the hell they obviousley had more experience than me!I went to bed..............with my wife.@ 100hrs. My Wife, who will remain unnamed, complained about the rowdy grokles in the vacinity. She, I mean My Wife, questioned me about our rode. We were here first and according to her, I mean My Wife, we had the right amount of rode out. Then we, or rather they nudged us. She, I mean My Wife, said "let it be". They can move. Needless to say they had a more expensive yacht than ours. Or may be it was a charter. Well they were hammered. They didn't stir. So I srarted my one cylinder, woke the bay up and moved 50yds. My wife was pissed off with me, what's new!At 6am. nudge, nudge. It was them again, time I haulled anchor and headed home. Waking the bay for a second time and pissing my Wife off again, because she, My Wife , was looking forward to a sun rise..........breskfast.A

 

[Cliff Carter]

Spoilt romantic evening

My wonderful wife retired to the 'V' berth around 10P.M. I stayed in the cockpit to finish my 4th. bottle of wine!!!!!!!!!Another yacht arrived with a party-ing crew and anchored close by. As I was partaking in my 5th. bottle of,guess what? I felt that they were anchoring rather close, but what the hell they obviousley had more experience than me!I went to bed..............with my wife.@ 100hrs. My Wife, who will remain unnamed, complained about the rowdy grokles in the vacinity. She, I mean My Wife, questioned me about our rode. We were here first and according to her, I mean My Wife, we had the right amount of rode out. Then we, or rather they nudged us. She, I mean My Wife, said "let it be". They can move. Needless to say they had a more expensive yacht than ours. Or may be it was a charter. Well they were hammered. They didn't stir. So I srarted my one cylinder, woke the bay up and moved 50yds. My wife was pissed off with me, what's new!At 6am. nudge, nudge. It was them again, time I haulled anchor and headed home. Waking the bay for a second time and pissing my Wife off again, because she, My Wife , was looking forward to a sun rise..........breskfast.A

 

[Dave]

Recent experience

I just got back from a short cruise with my son and we were in a small bay in Green Bay when a really nasty storm blew in. It was two sailboats (we were the little guys in the neighborhood) and a five relatively big power boats. I had let out about 80 feet of rode on two anchors and thought I had good clearance but I misjudged where the closest power boats anchor was set. With moderate wind, it is not always clear how much they have. When the front came through, the wind shifted from the southwest, to the northwest very quickly (temp. dropped 30 degrees in about 2 minutes). My wind indicator topped out at 35 mph and this was before the big wind kicked in. We estimated that it must have been about 50 mph for about 4-5 minutes. Anyhow, while we did not drag, we did swing around quite a bit. The closest big power boat pulled his rode in about 20 feet to accommodate my swinging. We all kept our motors running and all stayed at least 40-50 feet apart. My experience with those with big cabin-cruiser power boats is that their captains are pretty responsible and knowledgeable. Their investment is quite a bit more than mine. Anyhow, it was an interesting evening, and we even saw a small waterspout about 1/2 mile away. Daves/v Hakuna MatataO'Day 222

 

[ex-admin]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending June 25, 2006:If boats anchor too close to me, I would:47% Ask them to move24% Move my boat24% Hope they realize this and move05% Grin and bear it1,501 owners responding

 

[Al]

No Problem... Here's what you do...

About an hour after dark holler (loud) across the cove to another ficticious boater, "Comeon over Darrel were about to replay the full 3rd season collection of the X Files on DVD". Set Generator on deck and pull rope.