I Have Arrived

[Roger Long]

OK, enough traveling. I'm putting down roots in the form of a two anchor Bahamian moor and I'm going to stay here for a while.

I'm in Georgetown, one of my favorite places on the waterway. Tolerant of transient boaters, cute, and interesting. I mean, what's not to like about a small town with its very own steel mill right on the harbor?

I got the dinghy off the deck and over the side for the first time since Hampton. After getting it aboard there with two helpers using the spinnaker halyard, I was a bit worried about what a task it was going to be alone. It was quicker and easier than with help. Isn't that often the way?

I've just been ashore for dinner at Aunny's, authentic, down home, southern cooking. I had ribs, yellow rice, and ocra with mixed vegetables for $10.90. My kind of place.

It was mostly an overcast and somewhat raw day for the 56 mile run down. The last half was through the cypress swamps of the Waccamaw River which is visually one of the most interesting stretches of the ICW with all the side channels, and large trees growing out of the water off by themselves. It's largely nature preserve so wild and unspoiled for miles.

I'm anchored across from the shrimp docks and market.

Scampi tomorrow night!

If you look closely, you can see the Pelican sitting on the end of the outrigger:

Oh yes, the boat I wrote about last time came in and is tied up at the marina almost directly across from me. Oops.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

In search of AICW jetskis

The ketch hailed from Maine. I thought that you might know them?

The yawl knew who you were...

Was this guy looking for jet skis that are here in summer?

Ed K

 

[Roger Long]

Where was this picture taken?

The waterway looks so different from down on it, I can't place it.

 

[gandalf]

Georgetown

I spent several days there in early December 2003. It is trully an iconic southern town(also like Fernandina Beach for same reasons) with an industrial aslpect and a real homey and hospitable town as well. Make sure your anchors are both well set. I had a thunderstorm the first night and was very glad that I had set my anchors well and evern glader when I was given a mooring to use the next day. I corresponded with someone I met at the cool coffeeshop for the rest of my three year sailing adventure. I am not sure I will ever do the ICW again but would love to drive down and visit the towns like Georgetown.

On another note I sailed from SouthPort on Nov 5 crewing on a 46' Hylas. We went non stop to Cuttyhunk where we rode out a Northeaster with 75 mph winds and then non stop to Ft. Lauderdale(with a quick trip into the Abacos for fuel. We were roughly 150 miles to 200 miles off shore much of the way so way outside the shipping lanes. Even with a crew of 4 it was a tiring adventure. But totally different than any of my other trips up and down the East Coast. and good to have a tan to bring back for Thanksgiving.

Am enjoying your trip vicariously. Thanks for your blog. SV Gandalf currently in Maine.

 

[Roger Long]

It is trully an iconic southern town(also like Fernandina Beach for same reasons) with an industrial aslpect and a real homey and hospitable town as well.

I've just spent a very pleasant day here. It would have been an almost perfect summer day in New England, temperature 72, calm winds, fluffy clouds in blue sky.

I realized during the afternoon that it was very quiet over at the steel mill and someone told me it recently closed. There are a lot of closed stores on main street, probably as a result.

I rowed over to the shrimp dock and just had a couple from Maine over for Scampi. They realized today that I once found their dinghy floating around in Penobscot Bay and contacted them on the radio. They came back and picked it up but I didn't look closely enough at their boat at the time to recognize it today. The dinghy they rowed over in is the same one.

Later correction: The steel mill is still operating. Evidently it is in some quieter mode of the operating cycle than when I was here last year.

 

[dugout]

Ground Tackle?

Roger, at some point could you discuss the ground tackle you are laying to? Depth, bottom, current, holding, etc? You said you are staying a while, right?

 

[Roger Long]

Could you discuss the ground tackle you are laying to?

This is a very typical ICW anchoring situation. The channel is narrow with a fair amount of current that reverses with the tide and space is limited. Georgetown has a reputation for people dragging in the soft river mud.

Most anchors will tolerate the current reversal as long as it isn’t accompanied by a lot of wind. If the anchor breaks out and has to reset itself, the boat may move uncomfortably far before the anchor grabs again. Generous scope helps the anchor reset when unattended but that amount of scope can put the boat in shallow water or out in the channel if a strong cross channel wind comes up.

Most boats here appear to be lying to a single anchor but, since I would like to sleep well and plan to leave the boat unattended for a few hours at a time while I do things ashore, so I opted for a two anchor “Bahamian Moor”.

I found a spot between a boat on a mooring and one which appears semi-permanently moored. I went up fairly close to the upstream boat and dropped my 22 pound Delta close behind it. I then let the boat drift back to within about a boat length of the downstream boat, set the Delta, and then used the engine to kick myself out towards the channel so I wouldn’t possibly be dropping my second anchor over his. I dropped my Fortress FX 16 there, pulled myself back up to short scope on the Delta, and set it. I then dropped back to midway between the two anchors. It was high tide so I was able to pull both rodes, one going out of each bow chock, fairly snug.

I dropped the 8 pound rubber coated mushroom I use as a kellet down the second anchor line to minimize the chance of a rode fouling on the rudder or prop when the boat swings with the tide change. I’ve heard a rode drag and pop off the keel a couple of times. The next time I see another of those anchors, I think I’ll buy it as a kellet on both rodes would give me some additional peace of mind as well as a spare.

This setup has kept me nicely positioned alongside the channel. I stay in one spot and neither of the upstream or downstream boats has gotten uncomfortably close. My biggest concern is someone coming in, not realizing I’m on two anchors, and dropping their hook right on top of mine or otherwise too close. BopT’s friends came in and anchored fairly close but farther inshore so I don’t think there will be a problem.

If there should be a strong, cross channel wind, the give in the rope and the geometry of the swigging strain on the two rodes will let the boat move uncomfortably towards the shallow water or into the channel. So far, it’s been dead calm every night and only very light winds during the day. If adverse winds are forecast, I’ll have to make some adjustments, either moving one or both anchors sideways as indicated or setting my third anchor, usually kept in the bilge, out with the dinghy until the wind goes down.

Retrieving this kind of setup isn’t difficult. You just let out on the upstream or upwind (depending which is stronger) rode and take in on the other until you are over the second anchor. Break that out and pull up short on the other while you stow it. Then break out the second and depart.

I much prefer my rope rodes with a boat length of chain leader to all chain for this kind of anchoring. It’s much easier and quicker to set out and reconfigure ground tackle. The boat has done complete 360’s a couple times by now and I’ve had to go forward, cast off one rode, and lead it back around to untwist. It’s a lot harder to do that with chain. I actually don’t have to take the twist out but, if the boat does a couple more 360’s in the same direction, it gets harder to untangle.


The strong point of this kind of anchoring arrangement is that neither anchor ever experiences a complete reversal of pull. Each rode either takes the full strain or is slack. A few days of this and both will be well worked in without having dug a hole of loosened bottom mud as they turned around or were pulled in reverse at each tide change. If we do get some wind with those rain showers predicted for the next couple of days, I should be in good shape as long as someone else doesn’t drag down on top of me. The only way to be sure of avoiding that is to find your own private cove.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Having done some river anchoring myself, have you considered fore and aft?

I used a 16# Bruce aft with a 22# Rocna at the bow, deploying them both off the bow and then running the Bruce rode aft by simply walking it down the deck. The river was tidal and also very narrow and I had to keep from swinging into the center because of barge traffic. At that time of year the prevailing wind was from abeam, windy from 1200 to 1900 and then relatively calm all night. Same two anchors, no boat swing (no neighbors, either!).

Great to keep keepin' up with you.

 

[dugout]

Thanks for the detailed description, Roger. That's an interesting application of the Bahamian Moor. I always thought of it as a storm tactic but limiting swing has advantages. I can see myself with a twisted up mess.:cry:
Be well!

 

[jibes138]

Roger,
Just a suggestion regarding finding another mushroom anchor for a kellet. Consider using a 10 pound scuba weight instead. These come rubber coated and have two slots in them so it is easy to attach a line. Very inexpensive, basically the price of lead, readily available, and much easier to handle and stow than an oddball shaped mushroom. Just another way to skin a cat.
How do you feel about anchors in series, where you have one anchor attached with a rode to the second anchor, so if the primary starts to drag it pulls on the secondary anchor that has a 0 degree rode angle. The second anchor then only needs to overcome the force difference between the dragging anchor and the total force on the primary rode. I haven't done this but it sure seems like it is a good idea?

 

[Roger Long]

Having done some river anchoring myself, have you considered fore and aft?

I started the trip last year as a great fan of the stern anchor which I use a lot in New England to keep the boat from going sideways on calm nights and rolling in the small left over swells that make their way into many anchorages. My cabin heater burns best when the boat is head to wind and I've spent many uncomfortable nights with waves banging under the stern when the current has swung the boat around. Yes, I love stern anchors. If it were colder and the wind were blowing harder, I probably would be on one now.

However, stern anchors need to be carefully tended and become problematic in the stronger currents encountered to the south of here.

If the wind comes hard on the beam with a bow and stern anchor set up, the greater windage of the boat puts enormous strain on the anchors and can break one out. This happened to the new sailor I advised to set a stern anchor last year in Cape May. The stern anchor kept him off the beach but he had a major C.F. to deal with and called the Coast Guard because he thought he was going ashore. I'd told him to move the rode to the bow if the wind came up but that part didn't stick.

In strong currents on the stern, the boat wants to turn around because of its inherent directional stability. When it gets at a slight angle to the stern, it starts developing side forces of the same magnitude that let it drive to windward under sail and goes surging sideways which can put you aground or in the channel as well as enormous strain on the stern anchor. In currents such as found in places like Saint Marys GA, I have not found any combination of rudder angle and rode adjustment that keeps the boat quiet for more than a minute or two. I've done wild swings back and forth of over 100 feet. If there is chop, there is nothing for it but to let the boat swing to its natural lie from bow anchors and live with the noise.

I never leave a boat unattended on bow and stern anchors if any current or wind can be expected. I also always have my stern anchor rigged with the rode run to a bow chock so that it can immediately be converted to a second bow anchor. Usually, I now have the strain actually taken by a bow cleat and chock and just use a short loop of line around the rode to pull it up to the stern cleat. Cast off that line and the conversion to Bahamian Moor is done.

These kind of arrangements are also much easier to do with rope rodes than with chain.

 

[sea_casper]

Friends of ours, a few weeks ago complained that the steel mill…"left tiny little black sand/like particles all over our boat", and the paper mill "smelled bad".

We had a similar experience with the particles all over the boat last year, when we were there, otherwise we enjoyed the place.

 

[Roger Long]

the steel mill…"left tiny little black sand/like particles all over our boat", and the paper mill "smelled bad".

So that's what they are. I thought I spilled coffee grounds when taking the garbage ashore.

It does smell today but I'm from Maine so paper mill smell is nothing new.

My biggest complaint is the birds attracted by the shrimp dock. What they leave on the boat is a lot worse than tiny black particles.

BTW, there is a very nice little park and beach (no swimming) if you walk back towards the river and past the athletic fields to the point with the old jetty pilings sticking up when you entered.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

walking down Front St.

So that's what they are. I thought I spilled coffee grounds when taking the garbage ashore.

It does smell today but I'm from Maine so paper mill smell is nothing new.

My biggest complaint is the birds attracted by the shrimp dock. What they leave on the boat is a lot worse than tiny black particles.

BTW, there is a very nice little park and beach (no swimming) if you walk back towards the river and past the athletic fields to the point with the old jetty pilings sticking up when you entered.

Roger,

Since you are walking around, from the River Walk
area walk down Front St. toward the fish place and
end marina looking at the big trees. Make note of
marker for water level from Hurricane Hugo.

Ed K