Nailed down or blown around?

[Gord May]

Gently, then HARD

Lot's of similar advice - so I'll just summarize a couple of points.1. Set your anchor gently. Let it get a bight.2. Test your anchor hard - as hard as you can.3. Feel your rode when you do your first (set) snubbing, and again when you do your hard (test) snub. A "thrumbing" line will indicate a poor set (slight drag). It's hard (for me) to describe this feeling, but you'll recognize it when you experience it.4. Take plenty of ranges, marking you position(s), including your anticipated swinging circle. Check your position as often as conditions dictate.Regards,Gord

 

[J. Santomenna]

After sixteen years, a working system

After years of watching folks charge into a anchoring area, lay out miles of scope, and yank it out by backing down full trottle, we have developed a much calmer and controlled approach.When the boat stops moving forward, we drop (do not use windlass) our anchor (bruce), chain (45') and rode (to total of 5x depth) and allow the wind to carry us back. When the line is straight, we gently apply reverse engine until the line stops bobbing and pulls straight. It's set..even for Caribbean winds. The only time we use a second anchor is when another vessel anchors too close and we need to restrain our swing. Watching folks anchor makes an interesting cocktail hour.

 

[Todd Alt]

Back Down and Check It

Due to the fact that the Western Basin of Lake Erie is pretty shallow I usually drop my Bruce off the roller, pay out 7 to 1, bump reverse a couple of times, and then dive down to the anchor and make sure it is set solid. I have been fooled before by large rocks and temporary holds that make me me think that I have a hold. Actually seeing the anchor dug in with a good stretch of the chain on the bottom makes me feel better.

 

[Peter Ludlow]

Security

I generally set a 35lb plow by deploying the anchor once the boat has stopped forward way and pay out a scope of 3-4x depth including 35ft 3/8 chain. I let the boat set back until the rode is taut and I can feel by hand the anchor behavior on the bottom. Generally with wind or engine (ideling in reverse) there is enough way to quickly determine if the anchor is set or traveling along the bottom. If it sets it will be impossible to hold the rode against the boat's momentum. If it is set I then pay out additional scope depending on the weather forecast and anchorage conditions. If a large blow is forecast I will also back hard (1/3 throttle and feel the rode) When returing to neutral the elaticity of the nylon rode should produce significant forward motion as further confirmation that the reverse force is totally stored in the rode and not producing drag at the anchor. Storing the deployment coordintes in GPS is also reassuring in addition to triangulating the position with shore point and other vessels in the anchorage.Knowing your position wrt other vessels is also important for your welbeaing if these other vessels drag! I have never experienced a drag once I have CONFIRMED a good set!

 

[Tom Roberts]

Eyeball, (thanks to this board)

Being new to sailing, 90% of what I know I learned from books and reading boards such as this one. Unfortunately, I did not heed the advice on scope (did not quite understand it at the time). On our first overnight I had the boat anchored in a cove by our camp site. I motored up wind, dropped the anchor, released (What felt like) enough line, tied the end, and reversed until it pulled. So far so good. That night, A storm came through and about 7:00 pm, my daughter says, "DAD, LOOK AT THE BOAT" It was spinning down the cove. I had to swim out to it and ended up motoring it back to the marina in the rain. Needles to say the next time I anchored I heeded the advice given on this board and let out 6 to 1, then used the goggles and fins and manually inspected the anchor. This is now my practice if there is any hint that the wind might pick up. Thanks again for all of the real world information on this board. It is invaluable.

 

[Jose Venegas]

Challenging anchoring

Last year anchoring off First Beach in Nantucket, I had the experience of handling 25+ knot North wind at night. Having a 7:1 scope with all chain would have been no problem except that a strong ebb current rotated the boat perpendicular to the wind greatly increasing the drag forces on her. As my GPS anchor alarm went off, I noted a change from a smiling happy face track trace to a Christmas tree like trace indicating that my anchor was not holding!!!.I went out, increase the scope to 10:1, place shock cords around my sail cover, moved the boom to leeward, and rotated the rudder to port. As a result of the current, the boat rotated to port and better aligned itself with the wind reducing drag and keeping the anchor in place. Next morning the picture shows what I saw of a motor boat that was a few hundred yards windward of me the night before: :}

 

[Don Alexander]

For George F

You question why your anchor suddenly let go. I presume there was no reversal of tidal flow so perhaps my experience will shed some light.I anchored in a small bay intending to shelter from a forecast northerly gale. The wind built up to gale force - but from the SW, a direction which the bay was completely open to. The anchor was solid and there was not much we could do if it was not. At about 3 am we began to drift rapidly towards a rocky shore. I raised the hook and, in the dark,it appeared as if there was weed on it . Fortunately we then found an empty buoy and then the wind went northerly and the night passed. Next morning I saw the "weed" on the anchor was in fact three separate strands of rusty hawser wire. We must have hooked into this and believed we were secure. In the rising wind it just broke.Maybe you were hooked into a log, chain or other item which also simply pulled apart.Regards,Don Alexander.

 

[Alan]

Getting a kick

I always get a kick when watching boaters pulling anchor in the morning. Most times they struggle with trying to get the anchor back. I NEVER fight with my anchor retrieval. Motoring forward very slowly and pulling in the slack rode until it is vertical. Then and here's the secret, stop and wait. The movement of the boat will slowly break the anchor out without me having to struggle with it. After breakout it's a simple matter of lifting the remaining rode and anchor.

 

[Steve Schwartz]

Lots of chain

We've found the best technique for anchoring is one similar to that described by J. Santomenna. After a few unpleasant dragging episodes, I bought a bruce-type anchor, fifty feet of chain, and a manual windlass. Anchoring in 10' to 20' feet of water, I find that 50' of chain is better than all chain rode, since an all chain rode needs a snubber. (If more weight is needed one can use a weight sent down the rode on a separate line as described by a couple of others on this thread--although I have not found this to be necessary.) I let out the chain and then as many feet of nylon as I need to make scope. I think that lots of chain (or other form of weight) plus a good holding anchor is the key to staying put. It takes 20-25 kns of wind even to lift my line off the bottom and we have high freeboard, dodger, bimini, etc. Personally, I don't like to use two anchors or anchors with moving parts.

 

[Sail-La-Vie]

Great topic!

Based on the number of responses, this anchoring topic is of great interest to most cruising sailors. The posts provide lots of good tips, and even a few salty stories. But I wish the authors would include the size of their boat and a discription of their ground tackle to add perspective to their posts. For instance, Sail-La-Vie is a Morgan 382, ( about 18000 lbs displacement) and we've been using a Delta 35lb with 20 ft of chain & 250 ft nylon. Sailing in LI Sound and anchoring mostly in mud/sand, the Delta has never failed to set on first try, and we've never dragged although the most we've seen at anchor is 25 knots of wind. Larry

 

[Tom Hyde]

Setting the anchor

When setting the anchor I stand at the bow, drop the anchor have my wife back down slowly until the anchor bites, then I have her back down hard, if the back end swings and anchor holds we are fine. If we are in close quarters, once the anchor is set I slide a 15 pound mushroom anchore down the anchor rode attached to a seperate rope, when it hits the bottom I pull it up about 10 feet, then I pull up the anchor rode to about 3 to 1. The mushroom anchor will keep the anchor rode on the bottom. Works really well.

 

[David Underwood]

Vacation was no picnic......

So we motored out from the marina, no wind, hot, humid weather and we were on a mission.. go on vacation. But vacation was not a picnic. We got hit by a storm every single day. The first night.. just about dusk, saw the storm coming and could not run, just had to stay put. Our danforth 13s held us through a 30 minute storm that had sustainded winds of 20-25 knots, and several long, vey long, gust of 40 Knots. Next morning we could not get the anchor up. While trying, the next storm rolled in,and it was worst. Top wind was 48 knots and it seemed to last forever. Still, that one single anchor held ... kelp us off the lee shore and much later that afternoon, we managed to get it up, it brought up a tree with it, but we left and found a more protected cove. Kinda exciting watching these storms from under the protection of our dodger..

 

[Toby]

secure in St Barths

We were having a great time sailing (chartering) out of St Martin. As we approached Gustavia, we lowered sail and prepared to anchor when I noticed we had no exhaust discharge. I surmised we had worn out our cooling pump impellar. We shut down the engine, raised the sails and I explained to all what their assignments would be when we anchored in Gustavia. I was a little concerned as I was the only person that had anchored under sail before. We sailed through the outer harbor and found a suitable place to drop the hook. All went well. The hook was set and the crew celebrated the experience. The charter company had a new impeller in place that evening. I learned a valuable lesson, however. Anse de Columbier is a very short sail from Gustavia. It is an open anchorage with relatively few boats and would have made a much better place for a green crew to "practice" dropping the hook than in the congestion of Gustavia. I'd been there several times before but totally focused on the situation instead of stepping back a second to consider all of the options. Anse de Columbier now has moorings.

 

[Bill B]

Bigger is better

Editorial on the subject of anchors: bigger is generally better. Spend the extra money and buy an anchor that is at least one size larger than what is recommended for your boat. In my case I went from a 28 lb Danforth to a 35 lb plow and just last weekend I was glad I did. We rode out 10 hours of winds of 30+ kts without a hint of a problem while another boat in the same cove dragged his anchor and 200' of chain, and ended up on the rocks.If you rely on the anchor that came with your boat when it was new, consider this, why would any boat builder supply an anchor that is one ounce heavier or one penny more expensive than the "minimum required" for a given size boat? Your boat and perhaps your life is riding on that anchor, use the biggist one you can reasonably handle!

 

[norm ellis]

10 lb lead ball

I also lower the anchor -I use a 25 lb CQR with 25 feet of 3/8 chain and 3/8 braided line-to the bottom, then back down paying out about 3:1 then cleat it, holding the boat in reverse to make sure it's set. If I'm expecting a blow or unsure of the bottom I slide a 10 lb lead ball down the rope. It stops when it hits the chain. So far I've always slept well. Being in Canada I also have the option of stern tying to shore- anywhere below the highest water line is public. I carry several rope slings and put one around a big rock and run my stern line through and back to the boat. I can leave by simply uncleating the stern line and winding it back to the boat.

 

[Charmaine aboard s/v September Sea]

Face the wind and weigh the anchor down

Usually (unless the current is stronger than the wind) make sure to face the wind when setting the anchor (knowing how much rode you put out it's easier to know when you are at the end of your line, as you've gone straight back). Drop the anchor in its most desireable position (depends on the type of anchor used). Then I allow all the chain to drop atop the anchor; which seems to help set it down into the bottom. Slowly I reverse until I can feel that gentle tug. Then a couple of good tugs on it with the engine and I'm set! It has not failed yet.

 

[Larry]

Retrieving the anchore

To skip ahead a little, I've had no problem with setting the anchore, now my problem is " when in a heavily populated spot and the current or wind is strong, How do you get the anchore back up when your single handed? And not run over someone else in the process? help!!

 

[Gord May]

Foul the Anchor....?

Charmaine:You were just kidding, right? ('Drop all the chain on the anchor')Gord

 

[Stu Jackson]

Retrieving the anchor singlehanded

LarryIf it's windy and you can't bring it up by hand from the bow when you're alone, consider bringing the rode back to a cockpit winch.Slowly winch yourself closer until the anchor rode is up and down. The wind should shove you around enough to trip the anchor.You could also run the line back and simply motor up to it in short bursts.Your choice.Stu

 

[jeff 14640]

setting the hook on wedding day

last september i married my wife in a waterfront ceremony along the toms river here in nj. the ceremony and reception took place at a relatives waterfront home. it was a beautiful day with a nice s/e breaze blowing. for the full nautical effect and photo ops we decided to anchor our c22 just off the property with full flags flying. about 2 hours prior to the ceremony my cousin and i brought the boat over from the marina centered her up on the property and set the hook. we were only in about 6' of water and i was certain that i had let out enough scope to hold in the muddy bottom. we paddled in and continued preparations for the day. did i mention the s/e breaze?, while i was on the phone with my wife to be, t minus 1 hour, i looked out at the boat while telling her how good it looked and realized that she was dragging anchor toward shore and the neighbors dock..........with a panicked "uhh ohh, gotta go" i hung up and began running down the stairs to the water stripping off clothes as i went into the water to swim to the boat. fortunately i got aboard and started the motor just prior to hitting the dock. needless to say, with wedding planning stress compounded by this untimely event, the anchor came up and i headed for the slip, not wanting a repeat during the ceremony, photo ops or not....the wedding went better than could have been expected and some anchoring lessons were learned: back down hard, tripple check the rode, and mark the rode in 10' increments to be sure exactly how much scope i have set out. we have plans to sleep on the boat anchored out next week for the first time this season, hopefully the lessons learned will result in a good nights sleep in the same spot were we started for the evening....