i sail in the potomac river outside of washington dc. i have a H23. the potomac is tidal with a strong current. the tide can rise 4 feet in a given 12 hours. If i sleep out in the river, should i use 2 anchors? the one i have right now is your standard issue fluke anchor the right weight size etc. for my boat. steve H23-Spray
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One anchor should do!
If your anchor is sized correctly, and set correctly there is no reason to deploy a second anchor. If you are that concerned about dragging you should let out more rode. The main reason for using two anchors is to reduce the amount of swing room required in tight anchorages. A second anchor off the stern can also keep a vessel pointing in the direction of where the wave action is coming from to reduce rocking motion.
If your anchor is sized correctly, and set correctly there is no reason to deploy a second anchor. If you are that concerned about dragging you should let out more rode. The main reason for using two anchors is to reduce the amount of swing room required in tight anchorages. A second anchor off the stern can also keep a vessel pointing in the direction of where the wave action is coming from to reduce rocking motion.
Depends.
Steve: A lot depends on how well the anchor that you have resets in the bottom. If the river has a soft mud/sand bottom and anchor like a danforth seems to work well. The anchor will probably reset it self as the tides change. If you have a grass or week bottom, you may want to consider something like a Bruce or Delta anchor. These anchors (especially the Delta) will penetrate grass and weeds much better than a danforth. If you will sleep better, then you may want a bow and stern anchor.
Steve: A lot depends on how well the anchor that you have resets in the bottom. If the river has a soft mud/sand bottom and anchor like a danforth seems to work well. The anchor will probably reset it self as the tides change. If you have a grass or week bottom, you may want to consider something like a Bruce or Delta anchor. These anchors (especially the Delta) will penetrate grass and weeds much better than a danforth. If you will sleep better, then you may want a bow and stern anchor.
Maybe Just Some Chain
If I remember right that area is full of pretty sticky mud. A Danforth should work fine there 8 or even 10' of chain would also help it alot after that I would add a sentinel before I used an additional anchor.
If I remember right that area is full of pretty sticky mud. A Danforth should work fine there 8 or even 10' of chain would also help it alot after that I would add a sentinel before I used an additional anchor.
How about the GPS?
I don't know if you have one, but our Meridian GPS has an alarm that'll go off if you drift more than 100 ft from your anchor waypoint. This allows us to sleep in peace. I'd probably hurt myself if the thing went off in the middle of the night though! Jim Maroldo' s/v: Lil' Wass Ett
I don't know if you have one, but our Meridian GPS has an alarm that'll go off if you drift more than 100 ft from your anchor waypoint. This allows us to sleep in peace. I'd probably hurt myself if the thing went off in the middle of the night though! Jim Maroldo' s/v: Lil' Wass Ett
anchors while sleeping
if you're in a tidal basin, where the current flow changes direction with the tide, 2 anchors is a good idea-use a bahamian moor, with one anchor up river and one down-both set off the bow then you will swing to whichever anchor is upcurrent with huge swings or much resetting. also, a delta or bruce will reset much faster in a current than a danforth, which can "fly" if you don't have a lot of chain to hold it on the bottom.
if you're in a tidal basin, where the current flow changes direction with the tide, 2 anchors is a good idea-use a bahamian moor, with one anchor up river and one down-both set off the bow then you will swing to whichever anchor is upcurrent with huge swings or much resetting. also, a delta or bruce will reset much faster in a current than a danforth, which can "fly" if you don't have a lot of chain to hold it on the bottom.
Purse alarm also might work.
I have heard of people using purse alarms to indicate anchor problems. You drop a samll weight next to your anchor with a piece of lightline attached. You attach the other end of the line to the pin of a purse alarm. If the anchor drags, the pin is pulled from the purse alarm and wakes you.
I have heard of people using purse alarms to indicate anchor problems. You drop a samll weight next to your anchor with a piece of lightline attached. You attach the other end of the line to the pin of a purse alarm. If the anchor drags, the pin is pulled from the purse alarm and wakes you.
4ft in 12 hours?? Nothing.....
Only 4 ft in 12 hours? That's nothing...
Use more chain if you don't feel comfortable, that will keep the anchor at the bottom. And if you are still concerned about tide/currents, then let out more rode. For a primary I use a Bruce 33 for my V32 with ~40 ft of 3/8" chain (and have a Bruce 22 and another Danforth as backups) and never deploy a second anchor even with the 20 ft tides we see out here all the time! When we are expecting large tides then I usually let out more rode just to be sure... Btw, I used to sail in Northern VA on my mobjack and on the chesapeake on my Cat 27' and never had any significant tide issues unless a hurricane or tropical depression was sitting at the mouth causing a slight surge... As long as you let out enough rode, you should be golden! good luck, matt btw, did I mention that Deception Pass (Whidbey island) has current up to and sometimes greater than 8 knots! Now that is a tide! It was "interesting" going through there recently...
Only 4 ft in 12 hours? That's nothing...
Use more chain if you don't feel comfortable, that will keep the anchor at the bottom. And if you are still concerned about tide/currents, then let out more rode. For a primary I use a Bruce 33 for my V32 with ~40 ft of 3/8" chain (and have a Bruce 22 and another Danforth as backups) and never deploy a second anchor even with the 20 ft tides we see out here all the time! When we are expecting large tides then I usually let out more rode just to be sure... Btw, I used to sail in Northern VA on my mobjack and on the chesapeake on my Cat 27' and never had any significant tide issues unless a hurricane or tropical depression was sitting at the mouth causing a slight surge... As long as you let out enough rode, you should be golden! good luck, matt btw, did I mention that Deception Pass (Whidbey island) has current up to and sometimes greater than 8 knots! Now that is a tide! It was "interesting" going through there recently...- Status