Single-handed anchoring

[csobalvarro]

Will be single handing over the weekend and may anchor out for a while. But the only time I've anchored I've done so with someone else. Any tips on single-handed anchoring? I know you typically drop anchor from the bow. But can you do so from the stern? Would certainly be easier.

Suggestions?

 

[MacMikey]

What helps me....

and please note I have not been at this sailing thing very long but I do have about 30 years of power boating...hold the applause please. I find that when I am alone onboard, and I wish to anchor out I find a place where I can turn into the wind and drop sails and raise the keel if shallow water. I then go foward and remove my anchor from the bow pulpit and take out as much line as I believe I will need to provide the correct scope for the area I plan on anchoring in. I cleat off the line to the bow chock and walk the anchor back to the cockpit making sure the anchor rode stays outside all rails and scrolds.

When I motor into the anchorage I pick my spot considering angle of swing and direction of wind. I motor up to where that point and drop the anchor over the side and using reverse power I back off until the anchor sets.

If a second anchor needed to keep my piece of mind in check, I will swim it out or dingy if I have it in tow.

Just one of many methods that works in calm air or when it is a little brisk and keeps me in the helm and in control of the boat during the anchoring operation.

 

[Justin]

bow

I think you want to anchor from the bow so that the boat will vane into the wind and not be buffeted about as much. They even make an anchor "sail" to keep you pointed upwind. I guess in a no wind, no current, situation the stern would work

 

[Robspan]

From the bow

I keep my anchor line and chain on a small roller that Wal Mart sells to keep electrical cord neat. The nice thing about having a small boat is that the anchor line is small enough to fit on something like this. I keep that and the anchor in a vinyl duffle in the v berth. I also have a bow roller on the bracket on the bow pulpit. See the picture - the roller is the orange object at the top of the pulpit. I got that idea from either this or another forum.
If I know I'm going to anchor, I put the anchor beforhand into the bow roller/bracket and secure it with a shock cord. Then when I'm about to anchor, I head the boat slowly into the wind, go to the bow, pull the line up through the bow hatch, attach the shackle on the chain to the anchor, and drop the anchor. It sounds a little involved, but it only takes a few seconds. This method has the benefit of not cutting holes in the bow or building a bowsprit, and the anchor is completely out of the way if I don't need it.

 

[caguy]

I drop anchor from the cockpit in calm weather,

while fishing. Mainly because the anchor I use is much lighter and the chain is smaller and shorter than what is in place at the bow.
In a calm anchorage for any length of time I have no problem going up front as long as I can swim faster than the boat can drift (just make sure you can get back in). If things are dicey then I go up through the front hatch and stand on the v berth from where I feed and retrieve the rode and chain. The anchor is mounted on a roller that I can release by pulling a pin. I don't worry about steering, with the tiller centered and locked the boat will find its own way down current and/or wind. If I need a stern anchor I just play out enough rode for that cleat off, go back and drop the stern anchor tie off what you need, go up front and drag the boat forward. Much easier than writing about it. I apologize for any typos, I'm all thumbs when posting on my Treo.
Mooring still makes me nervous, however, getting better with practice.
Frank

 

[Retcoastie]

Anchoring

Most sail boats will anchor nicely from the stern. They are like an arrow with lots of rigging to catch the wind and act as flighting.
Anchoring from the stern puts the flighing away from the wind and the boat will be steady, like an arrow in flight. This technique works well in high winds. The only danger is high waves pooping the cockpit. Do research on series drogues for how it works.

For normal anchoring, I have enough rode that I take a big loop in the rode back to the cockpit before I get to my anchor spot. I drop the anchor off the bow and let it hang down about 6 feet and just use the loop to lower it when I get there. After the anchor is set and the motor is off, I go forward and cleat the rode to the bow cleat. To raise, I go forward and uncleat, then go back to the cockpit, and using the motor as needed, raise the anchor using the loop. Once I am clear and under control, I go forward, stow the anchor and rode and continue on my merry way. Works fine.

 

[csobalvarro]

Thanks - We'll see how it goes

I'm thinking I'm going to try something along the lines of what "MacMikey" describes. It addresses two things well....

1) the consensus that anchor from the bow is better
2) my desire to actually "drop" anchor from the cockpit

Looking forward to giving it a try.

Thanks all!

 

[John S]

Anchoring at any Time

All of these answers are nice but assume that the anchor will hold. I am in Mexico right now living on a boat and I set anchors every day. The wind will blow 20knots in the PM. What will make you confident enough to walk away from the boat? What would be safe enough to go to sleep on board?

In this harbor with a sandy bottom, it pays to lay out the rode as the wind blows the boat downwind. If you just drop a pile of chain and the anchor on the bottom in a pile, chances are the boat will not be secure. If wind changes occur over the period of anchoring, and you have a Danforth type of anchor, the anchor will be fouled when the wind picks up. I dove down and looked at my anchor and 20 foot chain rode yesterday and the chain was neatly curled in two circles around the danforth, waitng for the next big blow to get all screwed up.

My point is that you may need to have an anchor watch, however you anchor. If you are going to walk away from your boat at anchor, and spend some time without laying your eyes on your boat, you better ramp up your skills.

After all of that, here is how I anchor: as I sail downwind, I get the sails down and stowed, having positioned myself up wind of my desired anchor spot. I turn into the wind a little above the desired anchor placement with enough momentum to get the bow into the wind and I let the anchor and chain go down until I feel the bottom, then I slowly pay out the rode as I drift down, hopefully laying out the chain rode in a line. I continue to drift downwind, occasionally snubbing up the rode gently to straighten out the line, but not asking the anchor to hold the boat until sufficient rode is out, a subject for another discussion.

You can feel the line and tell if the hook is set. If you feel the anchor dragging, it will telegraph that data up the line. You need to reset. You also need to leave yourself an out, perhaps even having the kicker running at idle if your anchor does not hold. There is no substitue for experience here, so start to anchor every time you go out to get the hang of it.

I am living on a 26 foot Balboa in Loreto, Mexico. I have about another 5 days until I return to Boise, Idaho. Sailing is fantastic here, but sometimes very rough in this inland sea. Two days ago, I passed a Mac 26D headed north, about 8 Nm ofshore. The boat had a roller furled headsail and a bimini under the boom. Wonder who that was?

 

[beamreach]

Points well taken

and I do pretty much the same in Appalachee Bay (Forida panhandle) where there's lots of grass beds and a danforth is sometimes slow to set. When I'm going to stay the night, I'll use the motor to run the boat up on an angle off the first anchor and set another on about 45 degrees of the first. A little extra work but a little more peace of mind to have two out when you wake up in the middle of the night and an easter has your rigging singing.

 

[csobalvarro]

Results!

Just passing this on as a report of what I ended-up doing thanks to all the advice I received. I was a little nervous about the whole thing so I made sure things were super prepared before I left the dock. I had the anchor and rode ready to go just inside the cabin and ran through the various ways to approach the task. It actually ended-up going very smoothly. I had a great 3.5 hour sail in 20+ winds on my way to the anchorage. The spot I picked was in the lee of a small island in the delta where I sail. Sheltered by trees the wind is pretty minimal even when it’s blowing hard. I dropped sails and approached the anchorage using the outboard. I found a spot to my liking and backed into it. I brought the boat to a virtual stop, dropped anchor over the side from the cockpit, then motored forward SLOWLY downwind away from the island. After paying-out a LOT of line I cleated to the stern and continued forward to set the anchor. It set almost immediately and held fast against a solid tug from the outboard. I then shut the engine down, pulled-in some slack, and ran the line around the rigging to the bow where I cleated it for the night. The whole process was amazingly simple. When I left in the morning I basically reversed the process and it went equally well. Fortunately, almost everywhere I go has a nice, sticky, muddy bottom where a Danforth excels.

In the final analysis, if I had a crew member on board I would certainly drop, set, and retrieve from the bow. But going solo, I would definitely do it this way again as it allows me to stay in the cockpit during all the critical steps of the process. Short of having a anchor roller and windlass this is probably as good as it gets. While I would like to add a roller, I don’t want to give-up the v-berth space required for a windlass as nice as that would be. Definitely on my boat

Thanks again for the great advice from everyone!