What is "Sailing Off The Hook"?

[robertsapp]

I've heard for years that a skilled sailor can "sail off the hook" when at anchor. Like most people, we usually start the engine and let it idle while raising anchor, and then motor into the wind to raise the sails. Last weekend, we decided to just haul in the anchor rode without starting the engine, bring the anchor on board, and then as the wind pushed the nose of the now drifting boat downwind, roll out the gennaker and sail away. Have we now done this epic "sailing off the hook" I've heard about for years? Or is there something more to it? Because if that's all there is to it, well, it doesn't seem like much of a big deal.

 

[Terry in Naples]

saililng off the anchor

Try it in a bouncy swell ,with gusty variable winds on the nose, against the tide when your motor won't start, with little "swing room" on either side, the anchor stuck and you find you need to move. Enjoy the easy ones but keep practicing so when you "have to" you can.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Robert...

try it off a mooring in a tight field then you'll find out how big a deal it can really be by the pucker factor involved...:dance:

 

[Winkfish]

My wife and I did it as part of a bareboat charter/ASA sailing course. Our instructor had us do it, but we didn't raise the anchor until after our sail was up. We waited for the boat to swing at anchor the way we wanted, one of us raised the anchor quickly, and the other helmed us out of the anchorage (with many other boats in it). It was fun, a little scary at times as you're trying to avoid other boats while trying to gain enough headway.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Yes, is the answer to your question.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Sure. You can raise the main and sail off the hook, or do it your way by raising the anchor and using the foresail.

Lots of different ways to do it. Usually if the anchor is stuck (the way it SHOULD be), you'd need more than just "pulling it up" although a rising tide would help.

Don't forget to back down hard on your anchor when you are setting it.

I caught some eel grass in our engine intake just the other day, and anchored very quickly, but deliberately, my SOP. Because the engine was overheating AND because the conditions were very benign, I did enough to simply stop the boat. We cleared the grass from the intake strainer and thru hull and it was easy to raise the anchor by hand.

I never do it that way when we're actually planning to anchor. I set it hard astern, just like Maine Sail has been telling us to do. I sleep a lot better, and keep waking up in the mornings just where I started the night before.

 

[robertsapp]

I never do it that way when we're actually planning to anchor. I set it hard astern, just like Maine Sail has been telling us to do. I sleep a lot better, and keep waking up in the mornings just where I started the night before.

Please explain 'set it hard astern' if you would. Here in this area, we generally have sandy bottoms, occasionally some mud or grass. We have a 45 lb CQR on an all chain rode, which is way too much anchor for our boat, but we like it that way. When we anchor, we do the following.

I'm at the anchor locker, wife is at the helm. When she likes the spot, she stops the boat, then begins gently backing it, while calling out the depth to me.

I pay out chain until I feel the anchor bouncing off the bottom, and then give it a little more while ensuring the boat is gently moving backward, to ensure the anchor is being pulled upward such that it won't lay on its side as CQRs sometimes do.

I then begin paying out more chain a little at a time, letting the wind push the boat at about the same rate so that the chain isn't piling up on the anchor.

After setting between 6:1 and 8:1 scope, I give the wife 'all clear' and she backs down at about 2/3rds throttle while we watch landmarks to make sure we're hooked up.

Pretty sure we usually get a good set. Anyway, since I'm the windlass on the boat, when we raise anchor, I just sit forward and hand-over-hand the chain back onboard. I can tell when the anchor is getting ready to lift, because a 45 pounder has a pretty good grip on the bottom and it's obvious when I'm no longer just lifting chain.

So anyway, I weighed anchor, let the bow fall off, rolled out the gennaker, and away we went. So like I said, I was just wondering if there was more to this, or if that's it. With our fin keel and spade rudder, any wind at all will let us spin the boat in its own length, but I guess I can see where it might be a bit more challenging if there were other boats around on close moorings.

 

[Stu Jackson]

That sounds like a very good way to do it.

from Maine Sail, start about halfway down the thread:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2705.msg20066.html#msg20066

 

[tommays]

It does not work well for example on a J24 as it wants to go once any sail at all is up so even a tiny delay in anything results in some wild stuff

The Cal 29 behaves much better BUT my mooring neighbor just did a fail through my cabin top with his C30 pulpit

And its turning into a pretty expensive lesson for him due to the location of the glass shop in are area

 

[Anchor Down]

"Hard Astern!"

Robert, I'm sure what Stu means by "set it hard astern" is that he uses his engine to back down on his anchor to achieve a secure set.

 

[Anonymous 121765]

Robert,

I used to show off in anchorages with not only sailing off the hook, but sailing to hook also. This is easiest in lighter winds and flat water.

When sailing off the hook it's smart to have your engine running, just in case. If tied to another boat that is anchored, this is a breeze.

Unless a strong tide occurs, your nose will be to the wind. Haul your main up and when set, yank on the anchor with someone at the wheel. Anchor free, turn leeward to build speed and rudder control and you will impress the other anchored boats.

We were gungho a few years back and would sail up to anchor also. Abit more trickier, but fun. Find an anchoring spot, and set your approach tight to the wind while still maintaining steerage. moving real slow on the main only, when at your spot, nose up and allow the boat to slow almost to a stop. Be ready on the anchor and as you stop your headway, pan the anchor out. Remember to be NOSED directly into the wind at this point. The boat will settle back, still nosed up and just drop the main.

We enjoyed this and other adventures, but lazier now, I mostly use the iron jib.

Also in sand, I'm not a lover of CQR anchors. Find a danforth that has a good degree of fluke radius both up and down, as this will set fast, and break loose easily in sand unless you have been sitting in a blow.

Remember to always let the conditions work FOR you and not AGAINST. Sail on......

CR

 

[robertsapp]

Robert,

Also in sand, I'm not a lover of CQR anchors. Find a danforth that has a good degree of fluke radius both up and down, as this will set fast, and break loose easily in sand unless you have been sitting in a blow.


CR

There's a Fortress FX 37 on my Christmas wish list. I've been pretty naughty this year though, so who knows... :naughty:

The 45 lb CQR popped up on craigslist for $250, and it seemed like too good a deal to pass up at the time.

 

[kenn]

I like to sail off and onto "the hook", "the mooring", "the dock" (much to my wife's horror), but things are fairly easy when you're only 19' LOA

I do a have a healthy fear of congestion, though, so if there's danger or the possibility of collision I will start the outboard. I much prefer being the first or last in/out, as opposed to moving in a herd.

 

[sailaway78]

As someone stated

It's nice to show off sometimes. If in a crowded anchorage or mooring field, it seems like mostly a macho thing to not at least have the engine running. While I basically never anchor in a crowded spot, and have tied up exactly one time ever in a mooring field, I almost always have the engine going, and most of the time using it. In the soft mud bottoms around here, a lot of the time, it takes some power to break out an anchor. And please before you comment, I can and have sail my boat up the narrow channel leading to the house, did a U turn, and stopped snugly to the dock, with no engine. But I did have it running.

 

[RECESS]

When we sleep on the hook I like to sail off the hook just because the boat is naturally in the right place to raise the mainsail. If I motor off anchor, I have to motor into the wind to raise the main. Raising it on anchor just removes a couple steps. Plus I think it just feels cool to slip away without there being a sound.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Watching people, especially couples, attempting to sail to the hook, to sail off the hook, or to pick up a mooring is the classic 1600 "happy-hour" entertainment of sailors on cruising yachts. If the wind is much over 10 kt, then it really gets interesting. A few years ago with some friends aboard our Bavaria 38, my wife and I sailed to the hook in a place known as "Hurricane Gulch", which is an area of LA Harbor off San Pedro where the afternoon summer sea breeze pipes into the low 20s frequently. Sailing into the designated anchorage at Cabrillo Beach requires a beat into that sea breeze, tacking a few times across the marked channel, to finally make the anchorage boundary, whereupon one can anchor in 9 - 20', depending on how close to the beach one wishes to be.

Here's how. As you near the spot, on your final tack (main sail only now), where you wish to anchor, you put the boat head-to-wind (and keep it there). With the boat nearly stopped, deploy the hook, and at virtually the same time you (or someone) blow(s) the main sheet, and lets the main sail luff. THIS IS THE CRITICAL STEP!! If you fail to free the main sheet the boat will start sailing as soon as the head falls off enough for the wind to power the sail. As the boat does fall off the wind, pay out your rode. As the anchor catches and pulls the bow back into the wind, drop the mail sail. Then, make yourself a drink.

Evidently, someone also beating up the channel to the anchorage saw us do this and was going to do likewise. They lowered the jib, sailed to the spot, put the boat head-to-wind, and dropped the hook. However, they did not blow the main sheet to luff the sail. It was blowing between 15 and 20 kt, so the boat took off sailing on the main with the hook down. Of course, we're watching all of this while tipping G&T's. The boat quickly gets to the end of its anchor rode, which then pulls the bow around and the main sail jibes. Now the boat is sailing down wind on the main sail in > 15 kt, somehow pulling its anchor behind it. As it passes by one of the channel markers the anchor evidently fouls the cable because the boat suddenly lurched to a stop. It was evident from our position that the rode had also fouled on the rudder. They eventually got the main sail down and after several breath-hold dives under the stern they still could not free the anchor rode. They eventually cut it free and motored away.

So, sometimes, it's not so easy as it might appear at first glance!!!