Poor Seamanship - Anchoring

[Dockhead]

I did something really stupid yesterday, and I have to get it off my chest.

I was sailing out of Weymouth bound for home in the Solent, about 50 miles East along the South Coast of England.

For various reasons we did not get off in time to make the tidal gate at the Needles, and I decided to anchor out. We could have easily gone into Poole and tied up in a marina, but I was just itching to spend a night at anchor. The forecast was F5 to F6 SW backing to SE -- I thought. There is a lovely bay South of Poole called Studland, with great holding and wide open spaces just right for our boat with her 100 meters of 1/2" chain. There is protection from the West and South, but by Southeast it's iffy, and no protection at all from the East

I cavalierly ignored the issue of shelter -- we have a huge anchor and a ton of chain, the holding is good, what's the problem.

I also did not pay enough attention to the weather -- in the event, the wind backed all the way to the East.

I spent a sleepless, uncomfortable night as the boat rolled and pitched and the wind howled. Naturally, the 121 pound Rocna didn't budge an inch, as I expected.

But to my utter horror, when I went up the next morning, I found that the snubber had parted with the pitching in the 6 odd foot seas we were completely exposed to. I don't have a chain stopper, and so the only thing separating us from a lee shore was the safety line I rigged with a chain hook, the other end made fast to a bow cleat. Yikes!! Thank God that held.

Getting the anchor up wasn't all that easy, either, with waves threatening to come over the bow, despite more than six feet of freeboard near the bow.

What a piece of poor seamanship on my part! I swear I will never do it again!

I will never again anchor out without convincing shelter, if I don't have to!

And I will install a chain stopper and use a stouter snubber!

[Paul Elliott]

Thanks for sharing this. How was the snubber attached, and where did it break?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Thanks for sharing this. How was the snubber attached, and where did it break?

It was attached to the chain with a rolling hitch.

It was led though the second bow roller to cut down on chafe.

It was attached to the boat via a heavy dockline tied off between the two bow cleats. I did that in order to be able to lead the snubber straight into the bow roller to avoid chafe (it would have chafed on a cheek of the bow roller if simply made off at a cleat).

It parted right at the eye splice. I think it was simply overloaded from the snatch loads from the boat pitching in the heavy swell.

[Blue Stocking]

--and for that, you are a better man and sailor

At a recent burial at sea of a friend, the priest said that in his coastal hometown, they say "to bury an old sailor is like demolishing a library".
A compliment, I say.

[zeehag]

did your splice come undone or did the rope break??

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by zeehag

did your splice come undone or did the rope break??

Rope broke clean, leaving the intact spliced loop. That makes me think -- violent snatch load did it.

[zeehag]

wow!! was it braid or 3 strand???/ might be a good reason to go to 3 strand for docklines?? i havent had that problem with mine-- for my mooring lines i am forced to use braid-- yes-- when i was allowed to use my own line i used 3 strand in a bridle formation. i am trying to figure out if the braid is worthy substitute--- could be much weaker in many ways.... still working on that.... you have a big boat also--mine is smaller-- 41 ft, heavy.

yes--sounds like a good hard jerking motion...your boat could go quite a large distance in a swell.... could really stress a line....would more rode help that issue, or would it have parted anyway?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by zeehag

wow!! was it braid or 3 strand???/

yes--sounds like a good hard jerking motion...

3 strand nylon. Probably not big enough for Dockhead's 25 ton boat. Hadn't gotten around to upgrading it.

[Pete7]

Oops, Studland is a nice spot but not in a SE.

Easy to sit in an arm chair afterwards and make suggestions but there is a second "North" channel for the Needles fairway which runs along Hurst Spit. You still get clobbered by the tide past Hurst but its only a 100 yards rather than several miles of wind over tide. The only nearby safe spot I can think of is Black Gang Shine with that forecast. Its shingle and pebble bottom and we can normally get right in out of the tide, but then we float on damp grass.

How is the end of the chain attached to the yacht? ours has a piece of thin rope (for quick release) and a stainless steel clip held on to a bulkhead with a pair of tiny self tappers. I doubt it would even hold a runaway chain running out let alone the yacht. Something perhaps I need to look at this winter.

Pete

[Bash]

you rigged a safety line with a chain hook to back up the snubber. that's good seamanship, and it kept your Moody off the beach.

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by Bash

you rigged a safety line with a chain hook to back up the snubber. that's good seamanship, and it kept your Moody off the beach.

No kidding. This was simply an example of slightly poor planning (really though, I don't fault Dockhead in this category) coupled with equipment failure. You had everything set up correctly, you just might have undersized the snubber.

This mistake is nothing like mine when I touched down here in the PI's. I knew nothing about snubbing, and like a damned moron put out the proper amount chain and 1/2" cable, leaving the rest spooled on my hydraulic windlass drum. Yep, you got it. Not snubbers, no line locks, just a 3/4" aluminum dog in the drum teeth (I hadn't even engaged the footbrake!).

Thank God the guy who I left on the boat for the evening was a quick thinker, and jammed a big chisel between the deck and the spool to prevent complete unspooling. I'd have ended up on the rocks in conditions identical to what Dockhead described. God, I love steel decks.

I do like that line about old sailors equaling a library. It's so true.

[MarkJ]

I think we need to test ourselves a bit more than we do.

Anchoring in F6 and 6 foot waves on 100 meters chain shows the snubber was crap and a few other things you've noted. Now if you get caught in a 60 knot cell you will have a better chance of keeping off the rocks.

I think we have let all the safety and seamanship crap go on a fair bit too far. you shouldnt need to be 100% safe all the time because we have to train for real bad times.

That being said, I often hear about the Needles and how difficult that area can be.


Mark

[rebel heart]

The guy that lost Moonduster said he was burning through snubbers every 30 minutes due to chafe.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

3 strand nylon. Probably not big enough for Dockhead's 25 ton boat. Hadn't gotten around to upgrading it.

Not chafe -- line against line?

[boatman61]

Hi Dockhead.... lucky night huh...
Know that area well, you might have done better to pull into Poole and hung a left a coupla red bouys after the entrance and dropped the hook between Brownsea and Blood Alley... theres 5metres there and good holding.. if theres any east in the wind Studlands either uncomfortable or downright rough..
Alternativly take the north passage by Hurst Castle and let the tide help run you across to Totland Bay and then anchored in the shelter of the Isle of Wight..... but, alls well that ends well.