First Nights at Anchor

[montenido]

Well done, Kelkara!

We've all been there. Learning lessons like that makes the knowledge stick in your memory better. I always think in the morning, "Boy, we sure seem closer to ...". Sounds like a great trip. Now go measure and mark your chain (zipties), and make a snubber, as someone else suggested.

Well done!

Cheers, Bill

[SouthernPride]

Captain Ron would have told the squab to get him another beer and eventually passed out.

Get a 2nd anchor, measure every 6 feet on the chain/rope.

I still worry about that stuff, even with the monitors available these days.

[Stu Jackson]

Nice story. Where is your harbor and what anchorages? I just moved my boat up from California and am getting used to 27 foot depths instead of 12-15! Big time differences.

Get rid of the CQR and get a new gen anchor and sleep tight every night.

[Tessellate]

Haha, great story. You picked the weekend that the remnants of Typhoon Songda were coming through as your time for anchoring practice? Man, that would not have been my first choice. It was a great weekend to be snug on dock. It sounds like night 2 was Thursday and night 4 was Saturday? I don't see how night 3 could've been calm though, given Friday and Saturday were the main nights Songda caused high winds.

You're lucky the storm broke up more than expected - as of Tuesday (3 days advanced warning) the forecast was for possible near-hurricane force winds of 55+ knots. In Seattle we only ended up getting 43 knots Friday and 35 knots Saturday (West Point buoy readings).

[bru1791]

That was fun (for us!) and you described our newbie experience perfectly. Love it! Keep 'em coming.

[Lancerbye]

Good story. I have been through the same scenario a number of times. I would also like to know where you call home? I am in Ladysmith.

[Cadence]

Great story. Well written.

[uncle stinkybob]

That was a great story, you write well. I hope you continue to share your story's.
Just a thought about the tides up here, when I anchor in water under 20 feet, I keep the thought of big ground swells coming in, if your safety margin is only a few feet, a big roller can smack the bottom of keel on bottom.

[astokel]

I loved your story. I'm probably going to live that next summer. We are cruising the Thousand Islands between Canada/USA are there are lots of great anchorages. I've anchored many times, but on another skipper's boat.

[Sea Dreaming]

Well done! I am going to have my bf read this to soothe the anchor ego (yes, its a "thing")

[CaptRory]

I still have the log from my first night at anchor. I lucked into experiencing a passing cold front with T-storms and 30K winds that clocked the compass. I didn't sleep at all and the logs starts out "Big mistake #1.... And on to Big mistake #4. And it ends with rescue shark pulling me off my anchor and into shallow water and giving me instruction as to how to clear my rode that was wrapped around the prop shaft.

[gamayun]

Oh man, was I feeling the anxiety while reading your story. Glad it all worked out, but maybe you should check that weather forecast a little more closely, ya think? On my second night ever at anchor, a friend and I were right off the beach in Santa Cruz. I woke up throughout the night as the boat made a 360 deg shift through the changing wind direction. I was so grateful that it held tight. In the morning, I asked this friend how she slept, and she said, "solid as a rock." Uh, huh. It's definitely more relaxing on someone else's boat!

[CLady]

'Loved your honest "thinking out loud" writeup! This kind of posting is what makes this site "Cruiser's Forum University"!
Your moment-by-moment account story is committed to memory!
Thanks,
C Lady

[Bill Creadon]

Kelkara,


One of the best write-ups on anchoring I have ever read. Lots of good advice here. In the Chesapeake Bay area we rarely anchor in any depth over 10 feet and it is not as tricky as the PNW.
I am planning a voyage next winter (2017) down ICW, Florida, Bahamas, and Cuba. I have upgraded my anchor to a 65# Mantus, 200 feet of 3/8 G4 chain and 100 feet of 3/4 diameter 3 strand nylon rode. I have a 46 foot boat that is 26000 pounds and I want to sleep well at anchor. It's all about technique when it comes to setting anchors and practice and patience works the best. I am very anal when it comes to anchoring. Site selection, slow deployment, proper alignment to the anchor, and scope are critical. I usually have the opposite problem, it's buried and I have to work it up. Keep at it and you'll get better with experience. Thanks for your post.

[buzzstar]

You done good. Much better than my buddies and I in our first Santa Ana wind at Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, California over 50 years ago. We survived as did the boat, but it was still one heck of a night. Thanks for stirring the memories. Still, your story is better told.