How do you kedge?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by redhead

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While reading about kedging off I read the following phrase: "Have your wife swim an anchor to a point off the stern". Hmm........

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Hmmm...maybe the author had a girl friend waiting ashore. 🤣

[JOHNMARDALL]

I've had to kedge off the mud many times, as we meander up and down the narrow channels of the shallow Intracoastal Waterway on the East Coast of the USA. Bear in mind that in taking out a kedge anchor, in your small dinghy, in the rain, in the dark, most of what you're going to do is pull the bow round so that the boat is facing the right way as you power off, with a little help from the kedge. With all that in mind, we have a small Danforth, with about six feet of chain, hanging on the stern rail, rode already lead to the bow, for use as a lunch hook or kedge. It lowers into the dinghy easily, with no danger of ripping through a tube or the bottom, I row it out, lower away, row back, and wind it in on the rode led from the bow back to a sheet winch near the cockpit, so I can also control the engine. My boss sometimes participates in this procedure, usually by expressing contempt for my carelessness in getting stuck in the first place, although sometimes she volunteers to crank the sheet winch. We've done this with a heavy, deep 48 footer, and have it down to a fine art (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit on that)


Good luck,


John Mardall
Vetus Maxwell Boat Equipment

[Paul L]

I used to cruise an Alberg 35. For some reason I got lots of practice kedging that boat off. I even ran aground twice in the same spot in Georgetown 3 months apart. Duh!

A couple of thoughts on a kedge setup.
1. I think a fortress needs at least a short run of chain to help it set. You often are setting the anchor with less than adequate scope or into poor bottoms.
2. Since kedging off is such a rare occurrence (except on my old Alberg) I don't think it makes sense to have a separate setup. Set up the stern anchor as dual use.
3. Fortress with a short chain is a good choice. You want a setup that is easy to row out in a dinghy. When rowing out put the rode into the dinghy and feed it back to the boat, not the other way around.
4. Each grounding is different. Use the dinghy to sound around the boat to figure out which way out. Pulling on the stern to exit the same way you came in can be dangerous. You don't want to damage the rudder. Sometimes it's just better to slowly put pressure on the bow, twisting it around and come out bow first.
5. As they say, time is of the essence. If you can get the kedge out within a few minutes of grounding sometimes you can be on your way quickly.
6. Log the time of grounding so you can accurately determine what the tide is doing.
7. If she doesn't come off after a good try, setup a kedge and run the rode to a winch or windlass. Put some pressure on it and leave it. Let the tide, wind, wavelet rocking, slowly move the boat. Take up any slack every 15 minutes or so. Patience is a good thing - it might take 24 hours.
8. If you are good and stuck you can raise the waterline. Dump the freshwater tanks, put a 1/2 ton of gear in the dinghy. Make sure you have a kedge set with pressure on the rode pulling you toward deep water. Otherwise raising the waterline might put you into shallower water.
9. In some circumstances tying the anchor rode to a halyard and healing the vessel can work wonders. One time I pulled my Alberg off a mud bank by taking a halyard to a dinghy with a 2hp outboard.
10. As Belize said thinking about safety always makes sense. Sometimes you need to be cranking on a winch and put yourself right in the impact zone.
Just some random thoughts.

[roverhi]

The most important thing in kedging off is getting the kedge anchor out asap. On a falling tide, a few minute delay can mean the difference between a short delay before continuing on your way or having to sit through a tide cycle subject to waves and wakes. In any case, you should always have a readily deployable anchor handy for emergency situations like an engine failure. That readily deployable anchor could be the difference between sitting at anchor while you wait for a Tow Boat or facing the cost of salvaging your wrecked boat.

If your boat is shallow draft and water temp allows, the quickest way to get an anchor out is to jump in and walk it out. Don't jump in with the anchor on your shoulder, it can be very hard on the back when your feet hit bottom. Jump in and then grab the anchor from the boat.

If there is a substantial tidal excursion and you run aground just after high tide, think about ways to keep the boat upright. More than one boat has ended up flooded when laid over on its side after a grounding and suction from a mud buttom doesn't allow it to rise with an incoming tide. I've attached anchors to halyards and walked them out on each side to each side to keep the boat upright more than once.

As other's have said a fairly light anchor like a Danforth or Fortress with a short length of chain and rode. I prefer nylon cause you can take tension on the line stretching it out and then wait for tide or wave action to allow the tension to pull the boat off. Nylon does have the problem with rebound if it should break but that shouldn't happen if the gear is in good conditon and chafe gear is installed.

If the tide is falling look around the boat to see if there are any rocks that may damage the hull if/when it lays over on them. You may be too late to kedge off but could swivel the bow or stern around to avoid hard spots if you act quickly.

If you don't get the kedge out quickly enough and are stuck as the tide falls it's not the end of the world if the bottom is soft. After you crank the rode as tight as you can, it's time to grab a good book, uncork a bottle of wine or grab some ZZZ's while you wait for the tide to return. No need to pay a $500 plus tow fee which probably wouldn't do any good anyway if there is much of a tidal excursion. It's also a really cheap opportunity to inspect the bottom and change the zincs.

[barnakiel]

Boat 4 tons, kedge 20 pounds of Bruce and 30ft of 8mm chain. Then heaps of rope, maybe like 200 feet, if there is enough space. Or use a mangroove / tree / another boat.



I use the halyard which is easy to winch in then. Normally spinnaker halyard is free for a job like this.



Alternatively, heel the boat with kegs on the boom end and kedge from a deck winch.


Foredeck (anchor-) winch is often the most powerful for the latter method.


Cheers,
b.

[DefinitelyMe]

Done this a few times. Sometimes bow, sometimes stern, once halyard. All worked but it depends on the specific circumstances. Agree that a fortress is a good choice. I used to work in the salvage industry and we generally used nylon or braided polyester for stuff like this, although the winch cable was dyneema. The stretchyness helps to keep the boat moving once you’ve overcome the initial ‘grab’ of the bottom. With something like dyneema, because there is no stretch the line has no load on it as soon as you move a few inches so you stop moving. With nylon you crank away and get some serious stored energy worked into the line. Then when the boat starts moving all that stored energy gets put to work and you can keep moving for longer. It always takes more work to get it moving in the first place than it does to keep it moving. Just my two-cents-worth.

[billknny]

A small hint for taking an anchor out in a dinghy...

If you are using an outboard, it can be a lot easier dealing with the trailing line if you BACK away from the mothership. Much, much, easier to maneuver. Less true when you are rowing.