Most Sailors Can't Anchor Properly!

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by MLOI

Sorry - I didn't realise I needed an excuse to buy a boat and go sailing?
I'm not sure I have an excuse, I just wanted to do it...

Hey Mike....
The truth is that there is a divide in the Cruising Community.

On one side you have the folks that were pushed out of their mothers womb at the helm while their mom was double reefed in the tooth of a gale. They have all the properly prescribed years of sea miles and expertise to be "proper seaman".

Then on the other side you have regular folks that wanted to buy a boat and go cruising. They learn as they go, they do the best they can some have more common sense then others but just because you are a great dentist or Dr doesn't mean you know how to handle a boat....so they make mistakes and learn. Statistically, they do fine and get past the steep learning curve and most become capable seaman.

Now Group 1 usually despises Group 2.
Why...because in their view, they are spoiling paradise and crowding the anchorages and haven't put in their time of hand steering for days on end, weeks without refrigeration and having to shower with salt water for lack of a 30GPH water maker. The ice machine and all the other toys piss them off..."it's too easy now....it's too comfortable....anyone can do it". You hear these complaints every time a gathering of the Group 1 "real cruisers" get together to share their white rice with canned peas and carrots pot-luck offering.

It's not as much as you need permission....you just have to suffer more like "they did" before you have earned your right to enjoy paradise.....in their world at least.....


[[There is Group 3...CHARTER Boats....now that's another Disaster all together that we wills save for another thread!!]]

[tarian]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Hey Mike....
The truth is that there is a divide in the Cruising Community.

On one side you have the folks that were pushed out of their mothers womb at the helm while their mom was double reefed in the tooth of a gale. They have all the properly prescribed years of sea miles and expertise to be "proper seaman".

Then on the other side you have regular folks that wanted to buy a boat and go cruising. They learn as they go, they do the best they can some have more common sense then others but just because you are a great dentist or Dr doesn't mean you know how to handle a boat....so they make mistakes and learn. Statistically, they do fine and get past the steep learning curve and most become capable seaman.

Now Group 1 usually despises Group 2.
Why...because in their view, they are spoiling paradise and crowding the anchorages and haven't put in their time of hand steering for days on end, weeks without refrigeration and having to shower with salt water for lack of a 30GPH water maker. The ice machine and all the other toys piss them off..."it's too easy now....it's too comfortable....anyone can do it". You hear these complaints every time a gathering of the Group 1 "real cruisers" get together to share their white rice with canned peas and carrots pot-luck offering.

It's not as much as you need permission....you just have to suffer more like "they did" before you have earned your right to enjoy paradise.....in their world at least.....


[[There is Group 3...CHARTER Boats....now that's another Disaster all together that we wills save for another thread!!]]

+ 1 a well written piece of genius, I am a hybrid of 1 and 2 so that makes me even more cantankerous

[puttputt]

I have always had a hard time determining distance on water; my depth perception is terrible.

To compensate I have taken to using a hand held range finder (for golfers) to "do the math" whether I anchor to swing or to stern tie. It takes all of the guesswork out of who is too close, dragging, etc.

More than once when someone has set on or close to my anchor I have been able to redirect them to a safer position so we both can sleep.

[Twoskippies]

Hi everyone, my first post but I couldn't resist this.
Sydney Harbour NYE and I had a good vantage point, anchored around midday for the midnight fireworks.
The area filled as the day wore on, but come dusk, these huge cruisers thought it was their right to plonk themselves in front of everyone, reducing our viewing pleasure.
Then one boat, maybe 40 foot or so, motored around me with an anchor hanging, a guy on the bow, and the "skipper" completely nonplussed as to why his anchor wasn't holding.

Well next thing my small 24' yacht is going sideways, towards his boat.
Apparently his anchor was hanging about 20' down in 45' of water. We collided, not too heavily luckily, all the while the "skipper" was flat out in reverse, taking me with him.
After much #$^%$# from me, we finally parted ways. I doubt he was licensed, and I think the RMS pulled him aside later for a "chat".

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Right... So these unexpected things happen. And like you say, there's not much you can do.

But this has little to do deciding how to lay out your anchor. You can't plan for the unexpected, and especially not for a near-unique event. Besides, I really doubt if a med moor would fair any better in this situation.

I quiet regularly cruise about 3,000 nm of the Australian coast and would probably use in excess of 100 anchorages on that coast. There are two of the anchorages where I always set 2 anchors: the first is Muddy Bay at Airlie beach because of a sticky clay bottom where an anchor is prevented to reset in a wind shift because the sticky clay fouls it, and; the second Cairns Harbour which also has a sticky clay bottom in patches and there are strong tidal currents.

And then sometimes for no good reason at all I just get a bit paranoid.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I quiet regularly cruise about 3,000 nm of the Australian coast and would probably use in excess of 100 anchorages on that coast. There are two of the anchorages where I always set 2 anchors: the first is Muddy Bay at Airlie beach because of a sticky clay bottom where an anchor is prevented to reset in a wind shift because the sticky clay fouls it, and; the second Cairns Harbour which also has a sticky clay bottom in patches and there are strong tidal currents.



And then sometimes for no good reason at all I just get a bit paranoid.

Sounds reasonable. Like I said, there are specific reasons to lay out a med moor. It's just not needed in general to deal with shifting currents or winds.