Riddle Me This....

[Ocean Girl]

At anchor.
34 foot Crealock
175 ft of chain, 3/8 BBB, with 25 ft snubber( Estarzinger design)
45 lb Manson supreme
14 feet of water( varies from 9-14)

Anchor line is slack, can easily pull up 20 ish feet. Winds are on our beam.Winds are easterly in the 20-30s gusty, current is running north south up to two knots. Waves are choppy.

We are not dragging.

Current must be strong enough to over take the wind ( why we are beam on) but why the slack anchor line in such rowdy conditions?
Hope I'm describing this well

Thanks
Erika

Ps
Chart below shows where we were. Ignor the line, I take pictures of the chart with several bearings at each anchorage.

[Ocean Girl]

Ps
My internet is very bad, sorry if I don't respond if asked a question.

[skipmac]

I have had the same thing happen. Not positive why but my theory is the current is strong enough to overcome the wind and push the boat down current from the anchor but the wind still has enough effect to partially counteract that effect so the boat is kind of balanced between the two forces.

[Ocean Girl]

Yes, this is our theory too. It's the only logical explanation but it doesn't compute when you stand at the bow, feeling the strength of the wind heel the boat a few degrees, and the anchor line is slack.the wind clocks to your beam, line is slack.

My hubby even investigated wether we might be aground. Nope, 14 ft of water.

Our underbody is modern modified fin, skeg hung rudder. Would be interesting to see what another design would do. But we have been here for a week and are the only boat at anchor :-).

Anyways, thanks for the reply.
Erika

[Suijin]

This happens a lot in various locales. Definitely the current. And I would be vigilant when you're in those circumstances as it's a recipe for the rode/chain winding around something or the anchor pulling clear out, depending on how the scenario evolves.

I've even had it happen on moorings, which is annoying if they scratch up the side of your boat.

[senormechanico]

Sounds exactly like "The La Paz Waltz" to me.
One of the times were in the waltz, we had slack anchor chain with waves about 3-4 feet on the beam.

Anchor is almost immaterial in that condition.
You're balanced between wind and current.

[RTB]

It's a pretty common occurrence actually. More so on the east coast, and many places in the Bahamas. I just buffed out some ugly rub marks from the anchor chain on the topsides.

And yes, mooring balls banging on your hull all night is unpleasant. Especially, if they have big barnacles on them.

I've tried positioning the rudder in various positions, but never seems to help.

Ralph

[wsmurdoch]

It often happens when we are anchored in current. Last week in the Jumentos at Water and Flamingo Cay we had the anchor under the boat or off to the side half the time. In clear water we often see the anchor there.

You are right, it does not look like the pictures in the books where the anchor is always dead ahead of the boat and the chain leads straight back to the boat, and at first it is disturbing, but we have gotten used to it.

One nice thing about a boat like yours with long overhangs is that the chain seldom or ever rubs on the fiberglass. We have seen many vertical bow boats with chain marks on the bow were the chain has rubbed during a current over wind situation.