Why am I ahead of the anchor?

[hd002e]

My boat is heading sideways (starboard tack) into the wind at this new anchorage and the anchor rode is to the starboard aft and almost looks as if the boat is trying to go forward and pull the anchor from behind us.

My rudder is directly inline, I have very little windage (only bimini) and the winds are pretty weak at about 6-7 kts.

I am in about 21' of water with 50' chain and 50' rode. My boat weighs about 9000lbs and the wave direction is now from behind me as well?!

I am confused and a bit worried as to why this is happening.

Any ideas are appreciated..

[TJ D]

Well, it sounds like you have some current from the stern, opposing the wind. What you're seeing is not that uncommon in areas with current.
Hope that helps.

[sailorboy1]

Because the boat floats with the current has the wind against it and the anchor doesn't!

[hd002e]

Thank you TJ. What is the best thing to do? Let out more rode? Take up some rode? Or not worry and go to sleep? I have a 25# CQR by the way.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by hd002e

My boat is heading sideways (starboard tack) into the wind at this new anchorage and the anchor rode is to the starboard aft and almost looks as if the boat is trying to go forward and pull the anchor from behind us.

My rudder is directly inline, I have very little windage (only bimini) and the winds are pretty weak at about 6-7 kts.

I am in about 21' of water with 50' chain and 50' rode. My boat weighs about 9000lbs and the wave direction is now from behind me as well?!

I am confused and a bit worried as to why this is happening.

Any ideas are appreciated..

Watch out you don't get keel wrapped. That's when the rode gets caught behind the keel. One way to prevent this is to weight the rode down beneath the depth of your keel with a weight (I used to use plastic covered weights from bar bells). Tie the weight to a line , use another small line to make a loop around the anchor line and lower the weight eight feet or so. That way when the tide changes your rode will not get snagged on the keel. In some cases if you don't do this the anchor line will chafe through on the sharp back end of the keel and you will go walkabout.

[hugosalt]

As explained above, not uncommon with no/light wind and current.
Happens all the time in our exposed mooring field on western Long Island sound
as well as in the protected close by bay.

[hd002e]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Watch out you don't get keel wrapped. That's when the rode gets caught behind the keel. One way to prevent this is to weight the rode down beneath the depth of your keel with a weight (I used to use plastic covered weights from bar bells). Tie the weight to a line , use another small line to make a loop around the anchor line and lower the weight eight feet or so. That way when the tide changes your rode will not get snagged on the keel. In some cases if you don't do this the anchor line will chafe through on the sharp back end of the keel and you will go walkabout.

Good point. So far the rode has not wrapped around the keel yet. I am keeping an eye out for it. My options are limited at this point with weights etc. I pulled the rode up a bit to make it more taught and now it is pointing straight down. I am hoping this way I won't have a keel wrap problem.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by hd002e

Good point. So far the rode has not wrapped around the keel yet. I am keeping an eye out for it. My options are limited at this point with weights etc. I pulled the rode up a bit to make it more taught and now it is pointing straight down. I am hoping this way I won't have a keel wrap problem.

At this point you have a "no scope" problem and will likely be somewhere new when you wake up in the morning.

It's impractical to try to post an anchoring education on a web forum but you can find several on the Internet.

I will say this though; Face into the current when anchoring unless the wind seriously overpowers the current. Once you get the anchor set, back down on it until you are sure it is well set. You will be backing down with the current.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by hd002e

Good point. So far the rode has not wrapped around the keel yet. I am keeping an eye out for it. My options are limited at this point with weights etc. I pulled the rode up a bit to make it more taught and now it is pointing straight down. I am hoping this way I won't have a keel wrap problem.

But if the rode is tensioned straight up and down, you *do* have a scope problem. The only anchor that will hold with such a short scope is a massive block of concrete or similar dead-weight mooring.

You need to let out enough rode to give you a 3:1 scope or better. Most anchors want more than that -- 5:1 is generally safe.

You might hoist a tarp or small sail from the backstay to give yourself a "riding sail". This will help keep the bow pointing into the wind (if that would help).

[sailor_ed]

I don't know what you have aboard so I can only make a general suggestion. Get a 10 lb weight to slide down your rode. Attach a line to it first of course so you can adjust it such that it is below the keel but above the bottom. And let out proper scope. When the wind and current forces are about equal is when you are most at risk for fouling the keel. When this happens the rode will be slack-ish and the weight will keep it away from the keel.

For weight you might use some chain or rocks in a sturdy canvas bag. Be careful of chafe where it rides on the rode... Use a smooth shackle or snatched block to attach it.

Best of luck.

[Stu Jackson]

OP: Don't shorten your rode. If anything, make it longer. If you shorten it you'll pull your anchor out!!!

I wrote this for a friend on the C36 Forum a few years ago:

I always use a sentinel when I anchor in reversing current. The sentinel is NOT used to keep the anchor down, but rather to keep the rode down when the boat swings. Unless it's blowing like stink when the wind shifts, it works. I've had keel wraps at a certain location on SF Bay (China Camp) myself, before I started using the sentinel, although I've always had lots of rode out since there's so much room. I guess I was fortunate enough not to have dragged, but the motion really s*cks. Our sentinel is an 8# mushroom anchor on its own separate rode, connected with a carabiner. Most folks recommend the heftier 15# model, but ours has worked for the past 13 years. [added] The trick with the sentinel is that when the current reverses there is usually (I say usually) little pull on the rode, so the sentinel drops the rode below the keel as the boat swings (unless it's blowing like stink when the current reverses).

Anchor normally. Attach carabiner to the shackle at the top of the sentinel and another rode to the sentinel shackle, keeping the carabiner free to move. Clip the carabiner to the main anchor rode. Drop the sentinel with its own separate rode and slide it down the anchor rode, about the depth of the water, not much more (figure high water, it'll either sit in the mud at low water - good with a mushroom sentinel anyway, or keep the rode down at higher water). Tie off the sentinel rode to one of your bow cleats. I do it off the port side, don't use the second anchor roller for the sentinel. I keep the sentinel, it's shackle, the carabiner and its own rode in the port locker. The rode is only about twenty to twenty five feet long, 3/8" 3 strand. Our anchor rode is 1/2". The carabiner is there to have a big enough opening to slide down the anchor rode, a shackle itself is too small. Makes it much easier to set and retrieve also.

[NakedCity]

My boat can be anchored with light wind and heavy current both against it and the boat will "sail" past the anchor.
My theory is that since my underbody ( fin keel & spade rudder) is so efficient that the foils are creating a hydrodynamic lift from the current and literally "sailing" forward.

[Lepke]

There's usually some type of current. Often some rudder or a piece of sail helps maintain a direction. Even in power boats. A spring line from the rode to a stern winch will let you point in any direction you want.

[Suijin]

As mentioned you have wind against current...the boat faces into the current due to the keel but the windage is pushing the boat in the opposite direction. It does not take take much wind or current to produce this effect, so long as they are balanced against each other.

If you have chain rode, the primary issue is the chain grinding against the hull. Rig a longer snubber, at least 2/3 the length of the boat to keep the chain off the hull.

Rope rode, keep a 5:1 scope. The likelihood of wrapping it around your keel is relatively low, certainly less than dragging if you have too little scope. You have a deeper fin keel, so there is some risk. Make sure that the anchor rode is free and clear before you put your prop in gear, that's for sure.

You need what is referred to as a kellet. Here's an illustration of how it works for your circumstance:



You'll have to experiment with how much weight you need. On your boat I'd start with 5 lbs and work up from there.

[SV Siren]

What Suijin says...I have a 50lb'er or so on board, and it is heavy for sure. the PO loved it, I have not used it yet. I have heard of other people using home made weights of an old coffee can used as a mold, and filled it with concrete with an eyebolt embedded in the concrete.