Wind & Current

[Big Daddy]

We recently anchored our Leopard 44 in 20' of water in West Palm Beach. The wind picked up from the south heading north, and the current was rushing to the south. The opposing forces caused the boat to dance around the anchor in a very crowded group.The monohulls did fine heading into the wind. Any advice to mitigate this in the future would be very much appreciated. We are new to catamarran ownership.

[skipmac]

OK, this is an idea from an monohull sailor so take this for what it is. What about putting up a riding sail to keep the boat pointed into the wind?

[rebel heart]

Toss out a light stern anchor.

[Dockhead]

Not all that much you can do about it, actually. Different boats lie differently to their anchors, and you need to allow for that when you pick a spot. Riding sail might help. Stern anchor will prevent you from swinging, which will be worse than dancing if the other boats are swinging.

[Jim Cate]

A chap we knew some years ago had a biggish trimaran which behaved badly in the afternoon "La Paz waltz" in the anchorage off that city. She danced differently than the monos (most cruisers were in monos in those days) and some bad things happened. He resorted to deploying a small drogue (sea anchor type) off the stern and found that the tri then behaved much more like a mono at anchor.

Don't know if it would help in your case, but it might be worth an experimental effort.

Cheers,

Jim

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Big Daddy.

[Vasco]

Not much you can do in this situation. If the wind or current is strong enough it will affect monos the same way. My question is why anchor a cat in 20 feet of water in West Palm. Lots of shallower spots there and you might not wander as much with less scope.

I once anchored in a narrow creek in Georgia. The wind came up opposing a fairly strong current, spent a few hours going round and round. The boat would go zip one way and then zip again around, fairly quickly. Quite unnerving.

In anchorages where wind and current can oppose you have to have a lot of clearance as the boats end up every which way. It's really difficult when you enter an anchorage when this is happening and try to anchor. Some boats are sitting on top of their anchors, others are stretched out, very confusing.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Not much you can do in this situation. If the wind or current is strong enough it will affect monos the same way. My question is why anchor a cat in 20 feet of water in West Palm. Lots of shallower spots there and you might not wander as much with less scope.

I once anchored in a narrow creek in Georgia. The wind came up opposing a fairly strong current, spent a few hours going round and round. The boat would go zip one way and then zip again around, fairly quickly. Quite unnerving.

In anchorages where wind and current can oppose you have to have a lot of clearance as the boats end up every which way. It's really difficult when you enter an anchorage when this is happening and try to anchor. Some boats are sitting on top of their anchors, others are stretched out, very confusing.

Right. I think the real secret is simply to anchor in water too shallow for the monos. Use your inherent catamaran advantages!

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

... The monohulls did fine heading into the wind. ...

Funny, I would've thought that the monos, with deeper keels, would grab the current more . . . and the cat would swing to the wind and let the current slide by.

Either way -- if you need to grab the current more, hang a drogue or a sturdy bucket off your stern. If you want to grab the wind, hoist a riding sail.

[bob_77903]

My boat always lays to the tide or current, unless the wind is blowing a gale or more..

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

Funny, I would've thought that the monos, with deeper keels, would grab the current more . . . and the cat would swing to the wind and let the current slide by.

Either way -- if you need to grab the current more, hang a drogue or a sturdy bucket off your stern. If you want to grab the wind, hoist a riding sail.

This is usually what we find when there is a decent current. The cats float on top of the water and are affected more by the wind. The monos sit in the water and react to the current.

Monos have anchored too close to us in these situations a couple of times. Rather than asking them to move, we simply drop down the dagger boards so our cat starts swinging more like a mono.