After You're There . . .

[Jim Cate]

Boatman,

Who are you, really???? How'd ya know?????

Perhaps this is why we're seldom in really crowded anchorages...


Jim

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by fishwife

I want Jim anchored up wind of me

Shoot...I say we just raft up to him and not bother with the whole affair..

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Shoot...I say we just raft up to him and not bother with the whole affair..

Alright! There's one problem solved

[Curmudgeon]

Like many others I cannot relax until I know I have a good set, have the sails furled with the covers on, and the lines coiled. Then it's time for a glass of wine. The logbook can wait.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ann and I have lived primarily at anchor for the last 24 years, and do take it seriously. ! Now, let's consider that you say your anchoring technique has worked 9 out of 10 times... that means that in 10% of the times, it DIDN'T work, and if you hadn't given it a "full astern" tug, you might have dragged later. We've anchored thousands of times since we left, so that would have resulted in hundreds of times that we might have dragged if the wind piped up. And I don't know where you do your sailing/anchoring, but here in the SP tropics, severe thunderstorms often appear in the evening and night with pretty strong winds. It doesn't take the Queens Birthday to stress your ground tackle! Nuff said.

Hi,

I said 9 times out of 10 it works, AND IF NOT then we repeat the exercise. Or something like this. Didn´t I ?

I do not believe, repeat, believe NOT, that those who pull HARD have 10/10. If so, or they think they pull hard, or they have wee engines.

I believe an anchor, even if pulled bloody hard, may flip out and drag if the current changes or the puff comes from a new angle.

Your comment along the lines of '...I don't know where you do your sailing/anchoring, but here in the SP tropics...' sounds patronizing. So just to keep the record right I have anchored in a couple of spots between Norway and Cairns. Probably not as many times as you guys, but since I still have the same bower I got in 2003 and, imagine what, the bow happens to be on the same boat I started off in 2002, then I will just give up on any further mumblings on ´mine is better', 'I have been around longer' and 'you know - here in the Southern Ocean' ;-) I do not think SP tropics are such a trying ground for anchoring as you might like to believe. Every area is specific and it can be easy or difficult to anchor in SP tropics as much as anywhere else. In fact every new place becomes a challenge before we learn the local tricks of trade, and even then we can be taken by surprise (and do not ask me how I know).

This much said. I must correct myself and make it very clear that I am a worshipper in the Church of Ground Tackle and Anchoring and I take it all (including all info and all comments on this forum, no matter if they come from an old salt or from a greenhorn) bloody seriously. I read, I listen and I try to learn.

Just because my technique does not include (and it yet may one day) HARD pulling on the cable for TWO MINUTES (as a bare minimum, and it has to be by a chronometer, LOL) does not imply I do not do things right. The proof of the pudding is in the holding on a windy night, and I too will prefer Jim and Ann rather than a charter rookie upwind of me on such a night.

Cheers,
barnie, the soft puller

[Jim Cate]

Barnie,

You're correct -- the SP tropics are not usually a difficult anchoring environment. My point was that anchoring casually because the afternoon conditions are benign is unwise in areas where evening/night thunderstorms are common.

I realize that you did say that when, on the 1 out of 10 time when your anchor didn't set well enough to hold when you gave it a "full astern" tug, then you did a reset. That's essentially what I am trying to promote. My original post was aimed at the chap who refused to start his engine to set the hook, and I think we've drifted a bit... probably my fault at that.

And as to the "2 minute rule" -- we ALWAYS tune into WWV so that we can do it for precisely that long. If propogation is too poor to receive that signal well, then we're stuffed, and have been known to leave the engine in reverse at 2000 rpm all night (ho,ho).

Cheers,

Jim

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

And as to the "2 minute rule" -- we ALWAYS tune into WWV so that we can do it for precisely that long. ...and have been known to leave the engine in reverse at 2000 rpm all night (ho,ho).

Actually, I have a special arrangement with things ashore I am lining up. I wait for our position to stabalise - the aiming marks ashore are steady, then go astern; wait again; then increase the revs. There is a time when the boat moves back and then stops. Thats the time I give it a slow increas to full revs. So I like to have my physical marks working well. Then when I feel comfortable I'll stop the engine. Then when the boat comes forward put in a waypoint and take bearings to 3 points ashore with the binoc's - using daylight marks and some night time ones too.

The interesting thing I have found, and Jim will be able to attest to, is so often we are anchoring in a new bay, totally unkown to us except, if we are lucky, some line in a guide 'holding good'... We don't know where the wind really comes from, how often it comes up at night, afternoons etc, where the prevailing storms hit etc etc. Its all new. Then you get a 35 knot 'bullet' down some hill you never noticed! And the Locals say 'I could have told you never to anchor there!'



Mark

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Brew a coffee and pour a large brandy... its five o clock somewhere...
And I only ever lay one anchor...

Would that make you monogamous?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Mambo

Would that make you monogamous?

Yup..I guess it would.. I carry two.. 1 Bruce and 1 plough.. the Bruce is my favourite... but then thats where paper charts are so good.. they tend to give you information on the type of bottom your dropping your hook on.. so you lay your cable accordingly.. I also raise the hook by hand.. even if I have a windlass.
Personally I lay the depth + 3.5 x the boat length.. so in my current boat in 7 metre's of water thats around 30 metres of chain... she's 6.50.
I've been anchoring my way for a long time quite satisfactorily so see no reason to change.. ridden out 50kt Kabatic winds of Cascais and Mallorca when other boats were bouncing of the shoreline..
My only near disaster was when an anchor shaft snapped.. a previous owner had drilled a hole in the shaft so he could insert a pin to stop it bouncing on the roller at sea... the break was right across the centre of the drilled hole.. must add.. winds were gusting 60kts down Cabo Roca..
So DON'T drill holes in your shaft so's it look prettier without a tie down.

[barnakiel]

OK, now I got the drift.

BTW what engines at 2000 revs give hard pull astern? I have a 'very' slow revs 2600 VP but I see most boats today to rev up to 3600 or so. Thus, at 200 AND in reverse, the pull would be .... what? I guess not much. I mean static - not the shock load we can get when traveling at 5 knots.

When at the dock, I can still hold my boat at low revs in reverse. But I imagine the bigger the boat the bigger the pull at the same revs if only for the prop being much bigger area. But then again, the pull from a gust is also bigger. Proportionately so?

Well, have to read up on how much pull we do get vs. the wind pull on the boat.

BTW One of the most challenging bottoms - corral or rock gullies ... very easy to set and good holding (if a bit jerky ;-)) but impossible to retrieve ;-))))) Example - Aitutaki, N of the mooring.

b.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

BTW what engines at 2000 revs give hard pull astern? b.

2,000 rpm ahead gives me 5.5 to 6 knots.

In astern is pulls like a ..... ummm..... OK can't use that analogy.... or that one..........., or that.


Ummm it pulls like a.... It just pulls. OK?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Like many others I cannot relax until I know I have a good set, have the sails furled with the covers on, and the lines coiled. Then it's time for a glass of wine. The logbook can wait.

You guys are workoholics.

We coil our lines as we go, so that's not needed. All furling sails, so no covering them. We just set the anchor (and re-anchor as many times as necessary) and relax. Set the anchor alarm, shut down the radar, shut off unneeded electronics. Then a swan dive off the transom (in warm weather), or a nice hot shower in cold weather. Then rifle the rum locker and chill out. The other stuff (log, cleaning anything) can wait.

[w1651]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Yup..I guess it would.. I carry two.. 1 Bruce and 1 plough.. the Bruce is my favourite... but then thats where paper charts are so good.. they tend to give you information on the type of bottom your dropping your hook on.. so you lay your cable accordingly.. I also raise the hook by hand.. even if I have a windlass.
Personally I lay the depth + 3.5 x the boat length.. so in my current boat in 7 metre's of water thats around 30 metres of chain... she's 6.50.
I've been anchoring my way for a long time quite satisfactorily so see no reason to change.. ridden out 50kt Kabatic winds of Cascais and Mallorca when other boats were bouncing of the shoreline..
My only near disaster was when an anchor shaft snapped.. a previous owner had drilled a hole in the shaft so he could insert a pin to stop it bouncing on the roller at sea... the break was right across the centre of the drilled hole.. must add.. winds were gusting 60kts down Cabo Roca..
So DON'T drill holes in your shaft so's it look prettier without a tie down.

I here that. I like my shaft the way it is now. Remember people NO HOLES IN YOUR SHAFT no matter how much she will like it. Ouch!

Sorry had to say that.

[w1651]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

OK, now I got the drift.


BTW One of the most challenging bottoms - corral or rock gullies ... very easy to set and good holding (if a bit jerky ;-)) but impossible to retrieve ;-))))) Example - Aitutaki, N of the mooring.

b.

I have heard about countries that will allow you to anchor at certain places only. They do not want anchors tearing up there coral or reefs. Understandable to say the least.
So how do you know where it is allowable( for example the coasts of Australia) does a chart have this info? If your in between checking out of a country and checking in and want to stop and rest for a day how do you know where to anchor without breaking any laws or hurting any natural wonders?
Just a thought I was having reading all your great info.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

2,000 rpm ahead gives me 5.5 to 6 knots.

In astern is pulls like a ..... ummm..... OK can't use that analogy.... or that one..........., or that.


Ummm it pulls like a.... It just pulls. OK?

Hey Mark.. your in Turkey and headed West... I'll be in Mallorca in three weeks or so... headed East. Keep your eye's open for an old 9metre Catalac called Catonga, white hull/grey topsides.. you can either gimme the Finger and power off in the opposite direction or.. gimme a shout and we'll go soak some beers...