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**atoll** · 17-01-2011, 04:32

working for sunsail in tortola,we got a call from a very concerned bareboat client,apparently he had a yacht following him for about half an hour since they had left the anchorage ,every time he changed course so did they,and what should he do?,could they be pirates?

coincidently we had also had a call from some other bare boat clients a few minutes before very worried some that someone had stolen their yacht.

after acertainnig they were both from the same anchorage,told them to stand by and we would come out in the chase boat.

any way when we get to the pirate boat,find it is the mising yacht,with his anchor rode twisted under the pirate evaders long dingy tow line,that must have got caught some how when these guys upped anchor.

succesfully reunited vessel and confirmed with the now sheepish bare boaters that piracy was very uncommon in the bvi's!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**atoll** · 17-01-2011, 04:38

another time working for sunsail,we get a call from a client,could we bring him some more anchors,he was on day three of his bareboat charter and since we had only provided him with two he had run out!!!!!!!!!!!!

SailFastTri · 17-01-2011, 05:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

another time working for sunsail,we get a call from a client,could we bring him some more anchors,he was on day three of his bareboat charter and since we had only provided him with two he had run out!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hard to believe either story is true, but it still gave me a good chuckle.

Reminds me of a friend's story -- he used to work in tech support for a large company, back in the days when 5.25" floppy disks were still used. They were having a problem in Accounting with data loss from one user, so after many repeated incidents they decided to watch her work to see if there was a procedural issue... it was discovered that when her disk came in an inter-office envelope, she'd stick it to a file cabinet with a magnet!

KDH · 17-01-2011, 05:41

Left the marina late due to a series of mishaps and ended up slowly picking our way upriver in the dark. Finally arrived after 10 pm at a small cove we were familiar with. Pretty crowded with what looked like 8 other boats. We chose a spot as far a way others as possible and 3 times the anchor would not set. We repositioned 20 feet further towards the mouth of the cove and were able to get good holding with our oversize Rocna and all chain rode at 3:1. Can't go any further out as we would be in the river and our spotlight (for picking out unlit river markers) has just died. Now it's 11 pm. Husband takes dogs to shore upwind and against current. Now it's midnight. We settle down to a nightcap and his boss calls with a matter of some urgency. By the we were heading to bed it was well after 1 am. It's starting to blow hard now. Just as we're going below at 1:30 am one boat from a 3 boat raftup (where there had been loud partying this whole time) decides to unraft and reanchor. They head straight for the only remaining spot...you guessed it. Right where we had failed to anchor and they are less than 20 feet from our 42 foot boat. Definitely a problem if we swing at all. After watching them attempt to set the anchor twice and much cursing under my breath I raised my voice to ask them not to anchor there as we would then have to move. They ignored me and continued to try to anchor there. After failing a fourth time to set the anchor they gave up and returned to their raftup on the other side of the bay. It's now 2 am. We finally get to sleep. Being a light sleeper and worried about the wind I got up every hour and rechecked our position and have a quick peek topside. We haven't moved but a few of the anchor lights seem to have moved a bit but no one is near us. Finally I manage 2 hours of sleep in a row. Back up at the crack of dawn to discover that while we haven't moved several smaller boats on the otherside of the cove have dragged a bit. Big surprise though was the fact that there were 4 more boats in the cove than we had counted and the largest a 48 foot sailboat was aground and listing on the inner edge of the cove (and now it's low tide). Lessons learned: if you have not one but 2 mishaps heading out, turn back; have a spare spotlight; don't assume that common sense will prevail when entering a crowded anchorage (ie someone may be blotto and attempt to move their boat); if they don't answer you maybe they didn't hear you so try the radio; don't assume everyone uses their anchor light. One more...turn the cell phone off!

**boatman61** · 17-01-2011, 05:58

I'm one of those 'rude people'.... usually arrive in the early hours... 1-2am half the boats are unlit so I'll circle the herd a couple of times while I figure out depths etc if its the first time there.... then if there's no space either side of the mass to drop the hook I'll come up astern of the most seamanlike vessel in the group.. could be gleaming or could be a tramp but its the one with the chain hanging as near up and down as possible compared the the rest....
I'll drop my hook 2 boatlengths astern and fall back on my hook... usually depth + 3 x length of boat... holds well even in a sudden blow...
Always see cutains twitching or the half silhouette of a head at a hatch but rarely conversation apart from the late night boozers...lol

chadlaroche · 17-01-2011, 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by handmer

Warning - long rant ahead about what not to do when anchoring!!

I was anchored off Balls Head for the Sydney NYE fireworks.

It was a nightmare!

We got in early before any other boats in the area and still had to re-anchor once when we seemed to snag something on the bottom and started to drag. We were on my 38ft Ferro yacht, Ferro Settee. (not my name, but apt)

We then spent the afternoon watching little finishing boats try and anchor. They would huck a tiny anchor, 1m of chain and a bit of line over the side and crack out the beer.

We estimated we were in 5m of water. At the rate some of these boats drifted past us we reckon that some didn't even put out enough rode to get the anchor to touch bottom!

Still, eventually they figured it out. It wasn't till a bit later a shiny new 40+ft Flybridge Rivera tried to anchor in a tiny spot upwind of us.

First they dragged back onto a little runabout. They didn't even notice till the guy pounded on the side. They backed off him and away from us and we though we were in the clear.

Once behind him they powered forward, anchor still down. It finally caught on something and swung them towards us. Rather than back off, the driver tried to steer against the anchor.

Seconds later, they hit our (wood) bowsprit square on and sheered it almost entirely off. By this stage they put it into reverse and backed up, still caught on the bowsprit, snapping the chain bobstay. at this stage all that was holding the bowprit on was gravity and the headstay!

As we frantically secured out anchor chain with a halyard and roped the bowsprit on we noticed we were getting pulled forward. They had caught our anchor chain and were pulling us along behind them as they tried to anchor in the same spot.

After a lot of yelling they finally noticed they had hooked and and tried to back off. All that happened was they slid along our anchor chain and forcefully rafted up with us, fender free.

The anchor was still hooked on our chain and rather than pull it up and unhook it, the driver just kept powering forwards and back to try and free us. We even noticed him firing the bow thruster the wrong way, pushing his boat into ours...

Of course our stanchions got all bent up, our rub-rail torn up and some cracks put into our hull. To add insult to injury, once they finally freed the anchor chain, they backed up as they swung around, hitting out rear hung rudder with their swim platform, damaging our roped off tiller.

The crazy thing was the entire time the accident was going on, the driver and his friends did not once make eye contact or say a single thing to us. At the end they took off without giving us any details.

Luckily a mate took pictures and video of the entire thing, plus a maritime boat witnessed it. Still pending the maritime getting their details for me though.

We also watched them try and anchor 7 more times. 2 of those times inside the marked exclusion zone! By the time we had everything roped down and checked they had disappeared and we couldn't dinghy over there.

Later in the night we had a little ali runabout drift too close to our bow and catch the end of our hanging bobstay under their swim ladder. That slowed them down a bit!

And finally, at the end of the night it took us a solid hour to get our anchor up. Apparently having a giant powerboat yanking down on our anchor set it extremely well! Once we finally got it up it had another entire anchor attached, plus chain

At what point in the etiquette rules can you beat the sh1$ out of someone ? A Bump , a slip of the anchor sure no problem but this sounds like blatant incompetence

Pete the Cat · 17-01-2011, 07:48

" I'll come up astern of the most seamanlike vessel in the group.. could be gleaming or could be a tramp but its the one with the chain hanging as near up and down as possible compared the the rest....
I'll drop my hook 2 boatlengths astern and fall back on my hook"

I would second this process. In 30 years of cruising, I am shocked by the lack of common sense folks use in WHERE they drop their hook relative to other boats. Seems that an unbelieveable number have no idea where their boats are going to end up when they finally back down on their rode. You will not get waved off from me in a tight anchorage if you come really close to my stern to drop your hook: it is probably the ONLY place you can be sure you will not foul me or others. I have been waved off when I come up close to newbies to drop off their sterns, but more experienced sailors, as noted, generally are relieved you did not drop upwind, upcurrent and just hope you do not drift into them as many seem to do. I have also learned that anchoring out a bit or on the edge of the field when I get in late is not a bad idea--distances can be tough in the dark (another vote for setting off the stern of a well set boat).

**Pete7** · 17-01-2011, 08:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete the Cat

I would second this process. In 30 years of cruising, I am shocked by the lack of common sense folks use in WHERE they drop their hook relative to other boats. Seems that an unbelieveable number have no idea where their boats are going to end up when they finally back down on their rode.

It happens, we tipped up early morning at a busy spot on the Isle of Wight for a picnic and swim type of day. Well inshore to avoid the current and not another boat in 500 yards. Within minutes we are surrounded

with a constant splash of anchors and CQRs at that

Only we draw 4 foot tops

so please don't follow me in close unless you have more than one hull.

Pete

Bash · 17-01-2011, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete the Cat

You will not get waved off from me in a tight anchorage if you come really close to my stern to drop your hook: it is probably the ONLY place you can be sure you will not foul me or others. I have been waved off when I come up close to newbies to drop off their sterns, but more experienced sailors, as noted, generally are relieved you did not drop upwind, upcurrent and just hope you do not drift into them as many seem to do.

This is a really good point, one that novice cruisers should take to heart. The one possible exception here is when 180-degree tidal shifts are anticipated.

Hey, it's nice to see that we can get this far into an anchoring thread without a loss of civility. This could be a new record for the forum!

**boatman61** · 17-01-2011, 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bash

This is a really good point, one that novice cruisers should take to heart. The one possible exception here is when 180-degree tidal shifts are anticipated.

Hey, it's nice to see that we can get this far into an anchoring thread without a loss of civility. This could be a new record for the forum!

Thats why I allow a minimum 2 boat lengths... in Europe a full 180 every 6hrs 20mins is a norm.... bar the Med where its wind effect mainly

Livia · 17-01-2011, 09:05

Since this is an "anchorage" etiquette thread, how about something social:

If you are anchored in your own country and a foreign flagged vessel enters, go say "welcome".

chadlaroche · 17-01-2011, 09:09

I just want to say ahead of time I apologize for any bad anchoring I may do in the future.

**Hud3** · 17-01-2011, 09:20

I learned to simply stop worrying about what someone else did with his anchor.

After many instances of others anchoring "too close", or "on top of my hook", or "upwind of me with too little scope", I couldn't help but notice that nothing bad ever happened. I decided that it was much more relaxing and in tune with why I was out there cruising to just ignore those with different anchoring habits.

It is entertaining to watch the newbies anchor, though. And to watch the "anchoring Nazis" whose heads come popping up out of their companionways like a bunch of meerkats with scowls on their faces.