Anchoring and Dragging

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by smj

Sounds good. Now all I have to do is buy one!

I will serve you Italian coffee instead. That will keep you awake all night

[smj]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I will serve you Italian coffee instead. That will keep you awake all night

You are a good neighbor, or maybe untrusting of your neighbors!!!!

[rover88]

[/QUOTE]I don't have a problem if you have all the electronics in the world it doesn't substitute for good anchoring tackle and the ability to use it[/QUOTE]

SMJ, Darn - and I was in a particularly argumentative mood this morning and now you have gone and made me agree with you! Nothing is a substitute for good anchoring practice.

[smj]

I don't have a problem if you have all the electronics in the world it doesn't substitute for good anchoring tackle and the ability to use it[/QUOTE]

SMJ, Darn - and I was in a particularly argumentative mood this morning and now you have gone and made me agree with you! Nothing is a substitute for good anchoring practice.[/QUOTE]

Your just happy because I've been shamed into buying an anchor alarm

[rover88]

[/QUOTE]Your just happy because I've been shamed into buying an anchor alarm[/QUOTE]

Actually I'm unhappy and argumentative because I just had to return from sailing paradise to (pardon my use of an obscene four-letter word) WORK.

Ah...... but once I get "re-moneyfied" I'll be under sail again and a much more pleasant person.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by smj

Your just happy because I've been shamed into buying an anchor alarm

Looks like it will be few few beers I owe you to pay for that

There are two types of anchor alarms on gps units. One sets the alarm from your current location. The other alows you to set an alarm around a waypoint.
The latter is superior. You can set the waypoint just where the gps unit would be over the anchor. This means no matter which way you swing the distance remains constant (because the waypoint is the anchors position) so there are no false alarms.
With the former type you have to set the alarm just as drop the anchor. Even then the gps unit will often be at the back of the boat.
The aim is to have the anchor alarm set with the gps directly over the anchor. If the distance exceeds your scope plus the distance back of the gps antennae you are dragging and this relaionship stays the same no matter which way you are pointing.

There seems no correlation between cost and the type of alarm.
The other requirement is low power consumption and a small B&W screen makes the position easy to see. The track will also show exactly where the anchor was dropped.

There are some other advanced tricks you can do, particarly when the gps allows you to specify the center of the alarm point. You can set the "anchor" alarm to go off if the wind changes direction for example.

[zeehag]

raku--i usually SHORT hand my boat and stay in the anchorage sola when i fix my boat between passages. i also have a LOT of experience in other boats. since age 7 to now---LOTS AND LOTS of experience. but always learning. many different kinds of seafloors and many different places.

longest anchor watch i did was 5 days--i did sleep, but i had to sleep with an eye pen and curb feelers out--i was on top of a shallow place which turned out to be a huge rock. yes i moved. i usually stand an hour anchor watch on arrival then do my thing if i feel comfortable in the place and with the set of the anchor.

[Cheechako]

many anchorages it's due to depth. Join the crowd , or end up outside at the shelf in 70 feet of water! retrieving 300 ft of chain or rode can be a real pain.... on most my boats I would have to "manage the stack" of chain as it comes in...due to piling up too high. 150ft no problem, 250 ft a problem!

[David_Old_Jersey]

If you go somewhere busy / popular can't really complain about folks anchoring "too close", as often enough that will be you! (at least in the eyes of some).

The suitablility of any anchorage varies according to conditions - in some conditions squeezing in like sardines is perfectly ok and actually no need to anchor from the getgo (and forever) as if a Tsunami or a named Hurricane was going to imminently hit.

IMO up to the Skipper to adapt to changes rather than to spend time moaning about how they wish the world was. And that adapting may include going somewhere else or sitting on deck watching for boats whooshing past! and that may even include someone not going ashore even though they would prefer to (oh the horror of not being able to do what you want when you want!).

I guess, just like on land, some folks not so good at sharing / think they are entitled by being first (whether that counted in time or money).

[Cheechako]

Yeah, I've had charterers anchored right next to me in a crowded anchorage, put fenders out "just in case" and head to shore! Many people have no idea of the etiiquette involved. If I anchor in acrowded anchorage and the wind shifts, I feel it's my responsibility to re-anchor if I'm intruding on a boat that was there when I got there. I also expect the same from a boat that came after me.

[bobconnie]

When I started cruiseing over 30+ years ago the Anchor choices were a little smaller then they are now !! Danforth, CQR, and a Rock pick ! I carried all 3, and used all 3 depending on the bottom! There were times I drug anchor, but they were few and far between! way back then your eyes and the places on shore you picked out for your drag markers were all you had to tell if you were dragging!! some of us used a small dingy anchor off to the side, after we set our main anchor, we put out the dink anchor with a line thru a port to a pot or bell, if the pot banged or the bell rang you were dragging !! simple and cheap and no battery drain!! I admit I now have other means to tell if Im dragging, but if I need sleep I still use the old way and sleep just fine !! Just an old timers 2 cents

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just hang out some fender boards - if feeling nice, a couple of fenders on the outside - otherwise a couple of tyres, or SFA!

[simonmd]

Originally Posted by waterworldly

ANYONE who comes into a busy anchorage after dark and "nearly motored right into" a boat has no business being in an anchorage after dark! Sounds more like bad technique then the fault of the other boaters. We anchor almost exclusively from the Bahamas to New York, and have managed it on 8 trips with no incident. Perhaps our original "greenhorn" status made us more prudent about the safety of our boat that prevails to this day. I see many just throw the hook and just go below. I have also called to boats that are too close and asked them to move.

Anyone who writes a kneejerk reaction to a thread they've obviously just skimmed over without reading it properly has no business replying in the first place......

Sorry but if you read it PROPERLY, you'll see that I clearly wrote that I was ALREADY anchored, started to drag, tried to reset, failed and because of all the other boats that had come later so close to me, I was unable to let out any more chain to ensure a decent hold. Only then, did i HAVE TO motor around the other boats to find a SAFE place at the entrance of the anchorage to fully let out my entire ground tackle and THAT'S when I nearly ran into a dark blue boat with no lights on!

Now, if you'd kindly point out what I did wrong or what I could have done differently, i'd be VERY interested to read it.

Oh, and before you say "you should have had out more chain in the first place.......", the sudden winds from the land were NOT forcast and I was anchoring a 4.5 ton boat in 4 meters of water with 20 meters of chain. No one is going to let out 40 meters in that depth for fear of swinging into someone and other boats would certainly not expect a 9 meter boat to have 40 meters out.

[Lagoon4us]

I wonder if car clubs have "in depth" (excuse the pun) handbrake discussions????

PositionNo matter the anchorage that we choose we always consider a windshift LEE shore scenario, hence we tend to favour the "anchor out choice".

Scope always is chosen to match weather at the time or what is likely to occur.

Anchor lights, Calm nights give great reflection on the water so just the masthead is good. Whereas choppy nights we put on some form of cabin light as well.

Have a theory regarding why some don't switch on any lights, i think they tend to believe their is safety in numbers as in if 6 others are lit well cool.

Trying to get the world to conform to whatever we consider is "the way" will only put us in an early grave, my wife and i usually have our drinks in the evening watching the occasional idiot drift by, yes we do suggest to some they may be too close, if they don't move then we do simple as that!

Scope should be minimal but adequate for the perceived conditions, unless in a constant decent blow 10:1 is unnecessary and rude. Experience shouldn't make you argumentative it should just make you safer..........


Cheers Frank

[Andrew Troup]

Here's a possible enhancement to the 'metal boat' "solution"

Unfortunately no-one recognises the signal flags for Black Plague and Yellow Fever any more .....

;-)

Seriously my favoured solutions to being hemmed in are

1) avoid 'favourite' anchorages, and put up with less shelter to avoid crowds, even if it means rigging anti-rolling strut / using more ground tackle

2) With a lift keel: getting into shallower water than the herd, and using shore lines if necessary or feasible