Does constant anchoring wear you down?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by savoir

It isn't generally a good idea to let your anchor free fall although you can get away with it in shallow water around 4 or 5m.

The problem is that chain free falls faster than any anchor other than a rock pick which I doubt you would be using. In deeper water the chain will hit the bottom first and the anchor is liable to be fouled by it. If the anchor lands on top of the chain then a tug on the chain could well break the anchor free of the bottom at an inopportune moment.

If you want to save the windlass when lowering try a handbrake by grabbing the chain wearing some gardening gloves - works for me.

Thank you for explaining that! I was taught to lower the anchor and not just heave it over, and have always followed the advice, but didn't know the reason until now. I realize now how true it is just from handling the anchor and chain.

[savoir]

Strength has nothing to do with it. A shoe on top of the chain will work just as well.

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Then it's much prettier than my Spade

I've anchored out so much in the last two years that most of the galvanizing is off the Spade and it looks really ugly. A bit of a quandry since the Spade has got lead ballast -- I don't even know how it can be regalvanized .

On the other hand, a really ugly anchor is probably a certain mark of honor among the cognoscenti

Even a really worn out spade is prettier than a Rocha....how many hundred years till its a rusty lump?

[Nostrodamus]

I am really enjoying this discussion and hopefully we are all learning something along the way.

I am not really sure what happens to the anchor below in big wind shifts but I am sure someone will know.

The usual way of anchoring is to come in and look at the set of the other boats and anchor as they are.

In the Med the weather will often be totally out as the land/sea effect in the afternoons will often be stronger. You will also often get big wind shifts during the day or night which will also get the swell to change direction.

If you go into an anchorage and know the wind is liable to get up and change direction later is it best to set your anchor to the way boats are laying at the present time as is the norm or to try and set it for the stronger/ different direction winds that will come later?

If the wind does change 180 degrees from where you st your anchor does the anchor turn at all or stay where it is.. I imagine a lot of the holding power of the anchor is taken away if the boat turns..

Thank you to any one who can give me a answer to these queries.

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

The mental processes that create worry are ingrained into us long before we are financially able to cruise. Some people just are not cut out to "not worry". I think stress reduction is something you can learn but it isn't easy. Insurance is one way to reduce stress but it costs money which may be a bigger worry.

That's one thing I keep repeating to my GF (who is a lot more prone to worrying then I am).
"What's the worst thing that really could happen".

When anchoring with a chartered boat in the med that translates as "loosing my deposit". So I stopped worrying about anchoring. Last boat I was on had a Bügel. Worked beautifully.

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

TThe French in particular often anchor by motoring forward whilst dropping the anchor.

That is actually an interesting idea... Must try it out sometimes.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

I am not really sure what happens to the anchor below in big wind shifts but I am sure someone will know.

The usual way of anchoring is to come in and look at the set of the other boats and anchor as they are.

Unless winds are above 10 knots this method is not infallible. If the wind is light and there has been a change in wind direction, other boats' anchors can be just about anywhere - under their boat, behind them etc. Unless they have anchor buoys it is difficult to "anchor as they are".

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

If you go into an anchorage and know the wind is liable to get up and change direction later is it best to set your anchor to the way boats are laying at the present time as is the norm or to try and set it for the stronger/ different direction winds that will come later?

You will probably get some differences of opinion about this, but I think it is best to set for prevailing wind unless there is next to no wind and the change will be coming shortly. It is actually difficult to set well against the prevailing wind and it is particularly difficult to do in a crowded anchorage.

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

If the wind does change 180 degrees from where you st your anchor does the anchor turn at all or stay where it is.. I imagine a lot of the holding power of the anchor is taken away if the boat turns.

Up to a certain point the anchor stays were it is and simply the chain moves around. What the anchor does then depends on the anchor type, how well you have set it and the type of holding ground. If well set, our new generation anchor simply swivels under the terrain without dislodging. Most of the good modern anchors will do this. Danforths are notoriously bad at holding with a marked change in wind direction.

[dave c]

In the beginning of my cruising, my anchor alarm, a second smaller anchor with lots of slack to ten feet of chain laid down the side of my boat, when I dragged it surely woke me up! I did sleep good, although it ended up a tangled mess many times. Granted I only anchored in waters 10 feet or less. My last trip from Ft Lauderdale to Key West and back, a 2 and a half month cruise only dragged once but used Key West Mooring field for one month. Anchor was a Manson Supreme. I always slept in the front of my Westerly and when it did drag it would lay differently to the wind and I would feel it and wake up. Now that I am looking at new and larger boats I wonder if that will be the case?

[Oliver L.]

Monte, thank you - that was exactly the program I was looking for.

When I was younger and ships were simpler, I would just take a simple weight on a line, tie it to a kitchen pot and then the end to a more sturdy place and then set the kitchen pot on the table. It would wake everybody on the boat if the boat moved. Of course, that was before my better half decreed that this was improper use of kitchen pots...

One question kind of keeps nagging me. We anchor probably 90% of the nights we are on board, and it's a simple procedure. We have a FOB HP anchor with 35 kg, and we've never dragged this far. Anchoring is a simple routine, and thanks to being on a cat and having 100 m of chain (330'), I can usually either park further to shore or further out, whichever is less crowded. But...going into a Marina, my palms get sweaty and my blood pressure rises just thinking of all the stationary hardware waiting to snag me. Am I alone with this?

Oliver

[forsailbyowner]

Having lived aboard 8 years now Ive had one terribly scary anchoring episode. I was in a place near Johns pass in 8' of water with about 8 to one scope. It was a gusty night and the tide is strong there. Every gust would blow me past the anchor and the tide would pull me downstream wrapping the chain around the anchor with each pass. Ive never seen it happen before but the 45lb delta fouled. I woke to a strange noise and when I got up to investigate saw marker lights right outside the ports. I got at the helm and fired up the engine and at the same time I put it in gear the mast contacted the bridge. i still count my blessings as the only thing that was lost was one of the sides of the windex that form the v. My lesson was to use 2 anchors in strong tidal areas especially when its windy.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by Oliver L.

But...going into a Marina, my palms get sweaty and my blood pressure rises just thinking of all the stationary hardware waiting to snag me. Am I alone with this?

Oliver

After anchoring all year I was looking forward to going into a marina for winter.
The trouble was when we got there I was out of practise, the wind was blowing 25 knots across the berth and no matter what I did I could not get the bow through the wind... I ended up going sideways down between the boats and was lucky to recover it in time. Gee did I have sweaty palms... luckily a marina man came across in a dingy and pushed our bows round so we could tie up... a cold beer never tasted so good.

[Dhillen]

Wary of thread drift I will keep this brief. We have a 110# Spade, which is ugly as sin but works like an angel, that is, unless you are trying to anchor over rock when no anchor will do. We had this on occasion in tight anchorages (space-wise, no other boats there) up in Alaska this summer.

While we normally anchor the conventional way by dropping the hook and paying out the chain, I have found this technique to work under these circumstances: motor forward at two knots and throw the anchor overboard while shifting the boat into neutral. This seems to get the anchor to bite more readily and boat momentum slows in tune with the anchor descent and as it bites.

Cheers.

Dhillen

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Oliver L.

But...going into a Marina, my palms get sweaty and my blood pressure rises just thinking of all the stationary hardware waiting to snag me. Am I alone with this?

Oliver

Ah, this is funny! This is turning into a general thread on Boat Phobias! Probably a very worthy subject.

Docking is of course one of the trickier skills we have to master, and I'm sure everyone has been through a bout of Docking Phobia.

I was fairly relaxed about docking my old boat which at 37 feet and 10 tons was not too big to manhandle if you get a little out of sorts in a docking maneuver -- you can fend off, or grab a piling, if necessary.

Docking Phobia hit me hard when I acquired my present boat, which at 54 feet and 25 tons cannot be manhandled in any way. It means you have to get the docking exactly right using only mechanical means, and you can't make any mistakes. On top of that, you can't see the edge of the boat from the helm (16 foot beam), so you are guessing about where the pontoon is (or relying on a lookout). So the first year or two were pretty tense, and I worried all the time. I did whack a piling in the first months (trying to get into my then marina berth with the tide running the wrong way -- my bad), but otherwise fortunately no damage. But like with so many things, you gradually gain skill and comfort, and now it doesn't bother me. It can be a real challenge getting into a tight marina or harbor (especially French ones, which all seem to be designed for 30 footers) with the wind blowing and a current running, and it can be a huge challenge trying to slot the boat right into a narrow spot with no room ahead or behind, but with sufficient planning and proper teamwork it need not ever be a sweaty palms experience.

I must say that it helps a lot having a boat which reverses more or less straight, is not blown around too much by the wind, and has a bow thruster. These qualities together mean that despite losing the manhandling option, and despite the much greater bulk and inertia of my present boat, I don't really feel like it's harder to dock than the old 37-er. Once you learn all the tricks you can do with a bow thruster, a huge range of new maneuvering possibilities open up to you. Just to name one of those tricks, it is immensely valuable to be able to move the boat sideways.

How's that for thread drift. Sorry. In short -- I think Docking Phobia is not the same kind of problem that Anchor-O-Phobia is. Once you've docked, you're docked -- it's over. Being at anchor goes on for days sometimes.

[GordMay]

... I would like to claim great experience, but the truth may be that I just ran out of stupid! ...

I’ll nominate this for quote of the week!

[nautical62]

On my last two cruises, I never once stayed in a marina and anchored in different locations most nights. I usually feel much better at anchor than in a marina. When at the dock, less breeze flows through the boat, more mosquitoes, clanking halyards of nearby boats, worry of someone boarding, etc.

I tend to not anchor near other boats, so someone dragging into me is rarely a concern.

When I'm solo, and it's really blowing, getting the anchor up can be kind of a drag.