Idiot Needs Anchoring Advice ( Please )

[Sailbad]

All good advice. I always take note of a bearing that will take me out clear of other boats and dangers in case I have to leave during the dark hours because of weather or whatever!

[Pieter]

Great comments.... I would like to add this: Take your time.... Take your time in checking out the ancorache location, take your time in "feeling" what the wind and current are up to... Take your time to drop the hook and also take your time in reverse (slowly...)... So, when you feel all is ok... great... again, wait for some time to see how things are comming to an ease.... As i like to sleep well, i make sure that all is well (and already think of plan B.. what if....happens..). And i must say, i have always slept well, without alarms on etc...

Enjoy...
Pieter Kommerij
SV Onda Boa
www.luminacharters.com.br

[sdeese]

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to say a quick THANK YOU to everyone who has repsonded. I have learned a ton by asking you guys this question.

Thanks again
Stephen

[stevewrye]

Don't ever be afraid to ask others in a busy anchorage how much scope they have out. Not only does it help you to know where placement will be best but shows you care about other cruisers boats. Best to ask in meters most places. After a while you will find the rest of the world is used to anchoring in close places and it is not the best situation but you get used to it. I had been told for years that the French were the worst at anchoring but it is not true in my observations. For some reason Swedish boats have a tough time. Yanks are the most grouchy about boats being too close but only at first after awhile they get used to it.

[Vasco]

One other thing. In crowded anchorages if I think I might be a bit close to my neighbour I dink over after anchoring and ask them. Most of the times they say it's ok but if one thinks I'm too close I'll move.

[imagine2frolic]

If it was me, and it's not, but if it was. I would do the mooring this year, and enjoy the vacation. Next, when I got home I would do nothing but practice anchoring. As you can read there are different methods that work for different people. Anchoring is an art, and it doesn't happen on the first attempt.

Palaran,

The reason that cat can be so quick is that you have less drag on the bottoms. You can be sitting like everyone else, and a current change comes along. Then when everyone else shifts. You tend to ride all over the anchor, because you have less drag, and lots of windage. You can try dropping a bucket off the sterns, or bows to pull you into alignment with everyone else. Been there, and done that........i2f

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by stevewrye

Don't ever be afraid to ask others in a busy anchorage how much scope they have out. Not only does it help you to know where placement will be best but shows you care about other cruisers boats. Best to ask in meters most places. After a while you will find the rest of the world is used to anchoring in close places and it is not the best situation but you get used to it. I had been told for years that the French were the worst at anchoring but it is not true in my observations. For some reason Swedish boats have a tough time. Yanks are the most grouchy about boats being too close but only at first after awhile they get used to it.

If you ask someone how much scope he has and he gives you a blank look,
anchor FAR AWAY from him !

Loose quote from a Sears anchor winch (admittedly from a small boat but still,)

"Drop anchor until it hits the bottom.
Pull up 2 feet of anchor line.
Cleat off line."

(ACK !!)

How many "yachties" learned from anchoring small boats with Sears anchors?

[Curmudgeon]

1. Yep, stay as far away from other people as you can. That's not just etiquette, it's also the fact that the guy who got there first may know less about anchoring than you do.

2. If you have 2 anchors, drop both, at about a 45-60 degree angle from each other. The experts say that doesn't really help, but they lie. For starters, it cuts down on your swing. Also, if the wind shifts, one of the two may hold while the other might drag.

3. As others have noted back down gently at first. You'll know when the anchor has dug in.

4. There is no rule against taking a line ashore and tying it around a tree, if there is a handy tree.

5. If you are in a crowded anchorage, put out your fenders and keep them out. Keep your boat hook handy at all times. A gleaming, well-sharpened gaff may also prove useful.

[goboatingnow]

Having sailed in both Croatia and the BVI, both the OPs intended chartering area , Id like to give my experience,

Firslty a lot of the Eastern Med can be difficult to anchor in as the sea bed falls off quickly to great depths ( ie in turkey we had 60 feet under the boat ,10 feet from teh shore). Hence you can be anchoring "down hill", which can result in very poor holding. The reverse, anchoring uphill tends to put you close to the shore, where you run a long line ashore. However if you drag ( and you will) you will be up fast. But thats a common feature of anchoring in Croatia.


As to space, in my opinion in common charter areas, the Space rule gets completely violated and youll find youself violating it also, if you followed some of the rules in this thread you be about four bays away!. In practice in crowded anchorges, its find a spot and give it a go, often youll be too close etc etc, ALso dont be suprised when an Italian boat just steams into the space between you and the next guy and drops the hook. You just learn to live with it and nobody breaks much sweat if you swing into them ( fenders out of course). You just sort it out etc. ( never set trip buoys, people try to moor to them !)

Ignore all the stuff about two anchors, youll never get the room.

As to asking about scope, that might work in the USA etc, where everyones speaking the lingo, in European anchorages, Ive never never seen it done, it would usually be met by blank stares, Anyway most of them have no idea whats down.

IN the BVI, I only anchored when I couldnt pick up a mooring buoy, In most places the only remaining anchorage space was in the poorest spots, often too close to the shore or near a reef, or miles offshore or whatever. Often if you want to get to "that" island, its all you can use and you have to live with it. In a lot of cases this meant standing anchor watch, or sleepily very very lightly. Set any anchor alarms you can and be ready for instant action.

All the other stuff about backing it in etc etc, is good stuff
Dave

[rimaya]

and don't feel shy about pulling the anchor up and re-anchoring. sometimes it takes a lot of times to get it right. that's why its nice to have an electric windlass.

[zeehag]

oh yes-never leave your boat because of weather---stay with it to save it when it is necessary.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by rimaya

and don't feel shy about pulling the anchor up and re-anchoring. sometimes it takes a lot of times to get it right. that's why its nice to have an electric windlass.

Totally agree with you.

It used to be ambarassing to think people would notice me having to reanchor. Now I don't give 2 hoots what someone else thinks. That helps too, because with the knowledge that I can reanchor I am not so stressed getting it right the first time.
I like to be able to get the bow in exactly the spot I want when letting go. Normally its then fine. But its amazing how a little bow can wriggle around the whole anchorage before I've got from blunt end to pointy and dropped the rock.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

( never set trip buoys, people try to moor to them !)

funny, and sad!

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

( never set trip buoys, people try to moor to them !)

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

funny, and sad!

A few years ago, we picked up a mooring in Isles of Shoals and settled in for the evening. A chlorox boat came in with a young couple on board. There weren't many moorings left, but there were several lobster pots. The entire mooring field was enjoying their evening sundowners while this couple picked up lobster buoy after lobster buoy and tried to pull it aboard before finally stumbling across one of the last available moorings. Their neighbor welcomed them and said they'd been saving the mooring just for them.

Back to the OP and the BVI. As was said earlier, the only heavily populated harbor without moorings is Great Harbor on Jost. Lots of folks want to stop in there to visit Foxy's. Unfortunately, the coral also doesn't have a lot of sand to hold your anchor. A local described his process -- lower the anchor gently and let out 2 or 3:1. Have a beer (or tea, if you insist, but you are on vacation.) If you haven't dragged before you've finished your drink, let out about 5:1 and have another drink. (Hydration is important in the tropics.) If you're still holding, try reverse, but don't use full power. Dive on your anchor. If you're still holding, you're probably fine until the guy to windward drags into you. We've anchored there twice without trouble, but I still never felt comfortable leaving the boat without crew because of the crowd around me.

[LifeJacket]

For me the key is not to rush. If there is enough wind and in the mid afternoon in the BVI's there usually is I let the wind set the boat back until the rode is taught and then apply a some reverse throttle. I don't let my ego get in the way of picking up and resetting if things don't feel right (especially if there are other boats close by). There have been times it has taken multiple attempts ... don't fret ... its the islands "mon". Also in high winds i will set a second bow anchor 45 or 60 degrees off of the first (this is much easier to do in a cat ... motor up ... drop second anchor ... back off and cleat when ready ... but you can do it in a dingy too).

The BVI's do have balls all over the place ... I still snorkle the mooring to make sure the tackle looks good under the water. I also snorkle my anchor to make sure it is snug and to get an idea of what else is down there (coral, old tackle etc).

I prefer anchoring (even in BVI) for a couple reasons: the cost and the dang balls are so close together I have had to fend off "neighbors" in light/no winds when we are all not lying true to the wind. Plus in Jost ... it is a much longer swim to some of the bars if you use the balls.

My admiral also puts her foot on the rode (after she has stopped playing it out) to feel if the anchor is dragging ... you can get a good feel of what is happening through the chain rode.

Good luck ... relax ... trust your gut ... don't worry about picking up and doing it again etc. At least you are thinking about all of the ramifications and situations ... many don't.