Visit our Popular Forums

danielamartindm · 01-11-2018, 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetx

This can also depend on which cat you're talking about. Many Leopards for example don't have a roller on the forward crossbeam, and the anchor deploys from underneath the tramp just forward of the mast. On these boats, if you let the bows blow off, the chain winds up laid out underneath the windward hull. If you just stop paying out and allow the chain to tension up and bring the bows back around, the chain can bear up against the bottom of that hull and either scrape off some bottom paint or scratch up the hull.

True that. If you don't keep the vessel into the wind as you're laying out the chain, it won't come into the wind until the bridle is deployed at the end of the process. If you're really misaligned fore and aft with the wind or current when the bridle takes the load, the chain can (depending upon the amount of tension in it) scrape off the bottom paint of the windward hull or gouge that hull amidships.

KJThomas · 09-11-2018, 01:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyschulman

Not conventional, but used to be common on sail without engine, an anchor line run from bow to stern with a stern set and later release to allow riding from bow. This way while setting your boat will want to point down wind. This is a variation of the down wind sailing set no motor used. Sail dead down wind drop sail or shorten when boat slows enough drop anchor from stern and allow slow way to set anchor from cleat on stern and then allow slow turn to wind when stern cleat released or never cleat to stern and allow boat to come around you pick which way with a little rudder. I have used this on sail boats and also pick up moorings from stern quarter. It works surprisingly well once you understand the process. It fits my philosophy of dealing with boats, Know what your boat likes and does not like to do then model your maneuvers based on that knowledge. In this case most boats prefer pointing down wind and do not like bow to wind. With fast setting deep digging modern anchors with a little practice one can be fairly precise about where you set your anchor and how your boat will lye.

I find downwind anchoring on a cat an invitation for the anchor rode to wrap around a centreboard or rudder. You then end up sailing sideways to the anchor at some speed. Scaring the natives!

KJThomas · 09-11-2018, 01:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Hello all,
thought I would throw my five cents worth in here. A couple of things - 1) its not always suitable to turn boat head to wind to drop anchor although it is our preferred method. In wind against tide such as rivers or large bays you may be anchoring against a substanial tide which is far stronger than the wind. 2) Bow into wind or tide is preferable to us as you are always in control of the vessel direction against the anchor. Not so sideways. You are placing the vessel most exposed windage or underwater profile to the force of wind or tide. You cannot control the speed of your boat in this profile. 3) The windlass is not designed to take these full force loads of a boat suddenly coming under load.
Recently when trying to anchor there was a flood tide on the river which was running at a substantial speed, 2 to 3 knots in my estimation. Just dropping anchor chain with the vessel increasing in speed had the potential to do some serious damage to the anchoring system without controlling the vessel correctly. By dropping the anchor bow to wind we had full control of the boats speed and direction while we anchored.
We recently witnessed a large power boat try to set anchor with his vessel sideway to the 25 knot wind. Not pleasant to watch and certainly not pleasant to hear the noises coming from the windlass when they finally came up hard on the anchor on the third attempt.
With the vessel bow to when anchoring we are normally in full control regardless of most conditions.
Greg H

If your anchoring system cannot handle a sideways stop in 25 knots, then i don't fancy your chances of it holding together in a decent blow. However anchoring downwind also risks getting the chain caught in the vessels appendages as it swings. Rather an expensive crunch if it catches the prop.

eyschulman · 09-11-2018, 09:56

When a stern anchor maneuver is used it is important to have rode carefully flaked at the stern and use a stern cleat to control same. The remainder of the rode still goes to bow. Once anchor is set and boat stops any forward motion the bow can be pointed off to side of stern cleat with engine or a small amount of forward sail then line is released from stern this keeps line from interacting with rudders boards or bottom. This technique works best with little or no chain rode's.

Thumbs Up · 10-11-2018, 08:16

Quote:

not to worry about keeping the nose to the wind when laying down the chain for anchoring - The theory he explained was that when you lock off the chain it will come back round helping to dig in the anchor.

That would be a cavalier approach to anchoring. Probably fine in some instances and only with a sand bottom. Over silt or mud you are going to want to let the anchor sink in for a while before you set it. A good way to scrape up your bottom paint. Very hard to judge where you will end up in a crowded anchorage. The French are very well known for their sailing skills, but not so much for their anchoring skills, they tend to anchor very close to one another and drag more often. (from what I have seen). But hey! Now that we have another anchoring thread let's beat it to death. How about those people (Usually Americans) that always insist on paying out all their rode even in ten feet of water? They should hang a warning sign on their bow!

Thumbs Up · 10-11-2018, 08:39

"anchoring is somewhat like sex"

I couldn't paste it but here https://books.google.com.gt/books?id...%20sex&f=false is an excerpt from a book called between the devil and the deep.... I have not read it but might give it a try