Could Not Weigh Anchor Today

[Stu Jackson]

WADR to those suggesting buoys and other paraphernalia, I submit that when the wind is really honking, like in the OP, the very last thing you wanna deal with is more crap. It's hard enough to do right with one anchor rode.

PS --- a crewed fishing boat as in the example earlier is way different than the OP, singlehanded.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Tessellate

I know this is probably just a figure of speech, and everyone saying they're lifting with their back may not really be doing that, but some people may not actually know the right way to do it so I figure this is worth saying -

You should definitely not be lifting with your back! The right way to lift is with your legs, which are much stronger. One way is to emulate the form of a deadlift. Lock your arms, do a partial squat with your legs, keep your chest up (don't arch your back - your shoulders should not be dropped or forward) and heave with your legs. Then repeat.
Buga that.. finish my knees off completely...

If you have strong enough upper body muscles you can also pull with your arms - using the traps (trapezius muscle in the upper back), lats and deltoids - which is a little faster.

If you want exercises that strengthen that area, think rowing, dumbell lifts, and pulling cabintop mounted halyards.

My style is sit on my butt.. brace my feet against either side of the pullpit.. take the chain in hand, lean back then start hauling hand over hand.. jam the chain with my foot as the load comes back on or a half turn on a deck cleat if the loads too strong to hold without draining my strength needlessly, then start hand balling again as the load comes off on the opposite tack.
The advantage of this is 3fold.. solid balance.. saves my back and.. a <37ft boat it usually puts the hawse pipe just in front of my crotch so I'm feeding it in as I haul.. if the boats bigger I'll feed the chain while falling onto the opposite tack..
The tricky bit is getting her on the right tack for that breaking moment so's she's sailing herself slowly under main with loose tiller while you haul up the rest. Know your depth and have your chain well marked in 5metre lengths.. thats roughly what you should be able to haul on each tack if your fit.. last 2x5's in a different colour so you know your almost there and can plan your tack.. if needed don't haul in on a tack so's you get it right.
PS... don't try this in depths greater than you can manage the weight of the hook and up/down chain.
Deeper you'll need the windlass..
Scared the crap outa a full anchorage in Soller, Mallorca back in the 90's doing this... racing type last minute tacks full main and Genny as boats closed ahead of me.. all the way through maybe 50+ boats closely packed in... but I could run then..
Ahhh the cockiness of youth.. no way I'd try to emulate that today..
PS; a good Haka 1st helps.. get mad.. ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH

[captain58sailin]

Stu, when I was using this method, I was by myself and no help from anyone. It works, and it wouldn't cost very much to jerry rig one up and try it. If it works for this application then you are not pulling your anchor by hand anymore. If it doesn't you haven't lost anything but a little time and a steel ring.

[four winds]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Good luck. And low winds for a while.
Do you have a chain stopper?

No chain stopper yet. Switched to all chain rode recently so it's a work in progress.

What a glorious day on the water today! Got a start on my tan for the summer.

But.... the freaking wind hammered me. Got up at dawn, skipped breakfast, and got underway. No problem with the anchor, got on top of it and wave action popped it out completete with a basketball sized mud ball. Twenty minutes later the wind was back, by 0800.

Motored through the land cut channel to St. Andrews Bay with wind on the nose for four hours, needing +500 rpm to make usual speed. Wondered what tbe bay would be like.

Twenty knots on the nose it turns out. The NWS forcast was 50% low and the WeatherUnderground forcast was 25% low. Worst chop I've ever motored through. Took more water over the bow than my last gulf crossing.

Pretty sure I saw squirrels on tiny surfboards catching waves.

Shell Island will have to wait for tomorrow. After an hour I bee-lined to the nearest windward shore.

[four winds]

My usual method is sitting as well. On the front of the coach house with feet in the locker and wearing gloves. Can still use my legs and upper body with lower back supported by me bum (love that word).

Unfortunately I have the hard dinghy (the LBB-Little Bastard Boat) on deck. So the bow is right where I sit. If I sit on the LBB the geometry is all wrong. If I sit in front of it I'm in the locker.

BTW, I appreciate all the posts and advice here. Good food for thought. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[Ex-Calif]

My brother and I debated how he would get his hook up if the gypsy failed. He has a 50 foot boat and all chain. The gypsy is at the forward base of the mast over the locker.

I suggested a chain hook attached to the topping lift. He could winch the topping lift, dragging the chain over the bow roller. At sufficient "height" he stops the chain at the bow with his normal chain stopper/hook and drops the topping lift laying all the chain on deck.

Take another purchase on the chain and go again.

I have no idea if this is practical. What do you all think?

[boatman61]

Topping lifts the wrong side o the mast.. spinnaker halyard would be better...

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Topping lifts the wrong side o the mast.. spinnaker halyard would be better...

Sorry - Thought spinnaker (pole) lift, wrote topping lift - Doh!

We talked Spin halyard and then imagined 50' of 5/8 inch chain suspended above our heads - LOL...

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by four winds

No chain stopper yet. Switched to all chain rode recently so it's a work in progress.

What a glorious day on the water today! Got a start on my tan for the summer.

But.... the freaking wind hammered me. Got up at dawn, skipped breakfast, and got underway. No problem with the anchor, got on top of it and wave action popped it out completete with a basketball sized mud ball. Twenty minutes later the wind was back, by 0800.

Motored through the land cut channel to St. Andrews Bay with wind on the nose for four hours, needing +500 rpm to make usual speed. Wondered what tbe bay would be like.

Twenty knots on the nose it turns out. The NWS forcast was 50% low and the WeatherUnderground forcast was 25% low. Worst chop I've ever motored through. Took more water over the bow than my last gulf crossing.

Pretty sure I saw squirrels on tiny surfboards catching waves.

Shell Island will have to wait for tomorrow. After an hour I bee-lined to the nearest windward shore.

The wind always seems to be an issue there until may or so.
Sounds like you did well.

[brownoarsman]

I've recently had many occasions to remember this thread. Just thought I'd update it with what has been working for me.
In many of the anchorages I've been in in the Bahamas (the bank, all of the berries, some very exposed ones in the abacos) a substantial amount of surge, swell, and/or wind will come in. After crunching a few fingers, I realized that the wave action and wind was blowing the boat back while it was in irons on the tack, and then everything would have to begin all over again with a taut rode, and there was no way to pull it up, it was basically always taut.
What I do now on my 28' Pearson that may work on your 32' is center the tiller and pull the main in tight as before, but I also unroll a little jib. I then go up to the foredeck, and holding the jib lines in my hand, will hold the jib in, as the boat begins to tack, back wind the jib to speed the turn, hold it in again to gain thrust, back wind again, etc. Every few tacks I'll run up and gather the chain in and then cleat it down in my center cleat. I believe this process has the advantage of giving me clear visibility of my rode at all times, gives me more punch to power through the waves, reduces the forces trying to send the boat backwards, and I'm also instantly maneuverable thanks to the ability to back wind the jib as soon as the anchor has broken loose. Everyone else in the anchorage gets a great show and a morning of pondering what the hell I was doing.
One final thing, all chain shouldn't be a lightly taken decision. I put it in without really considering it as a system, and when my Bruce has dug in well into sand, the complete absence of any kind of stretch in the chain has bent my bow pulpit, the roller that was attached to it, and ripped one of the horns off my bow chock. What happens is the boat hobby horses a fair bit with they outboard and the chain in front, and as she rises on a wave the shock load was too much for the attachments. Tacking over my chain rode isn't doing any favors to my fiberglass on the stem either!
Hope this technique helps, it works great on my boat and is a definite advantage to sailing something small. The


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[JPA Cate]

For anyone reading this rejuvenated old thread, a word of warning: If you're using the line to the primaries, that's fine, but do not trust jib halyard winches for the job of weighing anchor. We tore one off the mast that way, once. Later, when the manual windlass was damaged by trying to lift our anchor plus the anchor and chain of the Frenchman who had anchored over it, we used the primaries, worked fine, and no damage.

Ann

[mrohr]

Lotsa good advice/ideas here.
Boatman et. al.have excellent sugestion regarding "sailing out the anchor", for a full description see Erick Hiscocks books.
Those that use the recommended patience and wave action with a vertical rode will save themselves a lot of work if they just wait for a deeply embedded anchor to work its way free as they go for a fresh cuppa. Have the engine ticking over ,main set and luffing (reefed if necessary),shoes on so the single hander can scoot back and forth to bow/cockpit without breaking toes,gloves at the ready,and a progressive tightening of the rode as anchor begins to break out.Works a treat!
When younger I did all with brute force and agility when alone, but had to retrain myself after multiple injuries and advancing years took their toll. I think things thru now and only use 1/2 the muscle power i have available to preclude any strains. I never jerk , but try to do everything with due deliberation . I use 3 boat lengths chain with 300' nylon as backup . Nylon can be helpful to free up a fouled anchor if a windlass can get a line stretched taut and then quickly released,but remember when motoring around your nylon rode that it could easily foul your prop, not ann issue with chain and is argument enough for chain.
A huge caveat here in all of this is to be especially alert to the very high loads imparted when driving a boat against against a fouled anchor,chain in or line. Local man was killed when cleat gave way and taut nylon sprung cleat into his skull. I myself came very close to losing hand when my chain was bar taut and at right angle to boat.





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