The single most entertaining charter boat anchoring video of all time

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

The video is pretty long and booring so I took the liberty to toss everything out and save the best frame.

Yeah, that's a heck of a nice dingy.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah, that's a heck of a nice dingy.

Yea! Is that a center console?

[Hammer]

I wonder if they now use this video as a "Things not to do" at sailing/crusing schools?

It'll be good for all the newbies to watch, and hopefully learn.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah, that's a heck of a nice dingy.

Where? Didn't notice a dinghy.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Where? Didn't notice a dinghy.

[Jammer Six]

I like the brunette.

What I want to know is this: why are all those boats anchored in such a dense pack? Now, I'm a newbie, and have never sailed in the Caribbean, so there's probably an obvious answer, but why on earth are they all so close together?

[senormechanico]

That's an easy one to answer.
Nobody knows much about anything, therefore the people already anchored 'must know what they're doing' , so the second boat anchors right next to them.
The third boat into the anchorage sees two boats anchored close to each other, so they figure that must be the only good holding ground.
They anchor close as well.

You can figure out the rest of the story.

[Jammer Six]

You're kidding.

So there's not a real reason?

(I've seen the same thing here, with cruising guides. A thousand square miles of water available, and everyone entered the same coordinates from the same guide into their plotter, and now there are a dozen cruisers trying to sail through the same point.)

[carstenb]

It's called the lemming effect

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

That anchorage looks familiar, know where it is? If it's the one I'm thinking of, when I was there it wasnt terribly differnt than the video, all the charter boats came in just before dark and just dropped the hook and put out fenders "in case we bump in the night" GEEZ

Anyone know where it is? Sometimes it's not just the "Lemming effect", there's often only so much water that is shallow enough to anchor easily or with protection.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

The video is pretty long and booring so I took the liberty to toss everything out and save the best frame.

Gary!

;-)
b.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Anyone know where it is? Sometimes it's not just the "Lemming effect", there's often only so much water that is shallow enough to anchor easily or with protection.

Having boats drop uncomfortably close is rarely due to lack of space for us. We just left an anchorage where there was a nm stretch of suitable space and a boat came and dropped within a boat length of us. This is very common. It is not the Lemming Effect influencing this usually, I feel proximity just provides some false sense of security about holding when people don't have much confidence anchoring.

[Zanshin]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Anyone know where it is? Sometimes it's not just the "Lemming effect", there's often only so much water that is shallow enough to anchor easily or with protection.

It is Anegada, in the BVI. The area where one can anchor in 8-10 feet of water in deep sand is huge. The anchorage with mooring balls is rather small. Video was taken by an acquaintance of mine, Rick; and the anchorage was rather full of charter boat guests with varying levels of experience but the video shows that the average experience level was probably lacking.

[foolishsailor]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

It is Anegada, in the BVI. The area where one can anchor in 8-10 feet of water in deep sand is huge. The anchorage with mooring balls is rather small. Video was taken by an acquaintance of mine, Rick; and the anchorage was rather full of charter boat guests with varying levels of experience but the video shows that the average experience level was probably lacking.

Brilliant. Puts it in context and lets one know the lemmins issue is true.

I have done a couple seasons in the caribean and can vouch by personal experience the frustration with this issues. Come into a harbor early and anchor off solo and you can watch the charter fleet in the late afternoon gravitate to the various locations with existing boats.

God forbid in a large roadstead that a load of boats come in and then some real free thinker comes and drops anchor on his own, all the next boats will be drawn to him like the gravity of a black hole.

Found this to be true as well every where i have dropped the hook.

[goboatingnow]

yeah , well, once I anchored in a nice clear spot well away from all the huge groups of other boats anchored all around.... and caught my anchor in an underwater pipe. Sometime the lemmings do know something!!!

dave