Anchors are a Drag... Waking Up On a Beach in Our Boat

[Hydra]

Actually, I anchored in Porto Pozzo and dragged, too.

I was the skipper of a 12.5m, 8t, sailboat belonging to a sailing association. I was younger, then, and didn't believe in properly setting the anchor (can't remember the make or size). When I woke up early in the morning, the boat wasn't aground but *very* close to the E shore. I immediately started the engine and began raising the anchor by hand (inoperative windlass but large crew). We anchored again for breakfast in the middle of the bay but we were again close to shore in a few moments.

In fact, my pilot book says that in the whole bay, the holding is poor on grass bottom .

Alain

[monte]

One of the best (of 6 or 7 Ive tried) iphone anchor apps ive used (using it as I type)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anch...389011510?mt=8

[belizesailor]

Good case for setting some form of anchor alarm.

Had a similar event decades ago (diff boat, diff anchor, diff GF...). Anchored in a very protected cove. Anchor seemed set ok (way too cold/murky to get in and check). We had a nice dinner. Later I went out into the cockpit....and was puzzled to see a nice big oak tree towering over the stern...only a couple of meters away. It took me a moment to make sense of that.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Hydra

Actually, I anchored in Porto Pozzo and dragged, too.

In fact, my pilot book says that in the whole bay, the holding is poor on grass bottom .

Alain

Alain,

Following the "drag show," when we anchored the second time 200 meters away to the north, I did dive down below the first 3 meters of cloudy water to check on the anchor well dug in at 8 meters. It had set well with full reverse throttle, and we were fine over the next 24 hours with the wind blowing a continuous 30 knots. The bottom at that location was bottom made up of crusty gravel and scattered weed. The first spot was most likely rock. But you are correct, the pilot book warns of poor holding.

Ken

[zeehag]

kenomac... it is most disconcerting to find one's self in a draggy situation.
i am glad you have good guardian angels who guided you to a less malicious locale to place your hull onto beach
good guardian angels trump any modern anchor, old time ones as well.
int cruisin fun!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by zeehag

kenomac... it is most disconcerting to find one's self in a draggy situation.
i am glad you have good guardian angels who guided you to a less malicious locale to place your hull onto beach
good guardian angels trump any modern anchor, old time ones as well.
int cruisin fun!

Thanks so much for your very kind thoughts.

Ken

[mtarcher]

Glad to hear all is well, now Kenomac...

I can attest to the guardian angels, zeehag. We were watched over, as well, while on shore at Marina Cay (BVI) for a party. We had anchored near the mooring field, but kept scope shortened for swing room. A squall came up while we were ashore, and boat dragged. Just like Ann's experience, the boat ended up snagged near the shoreline next to Gt. Camino. The boat had drifted through most of the mooring field, full of boats, without rubbing paint with any of them. We were blessed!!

Oh, yeah...the anchor was a 35kg Delta, set at 3:1 (2.5m depth) in good sand.

[mtarcher]

Oops...not 35kg Delta...35lb/16kg...

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Alain,



Following the "drag show," when we anchored the second time 200 meters away to the north, I did dive down below the first 3 meters of cloudy water to check on the anchor well dug in at 8 meters. It had set well with full reverse throttle, and we were fine over the next 24 hours with the wind blowing a continuous 30 knots. The bottom at that location was bottom made up of crusty gravel and scattered weed. The first spot was most likely rock. But you are correct, the pilot book warns of poor holding.



Ken

Firstly, full marks for your honesty, all too often on these forums the facts get distorted in the telling.
However that's the only compliment I'm giving.

You say above the first spot was most likely rock and poor holding. So my question to you is... why did you not discover the poor holding during the day when you set your anchor?


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[CarinaPDX]

Fuss: your post sounds a bit naive. It is quite easy to put down an anchor and think you are setting it hard, and still have it drag. As I explained earlier an anchor can grab a small bit of rock, hold against full reverse, but then pop off later. Also, it is common to snag a large amount of grass and hold against reverse but then drag with a ball of grass around it. Many of us have been caught out by this. Diving is the only sure way to know, but that is not always desirable or even possible. So how do you propose that he should have "discovered this during the day"?

Greg

[Kenomac]

Fuss,

When we first arrived at the anchorage, we had no idea that the bottom was poor quality. We didn't have a detailed pilot guide, just the Imray Med. Almanac.

When we first set our anchor it held tight when we reversed at nearly full throttle, it must have snagged on a sharp edge on the bottom... Who knows? It was impossible to see the bottom due to the cloudy water without using scuba gear.

Anchoring isn't an exact science with any guaranteed results. You drop what you think is the best anchor, lay down your chain, reverse back and hope for the best. Anyone who thinks they know all there is to know about the subject and believes that they'll always get good results... Is only fooling themselves.

Just today, we tried twice to anchor in an established anchorage inhabited by 10 boats just outside a marina entrance, without satisfactory results. Pulled back twice and ended up pulling up huge wads of grass and soupy mud... Watching a Belgian giving us his best "bitch wings" the entire time. We left and went three miles up the inlet and found better holding. Who knows... Maybe tonight will be his night to learn a very hard lesson... I hope not.

Ken

[Shawn67]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

On my Iphone that is why you have to leave Drag Queen open which keeps the screen lit and eats power, so you have to have it on charge, I assume thins is an Apple thing, or is it the app?

Depends upon what version of IOS you have on your phone. Go into Settings->General->Background App Refresh and turn it on for your anchor alarm programs. Drag queen will run in the background and set off the alarm if you go outside of your radius.

IF you don't have those settings on your phone you have an earlier version of IOS software on the phone. Run software update to get to a later version that supports background app refresh. I think you have to have IOS 7 or later for this to work.

Shawn

[a64pilot]

found the background app refresh, most apps aren't listed, drag queen is one not listed

[Shawn67]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

found the background app refresh, most apps aren't listed, drag queen is one not listed

Double checked as I thought Drag Queen was one that was but it isn't on mine either. "Anchor" and "Anchor Watch" is though.

Sorry about that,

Shawn

[a64pilot]

I just bought "Anchor Alarm" for .99c, it runs in the background