Backing Down? Why Bother When Tide Changes

[Delancey]

Talking regular everyday anchoring with a new gen anchor in areas with good holding that also have a very strong reversing current.

I know some folks are real big on backing down after they set with sustained rpms for x amount of time or whatever. Our anchor sets so quickly that lately I haven't bothered backing down if at all other than when setting the hook.

I figure the tide is going to change and the thing is going to have to turn itself around and I won't be backing it down then. Have sometimes spent three or four days in a spot without touching the anchor and without problems. Anyone else?

[Benz]

I am not in the habit of backing down. Usually I set the anchor club-hauled by having some way on when I drop it (I'm often sailing into the anchorage). But if I drop it from full stop, I just let the pressure of the wind or current gently pull the anchor in. In some bottoms, pulling too hard before the anchor has had a chance to wiggle into the mud can drag it all over and it never sets (seen that before!). We are lucky to live in a time when anchoring is easier than ever. If I had to cruise with a CQR or a Delta or a Bruce I'd probably never leave the house.
Ben
zartmancruising.com

[thomm225]

I have and old 20lb CQR and have never backed down.

I usually let go the anchor while the boat is coasting to a stop.

After letting out what I believe is the proper amount of rode, I cleat it off. I'm then set for the next day or two. (have also gotten caught a couple times with onshore winds as high as 28 knots or so and the waves that accompany them. The anchor held but I did rig the backup Bruce)

The tide changes every 6 hours here and is relatively strong.

Most all my anchoring though so far has been is in the Chesapeake Bay. At a new location, I check the boats position over a few hours after anchoring

[valhalla360]

If the tidal current is strong, we would set a second anchor and back down on the first and winch up to set the second.


In modest conditions with modest current, most times an anchor won't break out and if it does it will often reset. It's an odds game. You may go a very long time where the anchor doesn't even break out and when it does it resets (heck most of the times when anchoring, we don't have to try more than once to get the anchor set).

[chris95040]

Sailing in waters where I never actually see the anchor, I'm full of ideas and light on observations....

But there is the idea that modern anchors often shuffle in response to a direction change (rotating on the normal to their fluke plane) and that this possibly beneficial behavior is possibly more likely the deeper the anchor is buried...

[IdoraKeeper]

The point of backing down is to find out early if it's going to drag. Your right about tide and current. There are always many variables to consider. Keeping watch and being prepared are a must.

[Captain Bill]

We were in an anchorage in the Bahamas for a cold front passage last Monday. We sat there hanging on our delta which was well dug in while two boats with Roncas dragged merrily along with anchors sitting on their sides skipping over the bottom and refusing to set. One guy finally dove his anchor and manually stuck the point in the bottom to get it to set. From What I've been reading on the forum I thought these things were supposed to set almost instantly and never move. My delta has on occasion plowed soft sediment but it never (well at least in water clear enough I could see it) sat on its side and skipped across sand.

[Shrew]

I back down on mine. I've used both Rocna and Manson Supreme. Take a look at the direction of set, then take a look again after wind/tide changes. You'll find the anchor doesn't turn very often. So the idea of "why set it, it will just turn on the tide" is a flawed one.

Bury the anchor and it will never move.

[rwidman]

I back down on my anchor. I have no way of knowing for sure but I don't believe it pulls out and resets when the tidal current changes. The most current we experience when anchored is probably 2 knots, maybe a little more.

It's a claw anchor. A Bruce copy.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Shrew

I back down on mine. I've used both Rocna and Manson Supreme. Take a look at the direction of set, then take a look again after wind/tide changes. You'll find the anchor doesn't turn very often. So the idea of "why set it, it will just turn on the tide" is a flawed one.

Bury the anchor and it will never move.

The tide, winds, and letting go the anchor while coasting in to the anchorage has worked these last 5 years up here using an old CQR so it doesn't seem to be a flawed approach

The tide changes every 6 hours so after a couple days in the same spot the anchor gets quite a test

I pretty much used the same method with power boats here also for fishing back in the day. We usually anchored in 44' back then along the edge of the main channel in the Pocomoke Sound to catch grey trout

[Tia Bu]

I rarely back down. Only when I'm not sure the thing is really set. Generally stop the boat, drop the anchor, and then let wind and/or current take out the rode and set it.

Have done this probably three hundred times over the past four years (East Coast U.S. and Bahamas). The first two years with a Delta Anchor, the second two with a Plastimo Kobra.

Now I'm REALLY knocking wood before I type , but I can't remember dragging in all those times. Boy, what a foolish way to tempt fate.

[Dockhead]

Setting the anchor by backing down on it is what puts the anchor with certainty into the seabed. The anchor won't hold when it is lying on top of the seabed, and it won't hold much when it is superficially set by some weak pull. You need a strong and long pull on it to get it fully buried. Tide or moderate wind will not give you that strong pull.

Just throwing the anchor over and hoping for the best, will leave it either lying on top of the seabed or slightly stuck in. If the wind kicks up, will it hold? It might bury deeper, or it might pull out and skip across the seabed. Do you feel lucky?

Good anchoring technique is far more important than the anchor design. Good anchoring technique includes letting the anchor "soak" for a while in soft bottoms, before starting to back down on it, and also includes backing down gently at first while the point of the anchor digs in.

It includes backing down long enough to get the anchor all the way in, and it includes a good pull at the end to be sure that it is really set. If your anchor won't hold a full power pull, then it's not set, so I personally do this at full power. I do three or four minutes at redline to check my set, after I've finished the whole setting process. Good for the engine, too, to blow it out a bit.

Just throwing it over, not backing down on it, never even checking it? In my opinion -- that is madness. Good way to end up on the rocks in the middle of the night.


As to changing currents -- here properly setting the anchor is even more important. If the anchor is well buried, it will swivel in place without coming out of the seabed, when the tide changes. If it is only superficially set, it will pop out. If it does that, will it reset? Or will it skip across the bottom? Do you feel lucky? I don't go to casinos and bet my entire net worth on the roll of the dice, and neither do I bet the safety of my boat and the passengers, on a poorly set anchor, resetting itself in a changing tide. YMMV

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

The point of backing down is to find out early if it's going to drag. Your right about tide and current. There are always many variables to consider. Keeping watch and being prepared are a must.

The point of backing down is to bury the anchor in the seabed. This is known among experienced sailors as "setting the anchor".

Checking whether it is set or not, is another point of backing down.

[Kenomac]

We back down our anchor slowly with up to 2000rpm for just a short time, no more. Then have a look.

[a64pilot]

I usually back down, cause why not? Although since I went with a Rocna, it has yet to have not set, my old CQR and or Danforth it was hit and miss.
Rarely I will sail into an anchorage and I have not backed down then, but then it was only for an overnight stay with a really good forecast and the small tides I experience I doubt I would drag a 40 Kg Rocna even with it not set.
So with me, it depends, if I know a storm is coming, I will back down with some ferocity and with a lot of scope, beautiful weather and just an overnight stay, not so much.