Leaving boat at anchor - worried?

[stevensuf]

Well after spending over 100 days with no marinas, either in transit or anchor , we are finally in a marina.

I noticed how much calmer i was to leave the boat, when i leave it at anchor there is always that background worry if the boat will be ok, am I the only one? does it go away after a while? or is it always going to be there?

[pillum]

Always there with me, I KNOW she's anchored securely, but even then there's always that queasy feeling at the bottom of mt stomach.

[demacsea]

Yup, you are not alone.
But on two occasions I've been securely anchored for several days only to find that I dragged after three or four days. Once was in Prickly Bay in Grenada and the other in Simpsons Bay, St Maarten. And that's with a 45lb Bruce and 10mm chain on a 5:1 scope properly and carefully deployed. I'm swapping the Bruce for a Rocna next year.

[Dockhead]

I never leave my boat at anchor for more than a couple of hours without someone on board keeping an anchor watch. And even those couple of hours I'm never calm.

That is despite the fact that I have not dragged an anchor even a single time in the last maybe 10 years, despite anchoring in difficult bottoms and bad weather.

I am so nervous when the boat is alone at anchor -- maybe irrationally so -- that I take my DSC handheld with me so that I can do a DSC "Position Polling" request to verify that my boat is still exactly in position. It's probably crazy, but it makes me feel better.

On my summer cruise this year we were out for more than a month, and probably 75% of the time we were at anchor. I never left the boat alone at anchor even once -- always left someone on board on anchor watch, and always had the handheld VHF with me in case of any trouble.

I would probably be willing to leave the boat on a surveyed swinging mooring, with doubled lines. I do leave my boat for a month at a time on my own mooring, but there she is tied fore and aft to piles, and to my pontoon which floats between the two piles, and besides that, the Hamble River harbormasters keep an eye on her.

[Jim Cate]

Well, Steve, I think that there is light at the end of your tunnel! We've been cruising for a long time now and live primarily at anchor, and there are but the two of us aboard. This kinda rules out routinely leaving an anchor watch aboard for us under normal circumstances.

So, do we constantly worry about the boat when we're away from her? Actually, unless in a known bad anchorage or with really bad wx, we don't worry at all. We know that we've set the hook well, that there are no boats too close to us, that the tidal variation was conjured with when we dropped the hook and that the anchoring gear was properly sized and maintained. Why should we worry?

Incidentally, in another anchor thread now playing, I suggested that the OP's grossly overspeced 45 lb anchor would be a benefit if he could handle the weight (as he said he could). Oversized gear means that should you make an error of judgment or execution when anchoring your odds of staying put are given a big boost, and this leads to less worry.

It takes sitting through a few squalls at anchor to develop the skills to evaluate the situation, but it will come if you spend time anchored and paying attention.

Cheers and happy hooking!

Jim

[atoll]

i have found setting a second anchor gives a lot of piece of mind!,

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by atoll

i have found setting a second anchor gives a lot of piece of mind!,

Do you do that on the one chain or a seperate one?

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well, Steve, I think that there is light at the end of your tunnel! We've been cruising for a long time now and live primarily at anchor, and there are but the two of us aboard. This kinda rules out routinely leaving an anchor watch aboard for us under normal circumstances.

So, do we constantly worry about the boat when we're away from her? Actually, unless in a known bad anchorage or with really bad wx, we don't worry at all. We know that we've set the hook well, that there are no boats too close to us, that the tidal variation was conjured with when we dropped the hook and that the anchoring gear was properly sized and maintained. Why should we worry?

Incidentally, in another anchor thread now playing, I suggested that the OP's grossly overspeced 45 lb anchor would be a benefit if he could handle the weight (as he said he could). Oversized gear means that should you make an error of judgment or execution when anchoring your odds of staying put are given a big boost, and this leads to less worry.

It takes sitting through a few squalls at anchor to develop the skills to evaluate the situation, but it will come if you spend time anchored and paying attention.

Cheers and happy hooking!

Jim

Hi Jim,
Do you use just the one anchor most of the time, and what kind do you use?

Vic

[atoll]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Do you do that on the one chain or a seperate one?

i have 2 seperate 95lb anchors on the bow,one all chain,and one all rope,either one ready to go.
generally lay the second one by motoring 45 degrees to windward,till brought up by the chain one.

,lifting the rope one can be done by hand if needed,or has its own dedicated electric windlass,
as does the primary chain one,but would be very difficult to get up by hand should the windlass fail.

i would never put anchors in tandem as retriving them could be a nightmare!

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by atoll

i have 2 seperate 95lb anchors on the bow,one all chain,and one all rope,either one ready to go.
generally lay the second one by motoring 45 degrees to windward,till brought up by the chain one.

,lifting the rope one can be done by hand if needed,or has its own dedicated electric windlass,
as does the primary chain one,but would be very difficult to get up by hand should the windlass fail.

i would never put anchors in tandem as retriving them could be a nightmare!

Do you set 2 anchors as stantard pracrice, or just when conditions dictate?
And have you had much problem with the lines winding around each other if the boat rotates?

Vic

[atoll]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Do you set 2 anchors as stantard pracrice, or just when conditions dictate?
And have you had much problem with the lines winding around each other if the boat rotates?

Vic

very rare to get rodes crossing in tradewind conditions,this generally happens if it has been calm for a while,this is where it is great to have all rope,as it is easy to undo from the locker and untwist before pulling it up.

generall only set the second anchor in squally gusty anchorages,or if like steve i feel apprehensive and going further than the beach bar!

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by atoll

i would never put anchors in tandem as retriving them could be a nightmare!

Not really if you have them set up right. The key is to have a retrieval line (usually floating line) tied on one end to the shank of the forward most anchor and clipped on its aft end to the aft most anchor. Then you pull up the aft most anchor into its bow roller in the normal way, unclip the retrieval line, bring it around and over the second bow roller, and use it to pull up the remaining (forward most) anchor into the second bow roller. You can pull the retrieval line by hand, or if the anchor is too heavy for that put it around the windless capstan.

This is pretty painless and quite commonly used in Patagonian cruising.

I agree with Jim that huge anchors help a lot with piece if mind. If I frequently felt I needed to or wanted to put out two anchors in order to be comfortable, then I would very quickly get one anchor the same weight as the two combined and just put that out every day.

[F51]

Estarzinger,
How much chain do you have between the anchors? I really want to try this, but haven't gotten past the problem of removing and re-connecting the shackles. All of my shackles are safetied and it would be a pita to have to cut and re-safety the shackles as I deploy/retrieve. I have seen too many shackles come loose from vibration to feel comfortable with any of my ground tackle not safety wired.

[Kenomac]

We go ashore for long periods of time, sometime 24 hours. No worries with our 75 pound CQR well set using plenty of 12mm (1/2) chain for our 49,000 pound boat. 'Might upgrade at some point to a 95 pound Ultra anchor for even less worry.

Safely riding out the tremendous tidal surges in the channel islands anchored off Saint Peter port, Guernsey last summer added to my piece of mind. 'Windy at times, choppy 4ft waves, 26-30ft tidal surge, current etc. I set 50 meters of 1/2 chain with the CQR... no problems, slept sound and went ashore without worry. If the weather became stormy, I would have set an additional Fortress 55.

Making sure your anchor is set properly is key. After laying out your chain & adding a proper snubber, you'll need to power backwards at idle till the boat stops, then power up to 3/4 full astern till it stops again (to make sure the anchor is set), then neutral and watch carefully for the boat to drift forward as the chain sinks back down. Do not do this with your chain attached directly to a windlass.

[zeehag]

i do not leave my boat for longer than a few hours at a time, as feline critter doesnt steer well.....summers during hurrycame season, in marina, otherwise out on anchor--and is only one of me, so i enlist assistance from male neighbors--their wives insist.....