Most Sailors Can't Anchor Properly!

[a64pilot]

I haven’t seen the silliness you guys report either, except of course for the drunks who show up in their power boats and leave just before dark.

I think a lot of that is due to that I will go out of my way, to be out of the way. I don’t anchor near towns if possible, and it’s usually possible.
People are a herding animal, and can’t stand being alone, and desperately seek acceptance and approval from the herd.
How else can you explain the Facebook, Blogging, Snapchat etc. thing?
Given a choice the average person will gather up in a herd.
How else’s could they live in the Cities that they do, with horrible traffic, excessive crowding, crime, high prices, the full Monty?

You can usually tell a cruising boat from across the Bay, completely differently equipped than the average day sailer.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I haven’t seen the silliness you guys report either, except of course for the drunks who show up in their power boats and leave just before dark.

I think a lot of that is due to that I will go out of my way, to be out of the way. I don’t anchor near towns if possible, and it’s usually possible.
People are a herding animal, and can’t stand being alone, and desperately seek acceptance and approval from the herd.
How else can you explain the Facebook, Blogging, Snapchat etc. thing?
Given a choice the average person will gather up in a herd.
How else’s could they live in the Cities that they do, with horrible traffic, excessive crowding, crime, high prices, the full Monty?

You can usually tell a cruising boat from across the Bay, completely differently equipped than the average day sailer.

Completely agree. It's the weekenders and marina hoppers that scare me ... and the goofy power boat partiers of course.

Here's what my anchorage looks like as I type. Still room for one or two of you [emoji6]

[Nicholson58]

We cruis now only in the eastern Caribbean. Most cruisers are competent and conditions often require tight pack. We inform the other skippers where our anchor is and how much scope is out as they approach. We also inform regarding bottom conditions. Most are courteous and pretty skilled we have had no contact problems except when the usual east wind drops to zero and the boats wander. Most charters seem to opt for moorings instead of anchoring. Away from the BVI, most charterers seem more capable.

Practice certainly improves ones game. We used to be pretty up tight heading in to set the hook. Now we know many of the good and bad spots, where the wind makes frequent direction changes, where the shelter is good and when the sea state will make a place horrible.

[JPA Cate]

It's not for the faint hearted, but if you can bear it, anchoring on a lee shore ahead of an expected 180 deg. wind shift, puts you in sheltered waters AFTER the change. It will be lumpy when it is time to go to sleep, but that's why you set the anchor carefully [using ranges], right? And then, when the change comes through, it's sweet, and the rest of your sleep goes soundly. It is a strategy we use often.

Ann

[SV_Harbinger]

A few times while messing about in Long Island Sound for a week or so I would do as Ann said and just pick a spot on whichever coast was going to be sheltered found a spot with reasonable bottom and anchored there, it was nice, I was the only boat and no one bothered me. However on the same note Block Island can be a fiasco when the wind gets up and starts veering or backing....
I don't get as far afield as many here but I definitely do not miss out on the Anchorage Horror Comedy Show.

[Greg Mason]

I have come to the conclusion that anchoring is much like driving a car. Many people have learned to pass the test but not how to drive. When I watch 'chuck anchor, drinks' I shudder. Nothing like a castled anchor in a blow. 45' boat, 25 lb anchor? Buenos noches. 25' of chain and 200' of rode, OMG. I was taught to play the anchor line out while moving in reverse, and fast enough to spill the drinks when it catches. To see people standing on their bow for 30 minutes attempting to determine whether they are set makes me a little uneasy. Might as well put out fenders now. 30' of depth, let's put out twice that in chain, that ought to do it, no? Unfortunately, that is why insurance is starting to regulate boaters, instead of information and common sense. Neighbour of mine in the marina has a lovely 50' power vessel. When I went aboard, I said to him, nice boat, joystick and all, what did you have before? He said, this is my first boat.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by roverhi

First, we are social animals and tend to cluster together.

So true. I sail in a VERY under-utilised bit of water. Usually I am the only boat at anchor. But practically any time another boat joins me after I have anchored, they seem to snuggle up a bit close for comfort.

Also, I reckon people feel more secure anchored near another boat. Yeah, that's kinda illogical, but it's what they do. I think there's a kind of implied safety along the lines of "that boat thinks it is safe here, so it must be safe here" logic.

Now and then I have to pop up on deck and explain firmly but politely that they have anchored too close for safety. Sometimes, if detect reluctance to move, it helps that I also point out that my boat weighs 17 tons and has topsides over an inch thick. That tends to encourage a bit more room. Nobody has ever argued the point after hearing those numbers.

Matt

[akprb]

“Nesting”

That is the name for that behavior.

Our solution?

When arriving at an anchorage early we purposely drop the hook far from where we want to spend the evening.

Like clockwork the nesting begins. By 6pm all are settled in and at that point we simply up anchor and toodle over the “the spot” we really wanted ;-)

Side note once well into the Pacific or the more remote parts of the Caribbean the skills of those around are very good. It is mostly the areas that the newbies and charterers can get to that offer all this anchoring entertainment.

[thinwater]

The farther off the beaten path, the better folks anchor.


The shinier the anchor and chain, the more likely the boat stays in marinas.


I was looking a $2.5MM HH55 a few days ago. It had a nice SS Delta the same size as the one that would drag holding my PDQ 32. Needless to say it was a transient in an up-scale marina. I wonder if the chain has ever been wet?


Perhaps the worst display of non-anchoring I've seen was by paid crew on a ~ 80' power yacht in Oxford MD a few years ago. The anchor would not set (good ground). It yawed so bad the crew had to stabilize it with thrusters for hours while the owners were off having lunch. They then failed to figure out how to rotate the anchor onto the rollers, and so headed out with the anchor still hanging. Loading the dinghy was also fun to watch. I think they stayed in marinas a lot.

[Wallaby]

There are logical explanations for a lot of anchoring situations, confounded by perception that an occasional incidence of anchoring too close is actually part of a pattern of uninformed skippers.



My last trip to the Abacos is an example. When 'too close' was an issue, generally, it was an issue for the entire harbor--boats were packed in like sardines (some on moorings, some on anchors) because of approaching fronts and very few safe harbors. The knowledgeable people helped out, suggesting where holding was good, what scope they were using and so on. The halfwits screamed 'you're going to drag' onto me. Typically, they had been anchored/moored in the same location for weeks at a time. I believe a sense of ownership of the surrounding water prevailed. Yes, I was screamed at (Green Turtle Cay with 40+ knots on the way). One of the 'knowledgeable' people said he did it to everyone.



Over 3 months in the Abacos, I observed one or two incidents of skippers who truly didn't know what they were doing. Primarily, backing down too soon and too hard on a weedy bottom. Of course, the Abacos requires a little bit of skill to get there in the first place--mainland US with weekend sailors is doubtlessly different.



Now, how the 'logic of where to anchor' affects the anchoring pattern:


Let's begin with those little anchors shown on some charts. Assuming they indicate desirable locations, guaranteed most boats will tend to congregate there. Similarly patches of sand in an otherwise weedy bottom will draw boats. As will areas more protected from prevailing winds, out of the current, closer to the dock/beach, drafts and tide heights create desirable zones, etc. If the area is remote and vaguely threatening, skippers/boats will gather for protection, perhaps without even realizing. Areas with a reputation for dragging will be avoided. etc.



It is not 'most sailors who can't anchor properly,' it's a few skippers who have yet to learn. Stop the whining and shouting and try communicating.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by rsn48

I developed a coping mechanism for those who would anchor around me in my idyllic location as I got tired of folks anchoring around me in an area that could be utilized in a more spread out fashion. The only thing that makes sense to me is those assume I know the best location to anchor, then copy what I have done.

So what I do is this: I look for the worst location I can find in a small bay and anchor. Then like moths to a flame, the others anchor around me. In the evening, just as the sun is setting (folks are afraid to move during the night), I go to the location I wanted and anchor.

Great post. This is our plan from now on!

[DEAN2140]

Don't forget to put out lots of fenders and if you have a passerelle, don't leave it out overnight because this may be the most vulnerable part of the boat.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Is it possible that so many people with very expensive boats are so incompetent?

My dad would sum it up as "More money than brains!"

[SV Bacchus]

I just watched a YouTube of one of the "dumb pinhead guy with cutie in a bikini" channels and they were in the Bahamas in 7 feet of water, light winds and he was explaining how he had 120' of all chain rode out so he wouldn't drag.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by SV Bacchus

I just watched a YouTube of one of the "dumb pinhead guy with cutie in a bikini" channels and they were in the Bahamas in 7 feet of water, light winds and he was explaining how he had 120' of all chain rode out so he wouldn't drag.

Did he have the/any (?) anchor attached?