Most Sailors Can't Anchor Properly!

[Dougtiff]

Year's ago, while anchored in singapore, in a location where the tide and wind would be against each other, a boat sailed in and anchored next to me, the distanced off looked o.k., but i knew when the tide changed, there would be issues, and told them so, but no one listened, so off they went to immigration, and sure enough the boat came against me, which i tied off along side, when they returned, they were amazed by what they saw, interestingly enough, i ended up buying the boat, on another note, i remember reading about Pete Culler way back in the 40'S, being anchored in his SPRAY replica, some where along the E. coast, complaining in regard to others anchoring to close, and dragging down on him, Pete had half inch chain out with a 200 pound Fisherman down, not going to drag for sure, but describes being drug down on, and watching his BobStay sawing the other boat in half, of coarse this happening in the we hour's of the morning in darkness.

[robregje]

To all the people with Gentleman slash Seamanship worthy reaction, Chappeau and be blessed with eternal achorage joy.


To the Grumpy crew, always the same. I wish you an evening in a "hotel California" style pub packed with Northsea oilrig workers, just finding you are one of those "Stupid wind depending.........."

Grtz

Robert

[zboss]

Let's not forget that if you experience other boats snuggling up close, even experienced cruisers, its quite often because that little nook you are sitting in the smack center of is quite possibly the best and only viable anchorage spot around. Other areas just a bit further away may expose you to swell, open fetch, interesting bottom formation or some such. So its not always a mistake when someone anchors closely.

Anchoring in grass where no other alternative exists is by far our most challenging anchoring problem, followed by pluff mud, and thin sand over rock, and then wind against tide.

In bottoms such as grass, I have noticed that anchors with very sharp points tend to do better than those with just moderately sharp points.

[alaskaflyfish]

Guess what, most boaters cant park their boat in the marina either. I've been hit 5 times this summer by other fishing boats with one doing $1500 in damage. My brand new paint job is getting less pretty. I think I would rather be anchored out somewhere else than in my berth.

[Goosebumps]

My my i am bit disturbed by sailors judging other sailor’s skills. Why do so many here assume they know how to anchor so well and others had money to buy shiny big yacht cannot. The reality is that most of us are marina animals. We know hiw to tie down to the walk-ons. Few have been in real cruising situations, coping with all the different bottom types, climate, currents.

[Chalifour]

So true, anchoring is not everyone expertise! And yes we also feel that we are often “ anchor magnets” and end up with a neighbor right beside us!
Here’s how I handle it: First I kindly ask him to relocate has we are not comfortable with the space between us. If he refuses, I then go on by saying that this will force me to wake up every hour during the night to monitor the situation. In doing so I will ensure that he is waken up so we can share the inconvenience he has caused us. To this effect, we use a powerful hand held spotlight that can light up a shore line 1000 feet away. So it’s quite effective to awaken your seamanshipless neighbor!

[roland stockham]

Originally Posted by bemao

I understand that an anchored boat can potentially occupy any space within the circle centered at its anchor whose radius is determined by the amount of scope, however is it practical/possible that all boats at anchor occupy non-overlapping circles? Anchored boats typically swing together, so perhaps maintaining such a large separation is less important?

Quite an important caveat. Boat of a SIMILAR TYPE swing together. I have often had problems with high sided fin keel boat. In even a light breeze they will rapidly swing until pointing to wind whereas my boat being a tradition long keeler pionts to the tide unless the wind is really strong. They they wonder why I am pointing the opposite way as they start swinging into me.
I have always wonder when I see crowds in one spot with room a short distance away or ever massive crowds in one waterway when the next' equally nice one is almost empty. I think part of it may be that folks these days are so used to crowds and services that if they feel very vulnerable if they find themselves alone - Heard instinct. And the bigger the boat the more marinas and other services they seem to need!

[Chalifour]

We all know that the worse behaviors in anchorages are usually with Chatered boats.? Well here’s the funniest one I’ve heard.
The chartered sailing vessels comes into the anchorage and drops his anchor amid other sailboats and then starts to turn around his anchor! It caused him to approach neighbor ships and utterly confuse t the neighbor crews. At one point, a skipper from a neighbor ship jumped in his dinghy and went up to the charter boat asking the captain what in hell was he doing. The answer from the captain was: when I got my breifing from the charter company they said to me very clearly; After dropping anchor at night make sure you run the engine for at least one hour to charge the batteries!

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by terah

Is this too close? We had the passerelle down so the boys could walk the plank, and on one swing I could have stepped straight off it onto their bow.

Time to load an extra charge in the cannon!

[bcboomer]

We're sitting in a large popular bay with room for 3 or 4 times as many boats as are anchored. My sounder showed 37 ft below my 6ft keel at mid tide and the bow is about 5 feet above the surface. We had rowed to shore for groceries and when we came back a 58 foot power boat had anchored right beside us.
His wife looked over at us with an apologetic smile but he studiously ignored us.
20 minutes later they unloaded their dingy and he came over. He asked how much "anchor line" I had out and I told him 110 ft of chain and 30 ft of nylon.
He laughed at me and said I was foolish to have so much out. He said he always anchors with 2 to 1 scope. I suggested he let out a little more and he laughed again and said it's ok because the wind isn't going to blow.
They then took off and didn't come back until dark. They left the next day.
Fortunately he was right about the wind but I was ready to move if the wind picked up.
Why didn't he just drop his hook another 100 feet away? There was at least 500 feet to the next boat in that direction.

[sagablu]

There will always be those who do not know how to do something because they refuse to know. However, there are also those without the experience who could use some advise from those with the knowledge. In some situations it might be helpful to offer..ie: "happy to help you anchor more securely if you like". Of course some will rebuff even the thought of anyone knowing more than them, but I wish someone had offered advise the first time I dropped the hook.

[Mike OReilly]

When in busy anchorages I do try and be available when I notice someone else coming in, and most especially if they are anchoring near me. I usually try and catch the skipper's eye and offer a friendly "welcome". This opens the door to them asking about my rode, or the bottom, or anything else. Some do ask.

I do remain in the cockpit if someone is anchoring nearby. I try not to gawk, but again want to be available if needed. Until I can see otherwise I assume people know what they're doing, even when they are doing it differently that I. I just assume they too don't want get into trouble.

There have been only a few cases where I've truly felt a newcomer was threatening my boat. Mostly it's just the loss of privacy that irks me (which is partly why we mostly cruise in far-flung places).

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Chalifour

So true, anchoring is not everyone expertise! And yes we also feel that we are often “ anchor magnets” and end up with a neighbor right beside us!
Here’s how I handle it: First I kindly ask him to relocate has we are not comfortable with the space between us. If he refuses, I then go on by saying that this will force me to wake up every hour during the night to monitor the situation. In doing so I will ensure that he is waken up so we can share the inconvenience he has caused us. To this effect, we use a powerful hand held spotlight that can light up a shore line 1000 feet away. So it’s quite effective to awaken your seamanshipless neighbor!

I hope you're making that up for comedic effect.


I hope everyone who reads it, realizes that you are making it up for comic effect.

[Mithril Bham]

Like watching people dock, sit back and enjoy the show. If someone anchors too close I politely inform them that when the wind comes up in the middle of the night they will have to move since I was there first.
Like everything in sailing you have to put in the time. We have all done numerous idiotic things. If you don't think you have you are not paying attention.

[Jan Huisman]

You are absolutely right. It is impossible to change all these ignorant sailors. Yet I try to approach this in a positive way. I have just finished an article for our club magazine on anchoring, the why, the how, the benefits and dangers. It may help our club members to anchor more often and better.

They may come to appreciate the quite anchor places instead of the crowded marinas.
Good luck from The Netherlands