I cruised with a 22kg Bruce and 200' of 5/16 chain on my
Endeavour 37 (37', 18000lb, 5' draft),
single handing most of the time. It can be easily and safely done but does require some pre-planning, patience, and a bit of luck. I didn't have a working
windlass so this is what I did.
- I looked at the chart and figured out the approximate
depth of the harbor.
- As I entered the harbor, I looked where the boats were
anchoring and watching the
depth sounder did a bit of scouting.
- When I was sure about the
depth, I fell back behind the boats and pulled out enough chain to allow me a 3:1
scope if the winds were light and 5:1 if the winds were stiff.
- I carefully flaked out the chain on the
deck (usually starboard side as that was the side with the Bruce). I prepped the
anchor to drop but kept the line secure to the bow cleat.
- Now I returned to my selected spot and slowly motored into the
wind. When I got about a
boat length away (the distance will depend on your vessel and conditions), I made sure the vessel wouldn't bear off and headed to the bow.
- At the point where I thought the
boat was about at 0kt forward speed, I slowly dropped the
anchor and let out the chain in a controlled manner. As the boat started to move astern, I kept feeding out the chain. I secured the chain at the
scope I wanted to a cleat and quickly returned to the
helm.
- I'd put the
engine in forward for a few seconds to slow the speed of the boat and let it fall off in a controlled manner. The idea was for the boat to gently pull the chain tight, not snap it tight.
- Most times the bow would come around into the
wind and I'd wait few minutes to make sure the anchor had bitten. I'd go forward to check the chain and make sure things were secure. I'd look at the chain and carefully place my foot on the chain. I found that if the anchor was dragging, I could feel the vibrations in the chain.
- If things looked good, I'd go back and put the
engine in idle reverse, then go check the chain again. I was looking for a nice tight chain with no sag or sagging.
- If things looked good, I'd increase the revs in reverse for a few seconds to make sure the anchor was set.
- If thing still looked good, I'd secure everything, grab the snorkel
gear and dive the anchor. If things looked OK, then I was probably set. If not, then I corrected the problem and redove the anchor.
- When I was sure I wasn't going anywhere, I returned to the boat, put the snubber on, logged the
GPS and bearings, and relaxed.