Tight Anchorage Spacing?

[F51]

I would like to have lots of space between me and my neighbor, but that is rarely practical, so how close do you feel comfortable? Do you express that as a percentage of your deployed anchor rode or some arbitrary number? Thanks.

[sww914]

Anchored in 20-25 feet with 100-125 feet of rode out we've had people anchor within about 100' and everything has been fine even when it was a cat with all chain and I'm a mono with chain & rope. We never got within 75' of each other. It feels really tight but it was fine.
I have insurance.
I was there first.
His boat was a lot nicer than mine.
My boat is built like a bomb shelter.

[boatman61]

As above... working on a depth of 20ft.. I'd come up behind a boat already anchored to within 50ft of his stern then drop 100ft of chain (on my boat, rode length varies an size)... plenty of space for a busy anchorage... and great fun if someone drags...

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by F51

I would like to have lots of space between me and my neighbor, but that is rarely practical, so how close do you feel comfortable? Do you express that as a percentage of your deployed anchor rode or some arbitrary number? Thanks.

I go out of my way to anchor as far as possible, always! I have had people drop anchor nearby and by that I mean less than 50'. It does happen and when it does, I usually visit that captain and ask about his ground tackle, sometimes reminding him that if a problem happens during the night because of his anchor slipping, it is up to him to fix the problem.

But in reality telling him I expect him to fix the problem means nothing. Some confrontations got somewhat hostile! I have had my share of "awe shucks" in the recent past with over rated anchors....Delta for one, Bruce for another which just will not provide anchoring security in ell grass, slipping in the middle of the night. My practice of trying to stay clear of EVERYBODY has helped me prevent problems to others. But now with an 80# Manson Supreme I have no anchoring problems as far as slipping is concerned.

If you have a decent motorized dinghy, there usually no need to be with the flock.

Foggy

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by boatman61

As above... working on a depth of 20ft.. I'd come up behind a boat already anchored to within 50ft of his stern then drop 100ft of chain (on my boat, rode length varies an size)... plenty of space for a busy anchorage... and great fun if someone drags...

That does not always work especially when you don't know how much scope the other boat has out. In a 180 reversal, you could find your stern on his bow.

[John A]

I had a boat anchor directly in front of me once. They let out enough scope to place their boat over my anchor and were in their dink headed for shore in under two minutes.

Their boat caught fire and burned to the waterline. I left the bitter end of my chain attached to a fender as I escaped.

[Cheechako]

In general, 3 boat lengths is minimum for me. But often, I will just opt for deeper outside anchorage if necessary. I too will drop my anchor off someone's stern, sometimes I try to ask how much scope he has out by pulling alongside prior to anchoring. Of course there's the occassional guy who's in a popular anchorage in 18 ft of water, he got there first and put out 180 ft of rode, now he's surrounded and insists on leaving his rode out..... arghhh!

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

In general, 3 boat lengths is minimum for me. But often, I will just opt for deeper outside anchorage if necessary. I too will drop my anchor off someone's stern, sometimes I try to ask how much scope he has out by pulling alongside prior to anchoring. Of course there's the occassional guy who's in a popular anchorage in 18 ft of water, he got there first and put out 180 ft of rode, now he's surrounded and insists on leaving his rode out..... arghhh!

Yes but the guy with a mile of scope will not be a problem to you if you anchor off his stern. The problem arises when YOU have a mile of scope and he does not when a 180 occurs.

And yes, the good books of yesterday suggested using a scope of 10. But that is just not feasible in today's crowed harbors.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by John A

I had a boat anchor directly in front of me once. They let out enough scope to place their boat over my anchor and were in their dink headed for shore in under two minutes.

Their boat caught fire and burned to the waterline. I left the bitter end of my chain attached to a fender as I escaped.

I've been tempted so many times. Never quite had the guts.....

[RabidRabbit]

In 18 feet of water with the bow 3' off the water your at 21' X 8 (storm scope) = 168' rode. So maybe the guy putting out 180' is possibly the only safe mariner in the anchorage. Plenty of people get this wrong and get grumpy about it.

[Cheechako]

To me, unless there's a storm brewing, he's the most unsafe boat in the anchorage... to everyone else.... 10:1 scope is just not recommended or necessary in a well used anchorage.

[Amnesia II]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Yes but the guy with a mile of scope will not be a problem to you if you anchor off his stern. The problem arises when YOU have a mile of scope and he does not when a 180 occurs.

And yes, the good books of yesterday suggested using a scope of 10. But that is just not feasible in today's crowed harbors.

People always appear to think your boat is lying to your full scope when infact the boat can be anywhere WITHIN that radius in light or no breeze situations....very annoying when the chain stretches out to full scope and makes you look as if your boat has dragged down or anchored too close...GRRRR!

[RabidRabbit]

I never said anything about 10:1 but I do anchor at 8:1. I do it so if weather were to come in I would not have to worry about adjusting my scope past 4:1 because its not possible with others right up my ass. If my safe anchoring somehow gets your panties in a bunch, thats your tough luck. I wont be demonized for 8:1, not gonna happen.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

In 18 feet of water with the bow 3' off the water your at 21' X 8 (storm scope) = 168' rode. So maybe the guy putting out 180' is possibly the only safe mariner in the anchorage. Plenty of people get this wrong and get grumpy about it.

I used to sail in the North Channel (Georgian Bay, ON). Many of the popular anchorages would get ridiculously packed during summer season. In too many cases it was simply impossible to set out a reasonable rode. Bring on the late day thunderstorm and cue the disaster music .

This is one of the reasons I love sailing Lake Superior; there are very few cruisers out here. It's also one of my growing concerns about heading south to the Caribbean (time coming soon). The idea of anchoring in a crowd turns me off in so many ways.

[Stu Jackson]

An you thought anchors themselves were a touchy subject!