What's your anchoring etiquette

[sv_isara]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Well said. Too often, these discussions seem to take the perspective of 'protecting my turf.' How about finding ways to let as many in as possible?...
ADD: I have to admit, where I cruise now, it's rare to even see another recreational vessel. So I do have it easy these days. But I have cruised in very busy areas as well... same principles apply in both.

Love this attitude. I will do what I can to adopt it. And yes I will look for more out-of-the-way anchorages here in Baja

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Just to give another perspective, I've met some really nice folks that collided with us after their anchors dragged. Bad stuff happens to anyone and everyone. My motto is "there is always more room in the anchorage for one more boat," and sometimes it has been my boat! Unless someone is being unreasonable or unsafe, cut them some slack. It might very well be you needing that tight anchorage in the future.

Yes, I'm finding quickly that I can either be a curmudgeon or just be friendly and really save the safety lectures for when they're only truly needed.

Originally Posted by Lodesman

You might try an offset (side) bridle to stop the hunting: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...or-277951.html

I don't like the idea of a riding sail, so will try this first, thank you!

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

@ sv isara,

Lovely place, Baja. Congrats on getting started cruising.

You're expecting to have "too much" space around you...

Thank you! It's been my dream for 20 years!

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

If you are not supplied with a dinghy that will get you to shore, I would consider that you need better dinghy transport, because there are times when you will not want to swim ashore. Also, there are many places where "close in to shore" is where you most want to not be! It invites swim-out-from shore robberies; grants much better access to your bodies for blood to jejenes [no-see-ums/sandflies] and mozzies. There are places where one has to anchor in shallow water (10 ft. or less), but, by and large, get used to anchoring comfortably in deep water (45-50 ft) if you want to circumnavigate. Look at some of the depths in the Societies, for instance: ~80 ft. 3:1 scope will do you, on chain.

Ann

Probably not a circumnavigation anytime soon, but our dinghy anyway has been great. We just like being able to paddle ashore easilyl. But yes we have noticed mosquitoes here. We are the type of couple who like physical exercise; we notice that many boaters seem to sit on their boats all day. No problem with that; but we like our exercise ashore and just wandering and exploring.

I was debating on a laser range finder. I think I'll pick one up so I don't have to spin up my radar when new boats come in. Great advice here, as always!

[Lodesman]

Funny, no-one's discussed swinging circles. Personally I like to anchor in quieter spaces and away from the crowds. I really don't mind being farther away from the beach. I also like to use a greater scope generally.
In a nutshell, if you have the room you plan to have a clear circle to swing in, with the radius equal to length of your cable + LOA. In more crowded anchorages, you can overlap circles with neighbouring boats, as has been discussed above. The caveat is that birds of a feather should flock together - monos with monos, cats with cats, generally in similar size ranges.

From a planning perspective, picking your anchor placement should be done in mind of a safety swinging circle. In an ideal world, that would permit you to deploy all of your rode - maybe not practical if you have 1000 feet of rope, but otherwise reasonable, and usually adds a safety factor. For my 50-footer with 300 ft of chain and a 50-ft safety - that's a 400 ft radius circle - which I would want to be clear of navigational hazards, not necessarily other anchored boats. This is just to find a good place to put the anchor. After that the smaller circle based on actual scope would be my happy place. I would prefer that nobody else put their anchor into that circle, but wouldn't be overly concerned in most cases where they did. It really depends on the conditions and factors in the moment. I haven't felt the need to ask anyone to move, or move myself yet.

[Don C L]

Yeah I watched a number of boats last summer swinging on different radii, some inside of others' circles. It didn't work out well at 2 am when the breeze piped up and then swirled around a bit in the cove. One boat gave up and left entirely. They would have benefitted from earlier communication.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Agree Kettlewell, I may not like it, but as long as there's a boat-length between us, I'm fine. It's an unrealistic expectation to have hundreds of feet between boats in busy anchorages. The answer to this need is to get off the beaten path, and go places few boats go.

I've only encountered the "yeller" once in my cruising life. We go into a bay that could easily accommodate a dozen boats. Depths are 8 to 12 feet (Great Lakes, no tide). One little boat is anchored right in the middle. Fine, no problem. I go as far away as I can get, and lay out about 70-feet of rode.

This guy is glaring all the time. Finally he yells out "I have 200 feet out!!" You're too close! I wave friendly-like, assess the distances, and even with his ridiculous amount out, I decide we're safe. So I say, "Thanks for letting me know..." and ignore him.

He then starts berating his clearly long-suffering wife. She is embarrassed, and chagrin. We lock eyes a few times, and she is apologetic, but clearly used to this kind of idiotic behaviour from her spouse.

He yells out a few times, and finally I tell him he has a ridiculous amount of rode out, so pull some in if he's worried (I was still not worried). After a lot more huffing and yelling, he makes a big show of moving. I watch as he pulls up about 80 feet of rode, and he leaves. Clearly all he wanted was to have the whole bay to himself.

The wife gives me more apologetic looks as they pass by -- passing unnecessarily close. A complete jerk and a-hole. I felt very sorry for her.

I met this boat yesterday. Canadian flagged in the Bahamas.
😃

[Montanan]

If everyone would just park their boat between the lines designating their mooring space there wouldn't be an issue, but once one person edges over their line then even the best laid out anchorage parking scheme sinks to the bottom.

Don't be that person!

Just saying.

[pbiJim]

This is one of the most civilized discussions about anchoring that I have encountered. Bravo.

[pbiJim]

When a cruiser enters an anchorage & sees one boat there, several things may cross his mind. He may think - Hey, there's someone I might be able to say hello to & form a friendship or swap local stories with. He may think - maybe that guy knows the area & knows where the good spot to drop a hook is. He may think - if a few boats are together, it will be easier for passing vessels to notice & perhaps not run into us.

As for anchoring too close, there is always a trade off between not enough scope causing a weak hold & too much scope causing too much swing. If boats are already close together & conditions are sporty, it is possible to have both too much & too little scope at the same time. In that case, you are in a bad location.

Two identical boats, with identical ground tackle, same size chain, etc., with the same scope out, will usually swing about the same as conditions change & can often anchor near each other without trouble.

A cat & a mono will often react very differently to a variety of combinations of wind & current. They can pull in opposite directions from their anchors in many cases. Even within a single general type of boat, the amount of freeboard & the amount/depth of keel can cause the same issue.

Even two identical boats with different diameters of anchor chain can pull differently in some conditions. If the tide changes & wind is calm, as the current increases, the boat with the thinner chain will move further and sooner than the boat with the heavier chain.

A variety of different boats in close proximity, with a variety of different types of ground tackle, can create all sorts of issues as conditions change. Politely communicating your concerns to nearby boats would seem prudent. Dinghying over with a bottle of wine is also sometimes a productive option, but that can be more of a roll of the dice.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

I met this boat yesterday. Canadian flagged in the Bahamas.
😃

Ah... You have my condolences. Mine 'friend' was American-flagged. Just shows that jerks know no borders.

I mostly feel for the long-suffering spouse(s). I can't imagine cruising, or indeed living, with someone like this.

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by sv_isara

I don't pretend to own the oceans, I just want to not hit anyone or anything, and get a good night's sleep. Cheers

I hesitated entering an "Anchoring" thread, but I'm actually glad I did.
The only thing I'll add is a "congrats" for moving forward on your dream

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

I met this boat yesterday. Canadian flagged in the Bahamas.
��

Canadian. Quite certain they utilized proper etiquitte and said sorry.



We Montanans are smitten by my northern neighbors.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by sv_isara

Hey all! So we've Now put on over 1500 miles under our boat! It's been an amazing dream. Also, if mods want to move this post to a more appropriate forum, go ahead. This is certainly an anchoring-related question however:

We're here anchoring in the different spots in Baja and there have been hilarious moments where we have an entire Bay to ourself, miles of depth-stable shelf (such as Magdalena Bay) and then another boat comes and anchors a few boat lengths away. Today we're in a very small Bay, Ballandra Bay outside of Loreto happily anchored under two anchors as close to shore as we can get. Maybe a hundred feet from being aground in the shallows.

A few days ago another 41' boat anchored right next to us and for the first time ever I actually rowed out to them and let them know that my boat swings a lot and I thought it was dangerous (I knew their boat was a swinger as well being another Hunter). They agreed and said they were already moving which they did - much appreciated. This is when I put out a second anchor to help reduce our risk, also given that a strong Northerly was coming in, I was glad to help everyone out. That being said, there was plenty of safe (but I acknowledge less 'prime') spots in the bay. If I hadn't done 2 anchors, our swinger boats might have snuck a little kiss in the night.

Then a catamaran came in yesterday and anchored even closer! Today they got within about one and a half boat lengths away - drifting during a calm, when I finally said in a friendly 'win-friends-and-influence-people' voice (no need to even shout here due to the distance) 'how far do you think you'll drift'? To which the captain assured me that 'I was fine' (I think a freudian slip on her part) and that she'd re-anchor, which she did - about 50 feet further away.

The next catamaran that came in (it's been a busy day), unlike this lady, clearly was assessing the scene and gave adequate room. I motioned to him about my two anchors, and he gave me a wave of understanding. Seemed more responsible.

However, I barely consider myself an intermediate cruiser at best, so I put it to the community of experts - what is proper given the circumstances that you cruise in? I generally use radar and try to get 300', but settle for ~200 or so from other boats. Do you have a distance? Obviously, different conditions and areas can change this. So what do you do in your area?

I don't pretend to own the oceans, I just want to not hit anyone or anything, and get a good night's sleep. Cheers

I think you've got it figured out as well as anyone else does and handled this situation very well.

It fortunately didn't come to a confrontation but ultimately if you are worried and they won't move, it's easier and less stressful to move yourself than it is to have any kind of angry "discussion." Moving away from other boats that arrive after us is a good thing to have in our anchoring bag of tricks. If the wind does shift and their boat and yours decide to sneak a little kiss in the dead of night, the PIA it will be to sort out repairs will seem WAY worse than the 30 minutes or so it will take to take in your anchor and move. Also, my boat once dragged into another boat that had also dragged, both boats awaiting haulout on the marinas undersized moorings that we both had been assigned. I pointed out to my insurance company that the moorings were much smaller than the marina had been claiming so I thought they should have been liable for the damage but the insurance company said it would cost more to prove it than it was worth so they just wrote me a check for $10K and that was the end of it as far as they were concerned. The marina didn't bother to upgrade their moorings.

[sv_pelagia]

Yes, sometimes it is better (for you) just to move...



Years ago, we anchored early afternoon in Gulf Islands' Clam Bay with only a couple other boats. Went below for a nap. Woke up later to several new boats, and one US boat whose anchor was clearly too close to ours (say 5-10m). The big issue was the forecast indicated winds were due to switch from NW to SE in the night, which would put him over our chain and on top of us. I rowed over to let him know the situation and the forecast. I only got a few words out before he started yelling and swearing (!) at me, saying he wasn't going to move. Taken aback, I suggested he go home (I know, not very Canadian of me...).



Rowed back and up-anchored, moving far away. That night the winds indeed switched and increased, and that other boat swung right over where our chain and anchor had been.


Our moving saved US a lot of worry and later problems.

[Kettlewell]

By the way, there is nothing to stop you from putting out some fenders if you are worried about possible bumps in the night, and sometimes doing that will give the other boater the hint that you are worried about their position. It is extremely bad etiquette, IMHO, to put out more scope than the anchorage requires in normal conditions. If you are not comfortable with your anchor set at 5:1 up to gale force something is wrong with your technique, gear, or the bottom. If there are few people around, use as much scope as you want, but please don't proclaim first rights to more than your share of a crowded anchorage. It's like parking your car diagonally across two parking spaces in a parking lot to prevent people from getting too close.

[nmuir]

It is all relative.
Cruising the Mediterranean summer showed us a lot about how close boats anchor together with people thinking it is just fine.

It is absolutely bonkers in the crowded anchorages and far worse than anything I have experienced in North America. In popular bays a boat length is pretty common, and 5:1 a luxury - 3:1 is far more common. (Unless of course a super yacht comes in to stern tie. Then they will lay out 300' right across the centre of the bay)


And yes a full compliment of fenders all-round is common!

[flightlead404]

In terms of safety, I find I grossly over estimate the amount of space I need.

In terms of comfort, I find I grossly under estimate the amount of space I need.