What's your anchoring etiquette

[wrwakefield]

We prefer to maintain 3-5 miles between anchored vessels… <I’m grinning> but this is often the case for us…

We will often keep going if we spot another vessel already in a bay we were thinking of visiting if there is an alternative close by [exceptions made for inclement Wx or lack of close alternatives…] or we anchor on the opposite side of the bay when we can. We have noticed local recreational vessels do the same. Visitors, not as much. They swing by considering anchoring next to us [often the only boat there- assuming we have the best spot?] until they arrive and see how deep it is in our location… [read on…]

If in an anchorage that may be visited by others, we will choose the deeper portion- usually 90-110 ft. That way when other boats come by and ask what depth we anchored in [wondering if they can trust their depth finder?] we tell them and they thank us and keep going to the shallower areas [typically] far from our location.

I know this strategy isn’t always an option- even in our cruising area- but it usually works well enough to keep us comfortably separated from other hulls.

The only important thing in all of this is to remember to enjoy your adventures, and move on if you aren’t…

Cheers, Bill

[Auklet]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Thin, the "first boat in" rule always seems like an idealized physics problem. It's an overly simplified set of parameters that rarely matches actual reality. In the real world, problems are usually far more complex, and messy.

In an actual busy anchorage, boats are coming and going all the time. Some will arrive early, some late, some stay for days, some for hours. Who's "the first boat" in these situations? How can one even tell?

If I come into an anchorage and there are a four, five... dozens of boats, who's the "first boat" that I supposed to match anchoring patterns to?

I think this is a commonly mis-understood transposition. It’s not the “first boat there”, it’s the “boat that’s there first” relative to your arrival. Don’t be silly. Of course hardly anyone is going to know the absolute first boat there after many arrivals and departures, etc. However, any boat there ahead of you has priority and prerogative over the sea berth it is occupying when you arrive. A simple rule but one hard to follow for people who embrace late-comers “rights” to foul a berth in order to squeeze in.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Thin, the "first boat in" rule always seems like an idealized physics problem. It's an overly simplified set of parameters that rarely matches actual reality. In the real world, problems are usually far more complex, and messy.

In an actual busy anchorage, boats are coming and going all the time. Some will arrive early, some late, some stay for days, some for hours. Who's "the first boat" in these situations? How can one even tell?

If I come into an anchorage and there are a four, five... dozens of boats, who's the "first boat" that I supposed to match anchoring patterns to? Unless I can communicate with the other boaters, or unless there is something obvious going on with an unusual anchoring setup, the best I can do is assume people are anchoring to normal standards: 5-7:1 scope, with sufficient space between them.

I do think it is courteous, and right, to be respectful of all the existing boats in an anchorage. As 'the next boat in' I have to find a way to anchor safely, without placing any of the other existing boats at unreasonable risk. But if someone is laying out an unreasonable scope, or anchoring weirdly so as to block others out, then reciprocity dictates I no longer need to respect these folks.

In the real world, it likely means I have to go somewhere else.

Mostly, we agree, but ...

• Who was first? In a practical sense, anyone who got there before you.
• "... if someone is laying out an unreasonable scope, or anchoring weirdly so as to block others out, then reciprocity dictates I no longer need to respect these folks" While I agree they were rude, you response has no basis at all. That's like risking hitting a driver because he is an idiot. No, you give an idiot more room. What you said is more like tit for tat reciprocity, which you don't actually mean.

The point is that fairness has not a thing to do with it.


That said, if he has 200' out and he tells me I am too close, I will feel bound only by my duty not to hit his boat. He can feel as nervous as he likes, so long as I am sure of my geometry. But if we strike, I know I have zero case in court. Zero.


It's sort of like COLREGS (is part of COLREGS). Etiquette has nothing to do with and neither does fairness. Life is mean sometimes.

[Kettlewell]

In practice, often the easiest way to be relatively certain you are not fouling someone else's swinging circle is to drop the hook downwind of anyone else who is there when you arrive. I can often do that because I am not deathly afraid of going aground and am willing to be very close to shallows. Obviously, there will be times when you can't anchor downwind, but it is my first option if things are tight. Another "trick" is to use something like a piling, or a channel, or a buoy to "block" you from other boats. In other words, if everyone is on one side of a harbor channel, maybe you can anchor just on the other side of the channel.

[rognvald]

Well, I came late to the party and there are some interesting responses. After we became confident in our cruising skills, we chose/choose cruising destinations that were/are not on most sailors itinerary. We would never again sail the Exumas, Georgetown, etc that have become water-borne shopping malls but prefer sailing in areas with less people--unnamed. However, our protocol is always the same: anchor away from the crowd unless there is no possible alternative even if this means being in a somewhat less protected area in no more than moderate winds--15 knots. However, even in those areas, at times, someone always shows up and anchors too closely and never looks at you or your boat when they drop the hook. It's simply the Herd Instinct that is hardwired into most people . . . safety in numbers.
I had a sign in my office I found when fly fishing in Upper Michigan. It read:

Never try to teach a pig to sing . . .
It's a waste of time . . .
And annoys the pig.
Rognvald

[Mike OReilly]

Yes, I think we're all saying the same thing. Obviously, and as I said, in the real world when you go into a busy anchorage, you do your best to find a place that is both adequate for you, and does not put any other existing boat in undue danger.

As for our hypothetical 200' rode fellow, as I said, the only real solution I have is to go somewhere else. If I can't find a way to fit in, and can't convince this person to be more reasonable, I move on.

But in the real world, it's not always possible to observe if someone is anchoring abnormally. If conditions are benign, everyone on chain is hanging off their chain. You can't tell if they have 5:1 or 15:1. If communication is not possible -- as is common -- then the best I can do is assume the person is anchoring reasonably, and follow suit.

[Kettlewell]

But in the real world, it's not always possible to observe if someone is anchoring abnormally. If conditions are benign, everyone on chain is hanging off their chain. You can't tell if they have 5:1 or 15:1. If communication is not possible -- as is common -- then the best I can do is assume the person is anchoring reasonably, and follow suit.

I can usually find a good spot where I feel safe and I'm not interfering with others, but often the difficulty arises when another boat arrives. The classic case is the obvious charter boat (three or four people nicely dressed standing on the foredeck not getting the anchor ready as the boat circles the anchorage at high speed), flying the Jolly Rodger. Then when this boat makes several too-close passes over your anchor rode and proceeds to drop the hook right about where your hook is located, and you hear someone shout from the bow, "I let out 10 feet of chain and it's on the bottom." The real clue you are in trouble is when you pop out of the cockpit to take exception to their location and you realize they have all retired down below to mix pina coladas before they have even straightened out in the wind.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Does Darrell not realize that wind and current can change? Wind backs 40º in that diagram and suddenly they're anchored side by side and not staggered at all.

He's also wrong that it will "prevent the chance the boats make contact." It reduces that chance, but as different boats can behave entirely differently, if you are in the swinging circle of another boat, or another boat is inside your circle, there is always a chance you could contact.

In a crowded anchorage, it's best to ensure your anchor is outside of other swinging circles. If there's adequate room in the anchorage, it's best to ensure your swinging circle does not overlap any other vessel's swinging circle.

The definition of a crowded anchorage is that your swing circles overlap. If they don't overlap, it's not crowded.


I think Montanan's AIS comment was a joke.

• AIS is only as accurate as GPS. It is common in a crowded anchorage to swing within GPS accuracy.
• It's a collision, not an allision, because both objects are moving unless one is docked. This is clarified in case law. Pointlessly pedantic. Also, if it were an allision, then CLEARLY only one party could be at fault. Which one was parked?
• The AIS icons are going to make an overlapping mess on the display in harbors. I really wish everyone would turn the AIS off when they are not underway.

If the anchorage is well protected sometimes fenders are the answer. Mistakes are made, but moving boats a night is not always a good answer. You can make things worse.


The greatest problem with moorings, in my admittedly narrow experience, is when they are private moorings that are not occupied for long periods and also cannot be used. It's sort of like blocking your curb space on a public road with lawn chairs.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The definition of a crowded anchorage is that your swing circles overlap. If they don't overlap, it's not crowded.

So true.

The greatest problem with moorings, in my admittedly narrow experience, is when they are private moorings that are not occupied for long periods and also cannot be used. It's sort of like blocking your curb space on a public road with lawn chairs.

Double .

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I can usually find a good spot where I feel safe and I'm not interfering with others, but often the difficulty arises when another boat arrives. The classic case is the obvious charter boat (three or four people nicely dressed standing on the foredeck not getting the anchor ready as the boat circles the anchorage at high speed), flying the Jolly Rodger. ... The real clue you are in trouble is when you pop out of the cockpit to take exception to their location and you realize they have all retired down below to mix pina coladas before they have even straightened out in the wind.

Yes, this sounds bad. I have cruised in areas like this in the past: North Channel and especially 1000-Islands was especially problematic for this kind of behaviour.

When I'm at anchor, and see another boat coming in, I try and make myself available to chat. I usually wave, and am happy to answer any questions the new boat has. I try not to be intrusive, and won't offer suggestions unless they ask, or unless they are putting me in danger. But I'm there if they want to talk.

I also try and gauge whether the other crew knows what they are doing.

Happily, for most of my cruising life, I've been in areas where even seeing another recreational boater is a rarity. Over the last many seasons, I think I've shared an anchorage twice*, and that was with one other boat.

* Last season we mostly buddy-boated with a friend, so technically we shared the anchorage most of the time, but mostly we were tied together, so I don't count this.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The definition of a crowded anchorage is that your swing circles overlap. If they don't overlap, it's not crowded.

Maybe your definition. Reasonably certain that any anchorage that was covered in non-overlapping swinging circles would still look crowded. At least to some people. There are also people who feel the need to anchor within 50 feet of the only other vessel within an open roadstead.

Originally Posted by thinwater

I think Montanan's AIS comment was a joke.

I couldn't really figure out what Montanan was on about. I thought maybe he didn't understand my comment about using radar to measure your distance from other boats when determining your location to drop anchor, and had a little rant. Or maybe it was a sarcastic comment aimed at everyone.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I can usually find a good spot where I feel safe and I'm not interfering with others, but often the difficulty arises when another boat arrives. The classic case is the obvious charter boat (three or four people nicely dressed standing on the foredeck not getting the anchor ready as the boat circles the anchorage at high speed), flying the Jolly Rodger. Then when this boat makes several too-close passes over your anchor rode and proceeds to drop the hook right about where your hook is located, and you hear someone shout from the bow, "I let out 10 feet of chain and it's on the bottom." The real clue you are in trouble is when you pop out of the cockpit to take exception to their location and you realize they have all retired Moredown below to mix pina coladas before they have even straightened out in the wind.

LOL. Sounds like Garrison Bay in the San Juan Islands in July.


I prefer this spot in the Canadian Gulf Islands. It's too small for more than one boat, and too shallow for anything but a multihull. It's not even named.
The entrance at high tide is just wide enough to fit our 25' beam, and the spot to drop the hook is on the "dries at low tide" spot. We knew the low tide for the next 24 hours was only +5' so we were good.


An eagle was eating a fish on the shore when we arrived, so he picked it up and left us.
That was the best 24 hour stop of our whole vacation.