Anchoring away from the "anchor" icons

[BillKny]

When ever using "crowd sourced" information, think for a moment about the intelligence of the average member of the "crowd."

Just like on here, one third of it is garbage, one third of it is on the right track, and one third is good and useful.

The only way to tell the difference is to know enough to recognize the trash. If you know enough to spot the garbage information, you really don't need the crowd's advice in the first place.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

I like this uncrowded choice also; however, I notice that there is a tendency to cluster. We often took short cruising days with an early anchorage with much space. Sometimes we would wake the next morning with half a dozen boats close to us and the rest of the area empty. It's as if the next boat coming into the bay sees one boat anchored and thinks, "that must be the best place,- we'll anchor next to them." .... then a third and the fifth ....seven!

Right there w/Mike and Hudson to find uncrowded/remote anchorages. If we do anchor in the "known" well labeled anchorages in range of the weekenders we only use them during the week.

Like Hudson's story above, sometimes that doesn't work out. Similarly we had a large anchorage to ourselves when in the late afternoon a boat almost anchored on top of us. We weren't sure if he needed some grey poupon or wanted to be invited for happy hour, but we had plans that didn't include him. Apparently he figured out he was getting invited over and fired up a loud generator which he ran all night. The next morning we were going to move, but he thankfully left instead.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

I like this uncrowded choice also; however, I notice that there is a tendency to cluster. We often took short cruising days with an early anchorage with much space. Sometimes we would wake the next morning with half a dozen boats close to us and the rest of the area empty. It's as if the next boat coming into the bay sees one boat anchored and thinks, "that must be the best place,- we'll anchor next to them." .... then a third and the fifth ....seven!

I've heard about this problem. I've been lucky in that mostly where we've cruised, there just aren't a lot of people around, so I've yet to experience this morning crowd problem. This is part of the reason I'm hesitant to go south .

It is odd though... I know when we come into an anchorage with boats already present we try and put as much distance as we can between ourselves and the others.

[Be Free]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

I started cruising in 2016 and pretty much cut my teeth using Active Captain to plan my routes / anchorages. Growing up in the digital age I think I've gotten a bit spoiled, because I'm hesitant to anchor anywhere outside of the pins. Can I really anchor just about anywhere?

That being said, what are some things to look for when planning an anchoring spot by only looking at chart? Some things that come off the top of my mind:

Depth
Type of bottom
Protection from swell / wind
Current
Bottom contour
Restricted areas (pipelines, etc.)

What do you look for in a good anchorage?

I'd add proximity to other boats/shore structures. For me that means "away from", others will find them to be an attraction.


Because I prefer to stay in places where other boats are not anchored I also have to consider the possibility that someone may come by at night and not expect to find a sailboat.


Your profile does not indicate where you are but around here proximity to land/islands also means a higher likelihood of biting insects so that is sometimes a consideration as well.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

I like this uncrowded choice also; however, I notice that there is a tendency to cluster. We often took short cruising days with an early anchorage with much space. Sometimes we would wake the next morning with half a dozen boats close to us and the rest of the area empty. It's as if the next boat coming into the bay sees one boat anchored and thinks, "that must be the best place,- we'll anchor next to them." .... then a third and the fifth ....seven!

Isn't that the truth! And particularly annoying when it's a big stinkpot that runs its generator 24/7.


If I'm early into a big, popular, open anchorage like the Octopus Islands, I'll anchor in less than the best spot, wait until just about dark, after I've attracted all the other "flies" to the honey, THEN move to the best spot. It doesn't always work - but it often does.

[Scorpius]

I've been known to to over the chart of the area (like the Broken Islands) and cross off all the anchorages mentioned in the guide books, then look for some other bay or cove that looks secure and enticing. Invariably we find ourselves alone (which we prefer) instead of in a crowd.


This technique worked beautifully the last couple of days in the Bunsby Islands. SPECTACULAR area!

[JPA Cate]

There are a few places, where you want the breeze, to hold your stern to the incoming swell. If the breeze drops out overnight, the monos will be rolling, and the cats just going up and down, and maybe twitching a bit. Once you have identified these places, usually bays near headlands, you can drop a stern anchor, against the nightly wind drop, and bob up and down like a cat. ....or you can look on it as God giving you a head start on the next day.

Ann

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Isn't that the truth! And particularly annoying when it's a big stinkpot that runs its generator 24/7.

In my anchoring event described above, it wasn't a powerboat that ran their gen all night ....

[Mike OReilly]

These days I suspect a great way to get away from the crowd is to go to places without cell service.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

These days I suspect a great way to get away from the crowd is to go to places without cell service.

So true! Not sure that would make it on the list for a "good" anchorage though, since most like their wifi service.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Bill O

So true! Not sure that would make it on the list for a "good" anchorage though, since most like their wifi service.

Agreed. That's probably why I've rarely shared an anchorage with any other boats over most of my cruising life. I've tended to travel in places where cell service is minimal to none, and wifi is a fantasy.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

........ Can I really anchor just about anywhere?

No, you cannot. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least three places on the AICW where you cannot anchor for twenty miles or so. For me, that's three hours so the choice is to anchor before I get there or after I leave.

To be fair, one of those places has a couple of free docks and another has several marinas. Just nowhere to anchor.

If you want a safe anchorage, you have to get out of traffic. Out of the channel, far out of the channel, hopefully with some obstructions to keep another boat from hitting yours.

Obviously, you need enough depth for your boat (considering tidal swings), but shallow enough for a reasonable length of rode.

Protection from wind, waves and wakes are considerations.

Personally, I do use Active Captain and I don't mind other boats anchoring in the same place as long as they don't come to close and don't make a lot of noise. I have anchored where there was no Active Captain marker and then added one for others to see.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Agreed. That's probably why I've rarely shared an anchorage with any other boats over most of my cruising life. I've tended to travel in places where cell service is minimal to none, and wifi is a fantasy.

I’m guessing you are one of the more regular posters on CF. Doesn’t this take some form of internet signal whether it be WiFi or cell? Or do you mainly post in your downtime?

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by Chris Cringle

BEWARE THE ANCHOR ICON!!! ... moved a quarter of a mile away the next morning and spent the next few nights in peaceful solitude watching the bare-boats anchor as close as possible to their designated anchor spot.

Additionally - and not just charter boats - we've often looked at the weather forecast and chosen our spot accordingly then watched as other boats (perhaps across the bay/straits) anchor in that area's 'recommended' anchorage, despite it being wide open to the strong/unusual winds that're due overnight; it was especially prevalent in the eastern Mediterranean: "But the pilot book said..."

Particularly with heavy weather forecast, we've long held that sharing the second-most sheltered anchorage with two other boats is far preferable to anchoring in the best-spot but shared with fifty others.

[Shrew]

The paradox here is, the spots marked in modern technological tools are the result of many years of people using those same spots. People anchored there long before there were tools like AC. They did so buy looking at the charts, checking out the area, observing prevailing wind and waves.

There are usually reasons why there are areas that nobody notates (submerged structure, fish pen, poor holding, exposed to wake, wave or fetch, etc.)