After You're There . . .

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Bash

Then I ring the ship's bell to signal that drinking may commence.

Crap. I've been getting that backwards. I usually don't start ringing mine 'till I've had 5 or 6.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

... if you have ghosted in in a dead calm, there is NO WAY that you can ascertain that the anchor is indeed well set without it. No wonder you need to stand anchor watches...

Please, if you are gonna anchor upwind of me, grit your teeth, start up the donk and pull HARD on the anchor for a minute of two (not just a little jerk as is so often done). If it doesn't then move, you can probably skip the anchor watch, and so can I!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Towlers Bay, NSW, Oz

Well, perhaps the meaning was that the anchorage was calm, not the wind? It was calm before. Then someone came in and started pulling HARD, for two minutes.

I do not see why one should pull HARD on the anchor - the tide will change the current will shift and so much for you pulling HARD.

Imagine a crowded anchorage where everybody coming would pull HARD on the rode for two minutes. The smoke, the noise. And as if there were always to be a queen´s birthday the following night or something.

I say let everybody have their way and let the nature select the fittest.

barnie

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Imagine a crowded anchorage where everybody coming would pull HARD on the rode for two minutes. The smoke, the noise.

we pull HARD on the anchor for about 2 minutes, maybe more.

We dragged once about 2 years ago when the pick must have set on mud sitting on a plastic bag (or something). So now I pull back HARD at 2,000RPM for about 2 minutes.

Our actual technique is something like this: Lay out a fair bit of chain and let it settle to the wind/tide. Then pull back gently. Let it relax. Then pull back long and at increasing revs to we are set in deep.

I set to the expected stronger wind too.

If other folks in the anchorage don't like me setting the anchor in deep then they can write a written complaint But I am sure as hell everyone else wants to know that every other boat is set well


Mark

[boatman61]

Being an OLD BUGGER who started in the days before everyone had electric winches on board I still do it the old fashioned way...
If under main I set the tiller/wheel so she's turning head to wind and then go forward, as she heads the wind I drop the hook by hand till it hits the bottom then pay out the cable another 10 metres... hold until the strain comes on... then another 10 and repeat the process till the required amount is down... this lays out the chain beautifully and effectively beds in the hook.
If under motor I follow the same routine just drop her in neutral before going forward... the weight of the boat swinging her head back to wind does the work of bedding in.
A quick final haul in hand over hand for a few metres soon lets you know if its taken hold...
Beats the hell out of ploughing the bottom... and it works.
Obviously not something I'd do on a 50+ftr but I'd still do the pay out, let it bite then pay out again routine using the winch...
Much more eco friendly than charging in reverse at 2000rpm dragging 30+ metres of chain + hook across the bottom.

[w1651]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I better get a bell!!!!

Ya I liked that too!

[donradcliffe]

Anyone who is sailing through a crowded anchorage has my undivided attention, unless they are in something small enough to easily fend off. Either they have engine trouble and may need help, or they are stroking their ego and putting all of us at risk.

Backing down to set and test the anchor does not mean screaming backwards hoping the anchor will jerk you to a stop instead of skipping along the bottom. I means gradually increasing the thrust in reverse until you have exceeded the maximum expected pull on the anchor. What rpm that equates to depends on the boat, motor, and prop, but you can get an idea by trying to back into the wind on a windy day. For us, 1500 rpm will make sternway into 40 knots, so that's usually good enough, especially if you have 20 knots of wind load on the boat already.

I can't count the times when increasing that engine rpm to 1500 broke out an anchor which seemed well set, and its a real PITA to have to pull and reset when it does, but I don't have the confidence to leave the boat unattended until it passes that test.

[w1651]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Anyone who is sailing through a crowded anchorage has my undivided attention, unless they are in something small enough to easily fend off. Either they have engine trouble and may need help, or they are stroking their ego and putting all of us at risk.

Backing down to set and test the anchor does not mean screaming backwards hoping the anchor will jerk you to a stop instead of skipping along the bottom. I means gradually increasing the thrust in reverse until you have exceeded the maximum expected pull on the anchor. What rpm that equates to depends on the boat, motor, and prop, but you can get an idea by trying to back into the wind on a windy day. For us, 1500 rpm will make sternway into 40 knots, so that's usually good enough, especially if you have 20 knots of wind load on the boat already.

I can't count the times when increasing that engine rpm to 1500 broke out an anchor which seemed well set, and its a real PITA to have to pull and reset when it does, but I don't have the confidence to leave the boat unattended until it passes that test.

I am beginning to realize I could have started a thread just on anchoring.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by w1651

I notice some of you keep a log. What do you write in it? Mechanics of the trip, or personal observations or both?

An end-of-the-day entry will include:
** Latitude and Longitude, to the 1/100th decimal (which can help determine whether you've dragged, and whether you want to return to or avoid this spot in the future)
** Depth, amount of scope out, and type of holding ground
** An estimate of when lowest low tide will be, and how much clearance we'll have under the keel at that point
** Distance sailed from point of origin (which is helpful a few years later if I want to figure out how long it will take to repeat the trip)
** Friends spotted in the anchorage
** Annotated bibliography of whatever I was reading during the voyage (in case my biographers are interested 100 years from now)
** Any maintenance required as a result of the voyage (in other words, what did we break this time)
** Engine hours, if significant motoring took place.

That may seem like a lot, but it only takes about 5 minutes, and it helps pass the time while the galley wench taps the keg.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I do not see why one should pull HARD on the anchor - the tide will change the current will shift and so much for you pulling HARD.

This is the line of delineation between the small, low-powered boats and larger boats with a bit of umph.

I've got a 76 hp turbo diesel spinning a 20" prop. There's no way I'd back down hard for 2 minutes. At that point the Rocna would be buried a full fathom into the sand, I'd need to replace the plastic roller on my anchor roller, the snubber would have stretched beyond usefulness and the windlass clutch would be toast.

All you need to do is set it enough to know it's not fouled. If the wind comes up, it will set it deeper for you unless you've got inadequate ground tackle, such as one of those old-gen anchors fashioned after agricultural plows, in which case you will indeed begin to drag.

[barnakiel]

Our way of pulling goes like this:

We lower the hook and do not let the chain land on it - be it with the help of wind, current or if not present, then the engine. We let out about 6 times the depth and put in reverse until the boat stops. Then we let out more rode and again we pull and see if the boat stops. If we think the hook is set, we pull full astern.

If the rode gets tight and the boats stays put, we put in neutral, I pick up the excess of rode and stay with anything between 3 to 6 times the depth.

If we drag, I collect the stuff and restart the exercise. But 9 out of 10 it holds fine.

The only time we dragged in a big way was when the anchor seemed to hold fine and then let go and re-set only some 3 cables further down the way, in the middle of the fairway. If we had rocks behind us that would have been it.

b.

[Cheechako]

once the anchor's down I take a hand bearing for safe exit in the dark and write it down....

[capt_douglas]

Originally Posted by w1651

Here's the scenario.
snip ....

What are the top five or six things you do to get your boat squared away.

square away topsides - (sail and winch covers, coil lines)
shut down all the electronics but the GPS (I save the route because I use the ability to reverse course and follow the way in to get out)
fill out the log and mark the anchorage on the paper chart (set anchor watch)
put the cockpit stuff away (binocs, handheld VHF, charts, drinking mug, mini-cooler, autopilot control, windlass control, etc)
break out the cockpit cushions
make sure Q-flag or courtesy flag is displayed - (contact port control/port captain if required otherwise say hello on the VHF)
open the hatches and let the boat breathe
make sure the rudder's centered
check the interior for moved items

Also give me a list of five of the top cleaners, waxes, and polishers you carry.
I am new to sailing and your input in very valuable to me.

white/cider vinegar
Wink
Collonite 850 polish
Awlwash soap - (expensive but there's nothing better or more value for the capfull)
H-7 degreaser
Joy detergent - there are others but this one seems to ignore whether it's salt or fresh water
Boeshield T-9
Finesse if I'm bored
Soft scrub w bleach - can do a lot to remove those fish gut/bird dropping stains
Epifances varnish w Japan wash thinner
Awlbright 3-part urethane wood protectant

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Our way of pulling goes like this:

We lower the hook and do not let the chain land on it - be it with the help of wind, current or if not present, then the engine. We let out about 6 times the depth and put in reverse until the boat stops. Then we let out more rode and again we pull and see if the boat stops. If we think the hook is set, we pull full astern.

If the rode gets tight and the boats stays put, we put in neutral, I pick up the excess of rode and stay with anything between 3 to 6 times the depth.

If we drag, I collect the stuff and restart the exercise. But 9 out of 10 it holds fine.

The only time we dragged in a big way was when the anchor seemed to hold fine and then let go and re-set only some 3 cables further down the way, in the middle of the fairway. If we had rocks behind us that would have been it.

b.

G'DAy Barnie,

A further comment about pulling hard to set an anchor:

Before we began our regime of pulling really hard, I would often dive the anchor after getting settled in. Several times I discovered that with our gentle pull we had never even straightened out the chain, let alone buried the hook. The consequences of this are easy to imagine... yes, it is possible that an increase in the wind would have completed the burying process, but the opposite event is also possible.

Ann and I have lived primarily at anchor for the last 24 years, and do take it seriously. ! Now, let's consider that you say your anchoring technique has worked 9 out of 10 times... that means that in 10% of the times, it DIDN'T work, and if you hadn't given it a "full astern" tug, you might have dragged later. We've anchored thousands of times since we left, so that would have resulted in hundreds of times that we might have dragged if the wind piped up. And I don't know where you do your sailing/anchoring, but here in the SP tropics, severe thunderstorms often appear in the evening and night with pretty strong winds. It doesn't take the Queens Birthday to stress your ground tackle! Nuff said.


And the comment that pulling hard for a minute or two might disturb people in a crowded anchorage -- this is exactly the situation where getting the hook well set is so important. Lots of targets to hit if you drag!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Towlers Bay, NSW, Oz

[fishwife]

I want Jim anchored up wind of me

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by fishwife

I want Jim anchored up wind of me

You Do Know he's Famous for his Chilli's don't you.....
Why dya think the Wind picks up in the evenings... is that really Thunder...?