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Old 08-10-2013, 12:25   #46
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Do you folks who rely on availability of cell phone signals to tell your boat's still where you left it ever want to get off the beaten path? You are trusting your sense of safety to an item known for loving to go for unexpected swims, and being vulnerable to the odd coffee spill. Is that how you want to live your cruising lives? Do you think Dockhead or Jedi bother with that?

We are not happy leaving our boat unattended at anchor overnight. So we don't stay ashore if we can't leave it in a marina. We usually use a marina for haulout time, once a year, live on the hook the rest of the time. Many places (gasp!) do not have internet except in very scattered locations. There is life without it. I know i'm supposed to keep that a secret, but, oh well...
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:32   #47
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

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Originally Posted by atoll View Post
welcome to the club!
of skippers that never really sleep,who are allways gazing at the anchorage when ashore
I get that, but we're trying to circumnavigate and I'll be dammed if I get the whole way around the world racked with anxiety and never enjoying all the things onshore. Obviously the boat needs to survive it as well and not get holed on a beach, but there aren't a lot of boats with good ground tackle, with good holding bottom, in non storm-force winds getting beached.

That youtube video was a nylon mooring; a lot different than a few hundred pounds of chain and a VW-bug sized anchor.
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:34   #48
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Thank you for all the replies and the benefit of your experience.

Before we set of cruising I did change the anchor to a Manson Supreme and before buying it spoke to them about the size. They were very, very helpful and suggested a size of anchor for our boat. They then said although it would hold us well it would be beneficial to oversize. This we did.
Just make sure you are not putting too much strain on your windless with the extra weight and half a continent it sometimes brings up.

I have also painted the roll bar with florescent paint which makes it so much easier to see and helps identify if it is buried in properly.

I tend not to use a tripping line as other boat may swing into it and inadvertently trip it.

As a Brit we anchor like a cat finding somewhere to sleep. We often manoeuvre around the anchorage looking for the ideal spot where we can put out some decent chain (the length of chain you actually put out is more important than the anchor in my humble opinion).

Unfortunately other nations are often getting the dingy out or diving from the boat before the anchor hits the bottom. The French in particular often anchor by motoring forward whilst dropping the anchor.

Learning to drop the anchor manually and quickly rather than by lowering it on the windlass makes a difference as the anchor hits the spot you want and saves battery life.

I also want to know why when I find the perfect spot to anchor does the next boat that comes in have to anchor a cigarette paper away from me when there is space everywhere.

All these things help .... but... I still sleep like a cat on a hot tin roof.
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:34   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptForce
I would like to proudly say that I sleep well at anchor because of my many years of experience, but more truthfully, I sleep well at anchor because I already did all the stupid things and made all the stupid choices many years ago.

I anchored with a little Danforth in the narrow mouth of an estuary that drained a huge volume of tidal flats that swirled in an eddy and wrapped my nylon rode around my fin keel and prop before breaking me loose and sending me out on the ebb at night.

I anchored where a tropical wave was forecast and when it arrived, plucking my well set Northill out still attached to the bottom. I was blown aground on the lee shore of Long Key Bight.

I woke one morning from a sound sleep and found myself at a thirty degree heel on an oyster shell bank totally clueless as to what caused me to drag.

Still "young and in manure", I once anchored at the edge of deeper water in a crowded Key West anchorage with a little dinghy anchor tied to my ankle. My thought was that the tug would wake me if the main anchor was dragging. I survived!

Remember the big Northill? It sets with one fluke down and one fluke up. The high fluke catches the rode wrap on the changing tide. Before giving my Northill away I raised it many times wrapped in a twist of chain.

All these evens happened in my twenties. I'm in my sixties now. I would like to claim great experience, but the truth may be that I just ran out of stupid! We anchor out often and sleep well. I set an alarm and keep a GPS track of my swing. I set with procedures listed above and visually track any parallax movement in selected transits. I also keep watch in big winds. We've anchored out successfully during a couple of hurricanes and a few tropical storms by selecting ideal locations. I do set with a double nylon snubber bridle without a plan to "feel" the chain, but I do use my chart plottter to verify my lack of movement while backing down in reverse. I use an adequate scope of all chain with a horizontal manual windlass and much prefer a single anchor without a crowd of other vessels.
LOL! A real classic! Beautiful post
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:35   #50
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

We commonly leave our boat at anchor while spending some time ashore, but we are doing this with an awareness of the weather, our holding condition regarding the bottom characteristics an the protection of the anchorage in respect to fetch.
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:37   #51
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel heart View Post
I get that, but we're trying to circumnavigate and I'll be dammed if I get the whole way around the world racked with anxiety and never enjoying all the things onshore. Obviously the boat needs to survive it as well and not get holed on a beach, but there aren't a lot of boats with good ground tackle, with good holding bottom, in non storm-force winds getting beached.

That youtube video was a nylon mooring; a lot different than a few hundred pounds of chain and a VW-bug sized anchor.
just be "alert" to the possibilities...........this world needs more "lerts"........
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:44   #52
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In good holding and settled weather I'll quite happily wander off inland for a few days. Always nice to see the boat in the same place getting back though. Though keep thinking I might get an even bigger anchor
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Old 08-10-2013, 12:55   #53
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

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In good holding and settled weather I'll quite happily wander off inland for a few days. Always nice to see the boat in the same place getting back though. Though keep thinking I might get an even bigger anchor
That's because you have run out of beer and need re supplies... Do you ever forget where you left the boat?
Have a good winter Conachair
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:02   #54
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oliver L. View Post
Tim,

that's exactly the kind of program I was looking for. Can you give me the name?

Thanks

Oliver
Anchor Alert for Android.
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:06   #55
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate View Post
Do you folks who rely on availability of cell phone signals to tell your boat's still where you left it ever want to get off the beaten path? You are trusting your sense of safety to an item known for loving to go for unexpected swims, and being vulnerable to the odd coffee spill. Is that how you want to live your cruising lives? Do you think Dockhead or Jedi bother with that?

We are not happy leaving our boat unattended at anchor overnight. So we don't stay ashore if we can't leave it in a marina. We usually use a marina for haulout time, once a year, live on the hook the rest of the time. Many places (gasp!) do not have internet except in very scattered locations. There is life without it. I know i'm supposed to keep that a secret, but, oh well...
Agreed Ann, but I see it as a tool to let me know my home is safe when I do have cell coverage and I leave the boat. It will never prevent me from going off the beaten path. Also, I only use it when I have any doubts about changing conditions. I did not use it once this year. The alarm functions work perfectly fine while in airplane mode while sleeping. I have only dragged once in 10 years of cruising. And that was on a Bruce and a sudden 180° wind shift and squaw. The Bruce reset in about 40 ft.

And we are not yet actively cruising yet so I am still part of the rat race which includes all the electronic gadgets. We even have cable TV. The TV will get the boot when we finally quit our jobs and go cruising.
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:29   #56
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

Anne, Oliver, this is the one I use on Iphone..I dont use it to call me if I drag, although it has this functions, I primarily use it to see where I am swinging at nigth or check if we are near the limit of chain or if we are dragging. The vessel shows the track and shows where you have hovered. I also use it to point out where my anchor is if someone comes to anchor nearby. Often with current and wind our anchor is 10m behind us. Unless we use an anchor buoy we have no idea, and newcomers have no idea. More than once I have had people try to anchor directly on top of my anchor. Also it integrates with google maps so you can actually see how close you will swing to landmarks. It doesnt rely on cell phone signal, it uses the inbuilt GPS. Similar to leaving the plotter on, but much less power use and much more convenient. its not a substitute for proper anchoring skills, just another gadget to make life (and sleep)easier...
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BTW, the guy that said to only anchor in a protected cove from all wind directions obviously hasn't sailed in the Med much! I wonder where that place is?!
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:41   #57
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

I think it depends a lot on where you are cruising. I was accustomed to Maine anchorages, where the afternoon onshore breeze usually has completely subsided by bedtime, you frequently are the only boat anchored around in the lee of where any wind might come from, and you can almost always dig your anchor into some nice, dense mud, so slept like a baby at anchor. Then I started sailing in areas where the holding wasn't always so great and the breeze frequently didn't end at bedtime, and other boaters, sometimes apparently of dubious anchoring ability, often set up shop just upwind and I found that I was jumping out of bed at every little bump or shift in the boats motion.

I like the idea of having an anchor alarm next to the bed so I can check it and go back to sleep without getting up!
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:42   #58
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

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BTW, the guy that said to only anchor in a protected cove from all wind directions obviously hasn't sailed in the Med much! I wonder where that place is?!
There are a few spots around with 360 degree protection like the one below at Vathi on Astipalaia, they are just few and far between:
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:47   #59
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Re: Does constant anchoring wear you down?

"So how do you learn to relax being constantly at anchor?"
Drugs,'damus. Lots of good drugs, applied frequently.

The first time, I think the very first time, that I firmly set a hook and left the boat alone to run someone ashore, only a hundred yards or so, what do I hear while on the dock? "Look at that boat, it's drifting" HUH?! Raced back and reset the hook, which of course stayed put without any problems for the next 36 hours. I'm not sure that you ever can trust an anchor 100% of the time, no matter how big the anchor or how good the holding.

But that won't stop me from using one, because I'd just as soon not be securely tied up to a dock where there's unknown foot traffic walking by at any hour. I'm happiest on a mooring ball, I suppose. Although I have limited trust in unknown moorings, at least there's a reasonable chance that in good weather, they'll hold me as well as they held the last boat.

I find that unless there's a watch awake on the boat, I sleep with one eye open. Wind shifts, chop changes, moon comes out or goes behind the clouds, and I stir enough to get some idea of what's going on. Zoning out like a rock is nice, but sometimes? You just can't really do that, can you?
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Old 08-10-2013, 13:50   #60
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I used to be really worried, now i sleep alot better. I use a bruce for all my anchoring and a 20lb kellet. I anchor our boat half the year (instead of moorage) and it never drags. And we usually use our boat about 30+ times throughout the year and always anchor.
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