anchoring depths in the pacific

[schoonerdog]

Being a East Coast USA sailor whose gearing up for going out to eventually places like Indonesia, French Polynesia, etc, what should I prepare for as the maximum anchorage depths (from people who've done the trip and know). Out on the East Coast of the USA and Bahamas and Cuba I can anchor in 6-10 ft all of the time.

[Pelagic]

In the Pacific the anchoring conditions vary dramatically and because of the profusion of coral heads, quick drop offs in seasonal anchorages and often squall lines, you will need a lot more depth for “sea room”

Indonesia because of it’s volcanic origins has huge drop offs close to shore, poor holding, lots of coral as well as strong tidal currents to deal with making sea room while anchoring tricky.

[schoonerdog]

Sooo, have you found that you had to routinely anchor in 20 ft, 30 ft, 50 ft for overnight anchorages? I've heard some cruising in Indonesia would tend to look for depths of 15 ft while still being far enough from shore....

[Kanani]

In most of the SoPac you can find anchorages under 30'. When you get to Indonesia you may find yourself anchoring in 80'.

I carried 300' of chain attached to 300' of nylon rode on my main anchor. Indonesia is the only place that I had to pay out all my chain plus 100' of nylon. When using nylon, it's important to put flotation at intervals to keep it from touching bottom when there is no wind or current..

Wayne

[Keegan]

I plan to carry 200' of chain and 250' of nylon for the unusual circumstance of needing it. I cannot justify the weight of an extra 100' of chain to be used one or two times in a multi year circumnavigation.

Keegan

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by Keegan

I plan to carry 200' of chain and 250' of nylon for the unusual circumstance of needing it. I cannot justify the weight of an extra 100' of chain to be used one or two times in a multi year circumnavigation.

Keegan

On a Cat, I would take much less chain and more nylon. Even 100' of chain should be fine, as long as you carry floaters for your nylon to keep it out of the coral.

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by Kanani

On a Cat, I would take much less chain and more nylon. Even 100' of chain should be fine, as long as you carry floaters for your nylon to keep it out of the coral.

I agree except the boat came with a chain only windlass and I am lazy to where I want to anchor quickly and easily most of the time. If I replace the windlass someday I will go to more nylon and less chain.

Keegan

[schoonerdog]

Hmm, you guys bring up great points, especially regarding the floats. So if you anchored in 50 ft of water with 100 ft of chain you could attach floats on every 50 ft of rode to keep it off the bottom. So 100 ft of chain, and 200 ft of rode with 3 floats. That's doable. Great suggestions!

[Auspicious]

What do you use for floats and how do you attach them to the rode?

[schoonerdog]

I would assume things like styrofoam crabpot floats and hitching it to the rope....

[Gator81]

Dumb question: Are there no floating rope stocks available that are suitable for anchor duty on boats in this weight range? Or, perhaps, you desire the enhanced visibility of the bobbers instead?

[Joli]

Trying to remember the date of Fatty's story about his nylon rodes being knitted around coral. He ended up in a very bad situation. He has since changed to all chain.

[schoonerdog]

Gator, I thought about that too, some think polyester is better than nylon for abrasion resistance and strength when wet. I think though that the floating rode would be one huge trap for passing dingys, boats, anything with a prop that would end up causing more of a hassle than it would prevent. Some places like the Bahamas forbid anchor floats for precisely this reason.

[Randyonr3]

Something to think about, Theres a guy here on the dock that was using that yellow-polly rope for the towing of his dinghy.. a couple months ago, while out anchored, was pulling the dink in and a wave caught it pulling the line from his hand.
Wher the line ran through his fingers, it worked like a razor, cutting the end of one finger off.. Thats some nasty stuff at high speed..

[Keegan]

Floating poly is not as strong as good old non floating nylon. The floats on nylon sounds like a nice solution and one that I will try.

Keegan