Anchor: free drop or button down

Searush said:
I always hand lower. I can see the rate & direction of boat movement by the chain where it enters the water. I can feel when the anchor touches the bottom so I can pause before letting the chain lie out as the boat slowly pays off. I can also see the chain markers as it touches the bottom & the chain pays out so I know when to cleat it off.

Doesn't often drag when you do it properly. :D
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+1
 
Jamesuk said:
Hi ,
Flotilla crew on examination have lots of problems with anchoring because they are told to use the button. I tell a few and they go on to hve trouble free holding
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The biggest problems we see with people new to anchoring is that they either drop a load of chain in a heap on top of the anchor and make no attempt to bite it or more often, they drop the anchor using the button while motoring backwards at 5 knots. In depths of 10 metres plus the anchor hits the bottom a long way from where they meant it to be. Often they end up tied to a quay with only 20 metres of chain out. It all seems ok until the first gust of wind drags them. Or they end up in a bay in much deeper water than they planned.

It's not so much using the button as the relative speeds.
 
Jamesuk said:
Hi ,

I admit to being a lemon in the past (not now) and using the button to drop an anchor but i soon realised the best way to enjoy the beers sooner was to free drop then take over with the button to fine tune.

Now i advise everyone to get a grip and give hubby/Wife back control at the helm.

What do you do, is it just a confidence/inexperienced safety concern?

Cheers

Flotilla crew on examination have lots of problems with anchoring because they are told to use the button. I tell a few and they go on to hve trouble free holding
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A lot of the answers so far seem to ignore the size of yacht/chain/anchor! If you have a yacht bigger than (?) 30 something feet, you cannot flake the chain out or lower by hand.

The key is to have the chain clearly marked. When you have the correct drop spot, let the chain free fall to the amount of chain that is the distance from bow roller to the sea-bed (not the depth or even the depth under the keel as most charter boats will display). Then tighten the clutch and pay out the rest using the down button while the wind/tide pushes you gently backwards, so laying out the chain and not piling it up.

TudorSailor
 
I always, without exception, motor the chain down, except when my wife does. The clutch on a vertical windlass is not a superb machine and not very easy to operate, the chain tends to rattle about when approaching the gypsy and sometimes jams in it, whereas it never does when motoring. The windlass is a Maxwell, which is one of the faster ones both up and down. I reverse slowly until sufficient chain is out for the depth, take it out of gear, let the boat stop, then motor astern at around 2000 revs for half a minute or so while checking transits. Unless it is windy, in which case I do not reverse until the anchor has set. We anchor for more than 150 nights per year, plus lunch stops, cruising around, etc. and have been following this procedure for well over ten years.
 
vyv_cox said:
I always, without exception, motor the chain down, except when my wife does. The clutch on a vertical windlass is not a superb machine and not very easy to operate, the chain tends to rattle about when approaching the gypsy and sometimes jams in it, whereas it never does when motoring. The windlass is a Maxwell, which is one of the faster ones both up and down. I reverse slowly until sufficient chain is out for the depth, take it out of gear, let the boat stop, then motor astern at around 2000 revs for half a minute or so while checking transits. Unless it is windy, in which case I do not reverse until the anchor has set. We anchor for more than 150 nights per year, plus lunch stops, cruising around, etc. and have been following this procedure for well over ten years.
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That's what we do, spookily we even use 2000 revs, works without any problems so far anyway
 
vyv_cox said:
I always, without exception, motor the chain down, except when my wife does. The clutch on a vertical windlass is not a superb machine and not very easy to operate, the chain tends to rattle about when approaching the gypsy and sometimes jams in it, whereas it never does when motoring. The windlass is a Maxwell, which is one of the faster ones both up and down. I reverse slowly until sufficient chain is out for the depth, take it out of gear, let the boat stop, then motor astern at around 2000 revs for half a minute or so while checking transits. Unless it is windy, in which case I do not reverse until the anchor has set. We anchor for more than 150 nights per year, plus lunch stops, cruising around, etc. and have been following this procedure for well over ten years.
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We have a sailing yacht, and try to anchor under sail whenever possible.:D
 
vyv_cox said:
I really hate it when amateurs drag down on us in the middle of the night.:D
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I don't care if they're amateurs or not, it's boats dragging that I don't like.

It may be that I am slightly biased, as I used to have a large vessel, where it would have been impossible to handle the chain. The hydraulic anchor winch could only wind in under power. Letting out was controlled with the brake.
 
jordanbasset said:
Love to see you do that when reversing back to tie stern to a quay, I'd pay to watch:D
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I must admit that this is a problem that has exercised my mind on many sleepless nights.

So far the only thing that I have come up with is to 'hand out' the anchor to the bottom plus a bit, then tighten the winch clutch a bit to get a smallish amount of friction, then motor back.

If there's a better solution, I'm all ears.
 
I have read with great interest all the above thread, and I'm happy say have learnt quite a lot for my own furure use. Thank you, one and all.
I am not an newbie/amateur but have not had a huge amount of experience of anchoring due to where I've sailed etc. But what I'd like to add (aimed at all those who have the luxury of a windless, and to those who say impossible to drop by hand etc) is "machinery can/does fail".
I started sailing in St Mawes and our boat was moored in the crowded Percuil River. If the engine failed (which it did frequently until we replaced it) when approaching the mooring then there was no second chance. Therfore, I learnt from very early on not to trust it and to "sail on" every time. I adopted the attitude that there should ALWAYS be a Plan B as far as mechinery is concerned and therefore on my Javelin30 which has no windlass, and granted a smallish anchor, I am happy to drop & haul by muscle-power ( A BIG effort at times).
My point is, what Plan B do those of you who "use the button" etc etc have regarding windlass failure (mechanical and/or electrical)?
 
Robert Wilson said:
Very true! And nice to have a windlass - I wonder how many more years my back, leg and arm muscles will cope?!!!:(
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Your location probably has a lot to do with it. Jordanbasset and myself sail in Greece, where for stern-to berthing we lay out 40 metres of chain and recover it, possibly several times per day, in addition to free anchoring at other times. I could recover this tackle by hand if forced but it would be pretty much impossible to continue that style of anchoring without a windlass. Fortunately, a decent windlass and the electrical equipment to power it is reliable. My original windlass has been used in this way for more than 10 years and still works perfectly.
 
vyv_cox said:
Your location probably has a lot to do with it. Jordanbasset and myself sail in Greece, where for stern-to berthing we lay out 40 metres of chain and recover it, possibly several times per day, in addition to free anchoring at other times. I could recover this tackle by hand if forced but it would be pretty much impossible to continue that style of anchoring without a windlass. Fortunately, a decent windlass and the electrical equipment to power it is reliable. My original windlass has been used in this way for more than 10 years and still works perfectly.
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Nice.
As for stern-to berthing - well, I've not tried that for a long time. Fortunately up here we have a lot of space :D but not many marinas to make a cock-up in!
 
vyv_cox said:
I always, without exception, motor the chain down, except when my wife does. The clutch on a vertical windlass is not a superb machine and not very easy to operate, the chain tends to rattle about when approaching the gypsy and sometimes jams in it, whereas it never does when motoring. The windlass is a Maxwell, which is one of the faster ones both up and down. I reverse slowly until sufficient chain is out for the depth, take it out of gear, let the boat stop, then motor astern at around 2000 revs for half a minute or so while checking transits. Unless it is windy, in which case I do not reverse until the anchor has set. We anchor for more than 150 nights per year, plus lunch stops, cruising around, etc. and have been following this procedure for well over ten years.
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+1

The clutch on a Lewmar vertical windlass (like mine) is carp. 15 meters of 12 mm chain plus a 100 pound anchor weigh nearly 100kg. So button down for control.

Only difference in my technique is I back down, slowly increasing revs, to set the anchor while scope is still maybe 3;1, then let out more chain to final scope, then back down with full revs for a couple of minutes to "proof test" the holding. Also good for the engine to blow out the carbon after futzing around at low revs, anchoring.


Setting anchor under sail, if you have working mechanical propulsion, seems kind of irresponsible to me. Please don't anchor upwind of me using that technique :)
 
jordanbasset said:
Let it free fall down and winch up manually or if windlass knackered altogether by hand. But see no point in doing it when I don't need to. Nice to have an easy question to answer
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If you've got a bunch of 12mm chain out and your windlass fails, you've got a problem. Manhandle it on board, if you've got crew with strong enough backs, or bend on a line and drag it on board along a side deck using a sheet winch. Would be a b*tech in rough weather.

If it fails and your chain is on board, then use the Fortress kedge with rope rode, instead of main bower anchor.
 
Reading the posts i have just been reminded of a friends method of 'digging in' the anchor using the clutch or button which has the result of effectively stopping the boat before easing it off to proceed to the stern-to mooring. If you are good the idea is to have the chain put under a fraction of tension enough that would challenge the anchors holding power and carry on to ease it. I always said to him why do it so close to other boats ? He was sometimes just 6 feet off the dock.

Have you heard of or doing this ? He is an RYA instructor after all.
 
Well if using the button down is being a "lemon", then I'm a lemon.

We use the button down, I say we, but I'm the skipper, and I'm usually up the front as I know where I want to set the anchor and I can control that from the bow with my wife following my hand directions on the helm. We also keep the anchor in the locker so it needs to be lifted out (which my wife can do) and I have a better build for lifting anchors.

I know when the anchor touches the bottom as it releases air trapped under the flukes without fail, I also know the height from below the keel to the bow roller, add that to the depth and I know when the anchor should touch. My wife will have been letting me know the depths so I know how much to chain to let out.

Anchoring is always a planned, controlled process. My wife can handle the boat well and there is never any need to rush, the windlass will let out the chain fast enough for our needs, and I can keep myself, clothes and most importantly fingers away from all moving parts. So there's no hurry whether it's blowing 3 knots or 30, or the tide is running or not.
 
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