webcraft
Well-known member
Just back from a two week trip up to Stornoway for the Hebridean Festival of Sail (highly recommended) and return via Uist & North Skye.
Skye coincided with the Talisker meeting of the Classic Malts cruise. Coming down the W. coast of Skye we met an endless procession of yachts coming out of Loch Harport on the Friday.
Soay Harbour is a tiny little anchorage - maybe room for four or five yachts max. We were the fourth to anchor, then two more came in. We decided to leave after hearing the 17.00 MSI broadcast and make a few extra miles S. to Rum to leave a shorter thrash to windward round Ardnamurchan on Saturday. On the way out we saw another four boats heading for Soay.
On Saturday we left Rum early and got to Tobermory by 3 o'clock. Just managed to grab the last mooring buoy under the noses of three faster yachts who didn't know about these particular two buoys, in a different area of the harbour to all the others (local knowledge is a wonderful thing . . .)
We had been quite prepared to anchor in Tobermory if necessary, but soon became very glad we hadn't as the anchorage filled up . . . then the spaces between the anchorees filled up, then the tiny spaces between them. We saw boats actually touching in a flat calm. During the night it blew maybe force 2 in the bay and from reports we received in the morning boats swung and bumped into each other all over the place. The response of most skippers apparently was to put fenders out and go back to bed. If a real blow had got up then no doubt many people would have had an expensive night.
(Not to mention the 40 footer I saw pick up a private small craft mooring suitable for a boat of maybe 20ft, or the yacht that moored to one of the fairway buoys).
So - what's to be done if you are safely anchored and clowns come in and anchor far too close. Good seamanship dictates you clear out and find somewhere safe, spending the night at sea if all else fails. The temptation is to tell them to 'sling their hook' (or rather to sling it elsewhere) - but this would only lead to 'anchor rage'. The most irritating thing is that the late arrivals usually tender off to the pub at a rate of knots as soon as their anchor hits the kelp, with no apparent check of their anchor's security, leaving you to keep watch in case they swing or drag onto you.
The fact that this is now happening in the wilds of Scotland suggests that you guys in the Solent must have been experiencing this for years . . . so how do you deal with it?
- Nick
<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>
Skye coincided with the Talisker meeting of the Classic Malts cruise. Coming down the W. coast of Skye we met an endless procession of yachts coming out of Loch Harport on the Friday.
Soay Harbour is a tiny little anchorage - maybe room for four or five yachts max. We were the fourth to anchor, then two more came in. We decided to leave after hearing the 17.00 MSI broadcast and make a few extra miles S. to Rum to leave a shorter thrash to windward round Ardnamurchan on Saturday. On the way out we saw another four boats heading for Soay.
On Saturday we left Rum early and got to Tobermory by 3 o'clock. Just managed to grab the last mooring buoy under the noses of three faster yachts who didn't know about these particular two buoys, in a different area of the harbour to all the others (local knowledge is a wonderful thing . . .)
We had been quite prepared to anchor in Tobermory if necessary, but soon became very glad we hadn't as the anchorage filled up . . . then the spaces between the anchorees filled up, then the tiny spaces between them. We saw boats actually touching in a flat calm. During the night it blew maybe force 2 in the bay and from reports we received in the morning boats swung and bumped into each other all over the place. The response of most skippers apparently was to put fenders out and go back to bed. If a real blow had got up then no doubt many people would have had an expensive night.
(Not to mention the 40 footer I saw pick up a private small craft mooring suitable for a boat of maybe 20ft, or the yacht that moored to one of the fairway buoys).
So - what's to be done if you are safely anchored and clowns come in and anchor far too close. Good seamanship dictates you clear out and find somewhere safe, spending the night at sea if all else fails. The temptation is to tell them to 'sling their hook' (or rather to sling it elsewhere) - but this would only lead to 'anchor rage'. The most irritating thing is that the late arrivals usually tender off to the pub at a rate of knots as soon as their anchor hits the kelp, with no apparent check of their anchor's security, leaving you to keep watch in case they swing or drag onto you.
The fact that this is now happening in the wilds of Scotland suggests that you guys in the Solent must have been experiencing this for years . . . so how do you deal with it?
- Nick
<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>
