Anchor rode in channel

[Dutch01527]

I am newish to the channel and planning my summer adventures and could use some advice. 29 foot, medium displacement sail boat.

If I wanted to anchor off a port such as Porlock for a night my calculation of minimum chain rode required could be 3 depth meters plus 1 meter bow height plus 10 meters tide = 14 meters. Using a 4x rode calculation that is 56 meters of chain and a 112 meters swing diameter. The length of a football field swing. 50m of chain is heavy and manual retrieval would be fun. A rope / chain rode would need to be even longer of course.

Is that just the way it is? What do you use?

 

[steveej]

Whenever I used to stop there it was on my 22 footer. When kitting the boat out I decided I couldn't carry all chain so opted for 15m chain spliced to 55m 3 strand nylon - 70m total at a scope of 5:1 gave a maximum of 14m depth which would allow me to park in 4m at LW and stay over a full tide.

Have done it at least 4 times in the mud patch I found off Porlock no problem, but I've always gone ashore to the pub and so for piece of mind I also used to lay my kedge to seaward from the dinghy. I had to get the dinghy out anyway to get ashore. The kedge was 10m chain and 40m 3 strand nylon. Just tie the end of the rode to the boat, run the cable out into the dinghy so it feeds off the top of the pile when you row it out to stop it getting tangled, row out until there is none left and then chuck the anchor over the side. Retrievel is easy, just haul yourself whilst in the dinghy along the line and up pops the anchor. Place anchor in the dinghy then use the line to pull yourself back to the yacht. Actually quite good fun.

Main anchor was a 10kg Lewmar delta (so a couple of sizes bigger for the length of yacht) and Kedge was a 6kg delta copy. Never budged. I was speaking to the harbor master and he reckons if you get close in there is not that much tidal stream in the bay. I would concur on the basis every time I go there the boat seems to lie to the wind direction regardless of what the tide is doing even on springs.

Another trick for piece of mind if you are ashore is that I used to create a small transit out of stacked pebbles on the grass by the car park so that I set up a transit line with the boat to check it wasn't dragging whilst in the pub. Give it a quick check for between the first few rounds.

And whatever you do, don't forget to set your anchor light or you'll have a hell of a job finding your way back to the yacht!

 

[steveej]

oh and another top tip. If you take the dinghy ashore it is best to land to the right hand side (north) of the channel into the drying harbor.

The left hand side has wired mesh that looks like it was put in place to hold the boulders together. It's smashed to bits, rusty and ready to puncture the dinghy.

 

[wotayottie]

I am newish to the channel and planning my summer adventures and could use some advice. 29 foot, medium displacement sail boat.

If I wanted to anchor off a port such as Porlock for a night my calculation of minimum chain rode required could be 3 depth meters plus 1 meter bow height plus 10 meters tide = 14 meters. Using a 4x rode calculation that is 56 meters of chain and a 112 meters swing diameter. The length of a football field swing. 50m of chain is heavy and manual retrieval would be fun. A rope / chain rode would need to be even longer of course.

Is that just the way it is? What do you use?

You are rather assuming that you arrive at the top of the tide and stay there for 12 hours and whats more on a full spring tide . Unlikely. But if you did you probably wouldnt want a 4 times rode anyway - the anchorage there is exposed and in the weather than required everything out, you wouldnt be at Porlock.

So yes your calculations are correct in theory but not realistic in practise. You get round the issue by carrying a long length of 3 strand nylon just in case you get stuck with engine failure and the weather does worsen unexpectedly.

I've always found that Lundy and Oxwich apart, anchoring in the Britol channel is more of a lunchtime activity

 

[steveej]

if you get there at low water and want to leave at high water to catch the next tide west that is 6 hours and the same length of rode needed especially if you plan to go ashore - I certainly would.

I always planned for worst case scenario and a full tide is worst case scenario, plus a back up line. Might be overkill for lots of people but then again lots of people scared to leave the marina.

I had a teeny weenie boat with good ground tackle so was never that scared and every time I anchored in the bay I was the only boat there.

Good anchoring gear allowed me to leave watchet just before the gate shut, go and anchor in blue anchor roads (where there is loads of tide), go fishing at anchor for 3 hours then catch the flood back to Cardiff.

When I go to Porthcawl, you leave Cardiff on the ebb but need to anchor for at least 3 hours for enough water to get in.

Good anchoring gear is a must for the upper Bristol channel for weekend sailing.

 

[Dutch01527]

You are rather assuming that you arrive at the top of the tide and stay there for 12 hours and whats more on a full spring tide . Unlikely. But if you did you probably wouldnt want a 4 times rode anyway - the anchorage there is exposed and in the weather than required everything out, you wouldnt be at Porlock.

I was assuming arriving near low water having sailed West with the tide. Leaving c.12 hours later after an overnight stay sailing East with the tide. Obviously wind strength / direction would need to be reasonable.

 

[jwilson]

In Bristol Channel (and I've been most places there between Bristol and Irish/Celtic Seas) most anchorages are sand or mud: Danforth types were the best anchor with a little bit of chain and a LOT of nylon warp, with extra for really deep anchoring.

Backup anchor was a Fisherman, which I mostly used in shingle off Porlock or in rock around Pembrokeshire islands: never found a patch of mud off Porlock, but I tried to avoid anchoring there for long, going in as soon as there was enough water.

Curious thing - several times anchoring in really deep areas to avoid drifting the wrong way with the tide, very long anchor warp took up a huge catenary curve, warp going AFT from bow despite a significant bow-wave from boat very definitely stationary in tide.

 

[steveej]

You are rather assuming that you arrive at the top of the tide and stay there for 12 hours and whats more on a full spring tide . Unlikely. But if you did you probably wouldnt want a 4 times rode anyway - the anchorage there is exposed and in the weather than required everything out, you wouldnt be at Porlock.

I was assuming arriving near low water having sailed West with the tide. Leaving c.12 hours later after an overnight stay sailing East with the tide. Obviously wind strength / direction would need to be reasonable.

As long as winds are light and there is no north in them, it will be fine. Take a few bearings with a handheld compass on shoreside landmarks before you go ashore so you know your not dragging, write them in a notebook and keep taking them over the course of 15 to 20 mins (if you are dragging then the bearings will change) whilst you are pumping the dinghy up. When you go to sleep set an anchor alarm. You can even download an 'app' on a smart phone or tablet for this.

 

[wotayottie]

You are rather assuming that you arrive at the top of the tide and stay there for 12 hours and whats more on a full spring tide . Unlikely. But if you did you probably wouldnt want a 4 times rode anyway - the anchorage there is exposed and in the weather than required everything out, you wouldnt be at Porlock.

I was assuming arriving near low water having sailed West with the tide. Leaving c.12 hours later after an overnight stay sailing East with the tide. Obviously wind strength / direction would need to be reasonable.

I've anchored a few times off Porlock over the years but never overnight, and I dont think I would want to do so. Its too exposed and the ground isnt that good - in some spots its real easy to get your anchor fouled with small boulders. Not only that but with shelving ground to the landward side you would need to be a reasonable distance offshore in case you swung landward whilst asleep. That in turn would mean more rode.

Is it no longer possible to go inside Porlock? I used to do that frequently when my boat was the same size as yours. Decent pub ( or was) and pleasant walks. There is / used to be a pool in which fins stayed upright.

I might be being overcautious but I dont fancy anchoring off Porlock overnight

 

[steveej]

I have the coordinates for a mud patch about 500m off the beach, so longish dinghy ride.

It is still possible to go into the drying harbour with bilge keels. Smallish fins can go into the pool which I believe has around 5ft of water in it according the harbor master.

Biggest problem is the logistics coming from Cardiff. By the time you get there the water has gone so you need to wait 6 hours to get in. Then when you want to go home or head back east, you have to wait for HW to get out and then wait 6 hours at anchor to catch the flood back east. So your spending at east 12 hours at anchor over the weekend.

My preferred way to visit Porlock is to leave Cardiff HW in the morning get to Porlock for a pub lunch and a few hours ashore then catch the flood back to Watchet. Overnight there and back to Cardiff the following day.

 

[steveej]

I have the coordinates for a mud patch about 500m off the beach, so longish dinghy ride.

It is still possible to go into the drying harbour with bilge keels. Smallish fins can go into the pool which I believe has around 5ft of water in it according the harbor master.

Biggest problem is the logistics coming from Cardiff. By the time you get there the water has gone so you need to wait 6 hours to get in. Then when you want to go home or head back east, you have to wait for HW to get out and then wait 6 hours at anchor to catch the flood back east. So your spending at east 12 hours at anchor over the weekend.

My preferred way to visit Porlock is to leave Cardiff HW in the morning get to Porlock for a pub lunch and a few hours ashore then catch the flood back to Watchet. Overnight there and back to Cardiff the following day.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I've anchored a few times off Porlock over the years but never overnight, and I dont think I would want to do so. Its too exposed and the ground isnt that good - in some spots its real easy to get your anchor fouled with small boulders. Not only that but with shelving ground to the landward side you would need to be a reasonable distance offshore in case you swung landward whilst asleep. That in turn would mean more rode.

Is it no longer possible to go inside Porlock? I used to do that frequently when my boat was the same size as yours. Decent pub ( or was) and pleasant walks. There is / used to be a pool in which fins stayed upright. I might be being overcautious but I dont fancy anchoring off Porlock overnight

The anchoring in Porlock Bay is poor, and my anchor Bruce did not hold well except at eastern end of bay by the shingle. My Manson Supreme holds ok nearer the harbour but I wouldn't leave it unattended. But if you can dry you can get into Porlock, just speak to the Harbour Master and there might be space in the small pool for fins. I only anchor regularly overnight on the English side in Blue Anchor or inside the grounds in Woodspring and any decent anchor should hold in the mud there without issues. Anchorages such as Oxwich or Mumbles on the welsh side are fairly sheltered in most winds and pleasant overnight stopovers. But as another has said leave your anchor light on if rowing ashore - I had a nasty moment in a pitch black night trying to find our craft off Lundy.

The rise and fall is 7 to 8 metres except at top of channel and assuming you want 3 m at low tide, then 30m chain should do in most circumstances. I use 50m but sometime want to sit out storms in The Scillies. As most of the effect of chain weight is near the anchor, 30m chain plus 20 or 30m of rope is not a bad compromise. (8mm chain plus maybe 14mm warp for a 5 ton boat, and smaller chain and rope for smaller boat)

 

[Graham_Wright]

My first experience of katabatic winds. They won and we upped and offed!

 

[harry potter]

Whenever I used to stop there it was on my 22 footer. When kitting the boat out I decided I couldn't carry all chain so opted for 15m chain spliced to 55m 3 strand nylon - 70m total at a scope of 5:1 gave a maximum of 14m depth which would allow me to park in 4m at LW and stay over a full tide.

Have done it at least 4 times in the mud patch I found off Porlock no problem, but I've always gone ashore to the pub and so for piece of mind I also used to lay my kedge to seaward from the dinghy. I had to get the dinghy out anyway to get ashore. The kedge was 10m chain and 40m 3 strand nylon. Just tie the end of the rode to the boat, run the cable out into the dinghy so it feeds off the top of the pile when you row it out to stop it getting tangled, row out until there is none left and then chuck the anchor over the side. Retrievel is easy, just haul yourself whilst in the dinghy along the line and up pops the anchor. Place anchor in the dinghy then use the line to pull yourself back to the yacht. Actually quite good fun.

Main anchor was a 10kg Lewmar delta (so a couple of sizes bigger for the length of yacht) and Kedge was a 6kg delta copy. Never budged. I was speaking to the harbor master and he reckons if you get close in there is not that much tidal stream in the bay. I would concur on the basis every time I go there the boat seems to lie to the wind direction regardless of what the tide is doing even on springs.

Another trick for piece of mind if you are ashore is that I used to create a small transit out of stacked pebbles on the grass by the car park so that I set up a transit line with the boat to check it wasn't dragging whilst in the pub. Give it a quick check for between the first few rounds.

And whatever you do, don't forget to set your anchor light or you'll have a hell of a job finding your way back to the yacht!

Really enjoyed reading this. Who needs TV?

 

[SlimRick]

Porlock is the only overnighter on the Bristol Channel where I've dragged anchor - maybe I was in an unlucky spot but it put me off going there again. Tenby on the other hand, I managed to find a very heavy cable with my anchor - we weren't going anywhere!

 

[nemodreams]

I've always used a 10 kg delta - with 10m 8mm chain + 70 m 14 plait spliced on. Holds fine - 22 ' I keep the original cqr - 25m 1/4 chain and a spare 70 m 12mm plait for a kedge or spare. That weight can go low in a locker. Kedge plait is separate and flaked in the base of the cockpoit locker. If I set a kedge I just use plait and anchor.

Never dragged - even in 6 + at blue anchor a few times ! Never overnighted at porlock.