Anchor setting technique

[PEJ]

I was watching a video on setting and anchor and the bloke dropped his anchor, backed off whilst letting out chain off the windlass and got his desired length of rode out. He snubbed the chain off and then put it in reverse, idle speed, until the rode was tensioned and showed how the anchor was dug in because with the engines in reverse idle the boat was not moving.

Is that the right way? Do you keep reversing in idle until you stop moving with all the scope out?

I have usually let about half out whilst backing off, go in to neutral and drift back, wait until you feel the tension and usually see the bow drop a little and taken that to be the anchor setting and the let out the rest of the scope whilst backing up.

He also mentioned a quick thrust to make sure it set if necessary.

How how do you chaps make sure your anchor has dug in?

 

[andy59]

Always lay out approx 5x depth of chain and then gently astern until chain comes out of the water , once boat stops , both engines astern to get the hook fully dug in , never had any problems using this method ( delta anchor ).

 

[Hurricane]

I can't really help - I think most people find their own ways of doing things.
For me, I find that the engines are too powerful on our boats to use them hard in reverse.
I make sure that there is more chain out than is required and get the boat moving backwards under its own momentum - a good deliberate movement until you feel it take.
Maybe a little nudge in reverse to check that it has taken but never fully in reverse.
Then wind some chain in for the length you would like.
Just wacking the engines in reverse and the anchor will just pop out.
Especially with the standard small Delta anchors that are fitted to most of our boats.
Our boats are just too powerful to to as you saw in the video.
I think your technique is as good as you will get it.

Now that we have a bigger (Rocna) anchor and a heavier chain, anchoring has been way easier than before.
Do you still have the Princess standard configuration?

BTW
Here is a video taken by MapisM of MYAG's old Sunseeker anchoring - with crew.

 

[petem]

Has MYAG got a new boat?

 

[BruceK]

Tbh I find the best way is what every one says is the worst. I drop the required length of chain and then back off gently until the chain rises and the bow dips. The supposedly proper way of going astern and laying chain out as you go....well observation in my waters show a lot of anchor drag before it sets and in a tight anchorage that will not do. I suspect laying it out like that you invariably go faster than the winch and catenary holding the shank off the sea floor. It works for me and worked for others who have asked for assistance after failing several times to do it the orthodox way.
As for too much power a stern trying to set it.... you just end up raising the shank an unsetting the anchor. If the chain tightens out, the hook is in, no need for a piledriver. You wouldn't do it to your cleats, why would you to your ground tackle.

 

[PEJ]

Our boats are just too powerful to to as you saw in the video.

Yes, that is what I thought. 2000HP would just keep pulling it along.

Do you still have the Princess standard configuration?

Yes, I assume so.

 

[PEJ]

Tbh I find the best way is what every one says is the worst. I drop the required length of chain and then back off gently until the chain rises and the bow dips. The supposedly proper way of going astern and laying chain out as you go....well observation in my waters show a lot of anchor drag before it sets and in a tight anchorage that will not do. I suspect laying it out like that you invariably go faster than the winch and catenary holding the shank off the sea floor. It works for me and worked for others who have asked for assistance after failing several times to do it the orthodox way.
As for too much power a stern trying to set it.... you just end up raising the shank an unsetting the anchor. If the chain tightens out, the hook is in, no need for a piledriver. You wouldn't do it to your cleats, why would you to your ground tackle.

Yes, I read this in another thread when searching on here. Interesting. Perceived wisdom is that you tangle your chains up.

 

[oceanfroggie]

I was watching a video on setting and anchor and the bloke dropped his anchor, backed off whilst letting out chain off the windlass and got his desired length of rode out. He snubbed the chain off and then put it in reverse, idle speed, until the rode was tensioned and showed how the anchor was dug in because with the engines in reverse idle the boat was not moving.

Is that the right way? Do you keep reversing in idle until you stop moving with all the scope out?

I have usually let about half out whilst backing off, go in to neutral and drift back, wait until you feel the tension and usually see the bow drop a little and taken that to be the anchor setting and the let out the rest of the scope whilst backing up.

He also mentioned a quick thrust to make sure it set if necessary.

How how do you chaps make sure your anchor has dug in?

Hi Peter.

Depends on the weather. For overnight stay if there is a possibility of a breeze developing overnight, a similar technique to the bloke with a small modification.

When backing off I toggle between neutral and idle until tension is gradually established. Then a few seconds reverse in idle, chain tensions and when neutral again boat pulls forward a bit under weight of chain, then a few seconds again in reverse to repeat. Finally take up the tension once more and then leave in reverse idle for a time checking either transits or GPS that she is not moving and properly dug in. Reason for above is to allow the anchor to be dug in somewhat before trying continuous reverse which could snatch and half pull it out. If she won't stay put in idle reverse then IMHO its not good enough for an overnight stay. In totally settled weather in a sheltered anchorage I'm sometimes happy to just idle reverse one engine (i.e. less pull). Hope this makes sense.

Noel

 

[BruceK]

Yes, I read this in another thread when searching on here. Interesting. Perceived wisdom is that you tangle your chains up.

Well it's never happened to me. At that rate the chance is less than 1% for I must have anchored well over 100 times. You could say you have equal chance of tangling your chain in the locker. Only once has that happened to me and after a particularly nasty chop and slam for a couple hours. To loosen it, I rolled the bundle back over. I get the impression unlike rope chain just doesn't tangle up particularly easy. YMMV but sometimes I wonder if the accepted wisdom isn't based on something older or from the past and not always relevant or transpose well to our circumstances.

 

[Richard10002]

IIRC I would let the anchor go and let the chain out as the boat goes backwards with the wind, (or a bit of engine if no wind). At some point, the boat stops and I would assume the anchor has set. At this point, I would reverse slowly, and see if there was any drag. If not, I would increase revs to around 2000, (44ft yacht, rather than a motor boat). This digs the anchor in solidly, (or you go backwards at a rate of knots ), and you can sleep soundly for the night.

 

[jfm]

I never bother with all this. In good weather I read the depth and drop say 5x with a nudge in reverse for a second and leave it at that. Couldn't care less if chain is heaped on the bottom because it sorts itself out. I never pull on the anchor with engines to dig it in. It digs itself in. Or not. Never had problem with this "technique" in 20 years.

 

[noelex]

I think it is helpful to think about what is happening at the anchor end.

Ideally anchors like a nice progressive increase in force with the rode angle as low as possible. One of the critical stages is when the anchor has rotated from its drop position to its setting position and is just starting to dig in. A high force at this stage risks the anchor skidding across the seabed. A rapidly moving anchor has a difficult time starting to grab.

Having said the above, most new generation anchors in a good substrate can tolerate a lot of abuse and still manage to set well. However, it is worth practicing a good technique as it can be useful in a difficult substrate.

To achieve this ideal, the anchor should be dropped when the boat is facing into the dominant force (wind or tide) and is stationary or very slowly moving backwards. The vessel then gradually reverses laying out chain at the same speed. The idea is put no force on the anchor at this stage, but to lay out the chain reasonably straight. Once an adequate scope is reached, many skippers apply a little more force to make sure the chain is straight. The chain weight and catenary will keep the chain angle low providing the force on the anchor is also reasonably low.

Once the full scope has been reached, the force on the anchor is gradually increased over a reasonable length of time (for example 60-90 seconds). This will dig in the anchor and also provides some test of the holding ability.

The are a couple of variations. Some skippers believe there is a major benefit from allowing the anchor some time to "settle" before applying any, or much force. This does seem to help, especially in softer substrates.

 

[Richard10002]

I never bother with all this. In good weather I read the depth and drop say 5x with a nudge in reverse for a second and leave it at that. Couldn't care less if chain is heaped on the bottom because it sorts itself out. I never pull on the anchor with engines to dig it in. It digs itself in. Or not. Never had problem with this "technique" in 20 years.

You are very lucky. I woke up in a blow in Pt. Andraitx to find myself sliding backwards past boats in the anchorage.... very hard and weedy bottom there.... got out of there quick, and spent a week at Las Illetas, where the bottom was nice and sandy

 

[john_morris_uk]

Well it's never happened to me. At that rate the chance is less than 1% for I must have anchored well over 100 times. You could say you have equal chance of tangling your chain in the locker. Only once has that happened to me and after a particularly nasty chop and slam for a couple hours. To loosen it, I rolled the bundle back over. I get the impression unlike rope chain just doesn't tangle up particularly easy. YMMV but sometimes I wonder if the accepted wisdom isn't based on something older or from the past and not always relevant or transpose well to our circumstances.

It’s not a matter of the chain tangling with itself, but trying to avoid the chain landing on top of the anchor. In the days when capstans only wound in and you dropped anchor by knocking the clutch off, you could let go and watch many meters of chain disappear out of the locker at high speed and land in a heap on top of the anchor and foul it. The theory of laying it out is all to do keeping the anchor clear of the chain to let it set. At the rate most modern windlasses pay you, the boat will almost certainly have drifted off the exact spot the anchor has landed (if only by half a meter or so) as you pay out and the chain will almost certainly sort it’s self out as your experience show’s.

By the way, full power (or even half power) astern on many powerboats will break out an anchor IMHO.

 

[noelex]

This type of set/drop makes the anchor's job harder:

 

[petem]

I wonder if 'setting' the anchor by going astern with the engines just mimics what will happen naturally (but with the risk of putting strain on the boat)? I must admit, I just let the boat drift, dump a load of chain then wait for it to set of its own accord.

I suspect that in may cases, the anchor is not 'set' at all and it's the weight / friction of the chain on the seabed that is keeping the boat still.

I don't think I would want to be dragging the anchor along under power and potentially snagging it on something.

 

[Hurricane]

Yes, that is what I thought. 2000HP would just keep pulling it along.



Yes, I assume so.

At risk of dragging up an old Anchor Thread, you might like to read this one - our Anchor Upgrade.
Your installation will probably be much the same with much the same light weight anchor.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?441554-JW-s-Upgrades-for-2016-Anchoring

Note - that thread got tied up with lots of different views - the first posts from me outline my original problem and post #143 shows what I did.

The overall upgrade was a significant improvement - last year, we were holding in places where a new Princess of similar size that seemed to follow us was having problems.

IMO, the Rocna is a significant improvement over the Delta and during the upgrade, we increased the weight as well - all in all money well spent.
I can't remember if I said it on that post but we also went up a size on the windlass (actually, that was just a motor upgrade).
And that thread also mentions the upgrade of the chain - also well worth doing.

 

[vas]

final test of a good anchoring in warm waters (especially for overnighting) is to get someone (I usually send the son ) to check that the anchor has dug in.
Tried noelex tip of having a small buoy on a couple of meters of rope from the anchor to show where the thing is, useful when chaincounter is not working, but dropped the idea as it tended to wrap around the anchor and once last summer I ended up drifting at lunchtime when the wind picked up as the buoy was UNDER the anchor not letting it set. I'll try to improve this technique as I really like that.

cheers

V.

 

[Hurricane]

final test of a good anchoring in warm waters (especially for overnighting) is to get someone (I usually send the son ) to check that the anchor has dug in.
Tried noelex tip of having a small buoy on a couple of meters of rope from the anchor to show where the thing is, useful when chaincounter is not working, but dropped the idea as it tended to wrap around the anchor and once last summer I ended up drifting at lunchtime when the wind picked up as the buoy was UNDER the anchor not letting it set. I'll try to improve this technique as I really like that.

cheers

V.

We use one of these when there is danger of rocks:-
https://www.swi-tec.us/ankerundbojen/30-self-adjusting-anchor-buoy.html

Recovering is a bit of a faf so I've made a loop of floating rope so that it can easily be picked up with a boat hook.

This is their amusing little promotion video



You can just see it floating in front of us in this pic

 

[noelex]

Tried noelex tip of having a small buoy on a couple of meters of rope from the anchor to show where the thing is, useful when chaincounter is not working, but dropped the idea as it tended to wrap around the anchor and once last summer I ended up drifting at lunchtime when the wind picked up as the buoy was UNDER the anchor not letting it set.

Thanks for the report. This is a risk.

In my case the float and rope are fairly small and I don't think it has much impact on the anchor setting even if caught underneath, but your experience is interesting. If you free fall the anchor, attaching the float onto a weak clip on the pulpit (such as a clothes peg) ensures the float drops second so it remains above the anchor.

This is the idea, although the wide angle of the camera lens makes the float look larger. It is only about one and half inches long: