Anchor Watches

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BlueSkyNick

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What is the general consensus on having somebody on watch while anchored overnight?

If not, how often should somebody be getting up to check that all is well?

The obvious answer is that it depends on the conditions, location etc, so how do these affect your plan?
 
I have to admit to my first two ever nights at anchor - and slept through till dawn when I got up to turn the anchor light off before going back to bed!!
 
MoodyNick said:
What is the general consensus on having somebody on watch while anchored overnight?

If not, how often should somebody be getting up to check that all is well?

The obvious answer is that it depends on the conditions, location etc, so how do these affect your plan?
Click to expand...

I just sleep.
But I've never had to anchor in dodgy conditions, I've always made it back to a harbour in that instance.
 
I suggest the big qestions have to be: what tidal / wind pressures will occur overnight, and what are the consquences of dragging? It's a given that you try to find a spot with the least exposure to these strains.

I learnt my less on some years ago when anchoring with too short a rode in the Orwell vs the tidal height and strength of the stream - I woke in daylight when hearing a clonk on the hull (thought it was friends coming alongside) rose lugubriously on deck to find myself half way down the shipping channel - and no "not under command" signs showing either! The clonk was me hitting the last moored boat on the trot before entering deep water!

I now make every effort to use a mooring in such conditions.

Failing all else, you have to at least set the alarm for when the tide turns to ensure she settles well to the new stream.

PWG
 
Same principle as deciding whether to reef. If I find myself thinking about whether I should or not, then that's a signal I ought to do it.

Easy to catch up on lost sleep - not so easy to replace a well-loved boat!
 
No anchor watch in general - I used to set the alarm to wake me every 2 hours for a look round, then the intervals got longer as I got used to it, until I didnt bother with the alarm. First few times I would spend about an hour making sure all was well. Eventually, I was OK with a quick look though the windows to check the transits.

However, there were a few nights when I woke to windy winds and choppy seas, with boats dragging around me. On these occasions, I stayed up for the rest of the night.

Havent done it in tidal waters but would probably get up for the turn of the tide, and ensure that she was set before turning in again.

GPS anchor alarm is mainly useless as it is too quiet, and goes off when the plotter thinks we have moved, when we havent.
 
Only once have I stood an anchor watch. SW gale anchored off Barry Roads in a 130' schooner. She was rolling her decks under at times and plunging about like a pony. Not a much sleep that night.

SWMBO usually sets the anchor alarm on the GPS, but all chain rode, veered 3+ x the depth of water and good holding mean peaceful nights. Though I may wake up and have a look round whilst having a pee.

Why trust some unknown mooring??? Anchoring is just about the simplest way of stopping a boat, with the minimum number of components to go wrong.
 
michael_w said:
Why trust some unknown mooring??? Anchoring is just about the simplest way of stopping a boat, with the minimum number of components to go wrong.
Click to expand...

exactly my thoughts.

Admittedly we have never anchored in hairy conditions. But the few nights it has been rough, I have not been able to sleep very well anyhow, so I have just got up and looked around. Usually it all sounds much worse down below...
 
Used to worry us a lot in trhe early days and had an anchor watch in place. 4 hours on 4 hours off. These days don't bother but well there always is a but we don't anchor if the conditions are going to get bad unless we are way up river like the Fal. If the anchor has set well during daylight and we are OK then it should be OK overnight with plenty of chain out.
 
Why bother with an anchor watch?

Most of my anchoring recently has been aboard charter boats, so I don't have much of an opportunity to "test" the anchoring arrangements. If I have any doubt about the situation, I put out the second anchor in a forked (say 45-60 degree) moor.
It is a bit more work - especially retrieving - but I sleep well, and don't need to bother with the anchor watch (although I'll leave the anchor alarm on the GPS if there is one).
 
If the anchorage is tight or has hazards on entrance/exit and the weather is even slightly unsettled, then I always like to have a pre-worked plan to get the **** out of there if it becomes untenable in the middle of the night. That helps me to sleep! The motion of the boat will usually (!) wake me if something changes but I will set an alarm for a tide change if in a strong stream.
 
Someone once asked...

...How do I know if my anchor is big enough for my boat? On of the (only slightly) tongue in cheek replies was, "When it's so big, everyone else in the Marina is laughing at it.

Since, on that basis, I have adequate tackle and I tend to be risk averse with my choice of anchorage, I sleep soundly, even through changes of tide. OTOH, if I wasn't happy with the holding or it was blowing enough to cause concern, I'd set the GPS anchor watch. I'd also, as a fully paid up pessimist and worrier, be awake, looking out of the window at least every five minutes, and grumpy as hell the next day :(
 
At night we set a halyard that is tight enough not to slat in the prevailing conditions but loose enough to slat if the wind picks up. Needs a bit of practice but you can do that during daytime.
 
In 35 years of coastal cruising, including skippering a charter yacht in windy areas, I have never set an anchor watch. I do however carry and use anchors and chain that attracts attention and comments about their large size from people who are marina based. If woken by the wind or motion I stick my head out of the forehatch to see what is happening. Always sleep in the forecabin at anchor as more motion / chain noise and am a light sleeper.

If a really bad blow is forecast I also try to get somewhere that I can run a shore line in addition to my anchors (OK not on the S coast of England, but I only go there to buy boats then get away again as quickly as possible)

Basically, do whatever makes you feel safe and comfortable, and make sure your ground tackle is more than capable for the conditions.
 
Like most I decide what to do according to the circumstances and who is near me. I always used to get up for the turn of the tide in Salcombe and remeber watching a cattamaran drift of down tide one night as his anchor failed to reset.

I do remember the most extreme version of anchor watches in one of Her Majesties Submarines we actually spent almost 24 hours in full seagoing watches between two buoys in Loch Goil as a rather nasty gale blew through.
 
In Frikes, a couple of years ago, an F8 was forecast. The tackle on the charter boat was substantial and well up to the job (stern to with 4 stern lines out). Unfortunately, the Russian boat beside us had a rope rode and as the wind got up, they drifted down towards us. It wasn't 'til they were about 10ft away that a combination of shouting and our frantically waving torchlight woke them. A semi naked, yawning chap eventually emerged, took one look at the gap and snapped into action as if he'd been zapped with a cattle prod. Lots of shouting, several more chaps emerged to help, they wound in some line.

Then went back to bed!

Needless to say, I set an anchor watch - theirs not ours.
 
Bit rocky in Frikes, best off alongside the wall or alongside the far wall, but I have got the hook to set & used the remains of the concrete pontoons as 'lines ashore'
Can end up with some amazing rafts there, 8 deep on me, 7 deep on the boat behind, had to tie the ends of the raft to stop em waving around too much.
 
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