Anchoring advice please

[[3889]]

Using a plough and a claw in firm sand, am I best to lay both anchors from the bow (45 deg apart I have been advised) or lay a kedge anchor from the stern and t'other from the bow, effectivly holding the boat in one position. This is the kit I have so no alternatives are possible. There is no limit on swinging room.
Thanks
Andy

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[bruce]

thee is no set rule, just what ever works for what you have, the only suggestion would be to have as much chain as hull length, and thats only my thoughts, and some others... best of luck..

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[Talbot]

really depends on a lot of factors that you have not included. If there is lots of swinging room, and you are staying for some time, then I would only anchor from the bow. Use of a twin anchor at 45 deg will also reduce the swinging circle, but are likely to drag at different rates, and this would cause a real problem over time. If you really feel that two anchors are needed for a secure mooring over time, you would probably be best advised to use both anchors in tandem i.e. one anchor connected to the other by abt 3-4m of chain, but dont expect this to be easy to recover!

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[Benbow]

The former, (almost) never the latter. If you want to hold the boat in one place, eg if anchoring in a very strong and reversing tidal stream, then lay one upstrem and one downstream but both warps should be connected to each other with a short lead from the join over the bow. But in most cases 45 degrees apart off the bow is a good way to do it.

If you stop the boat from swinging you are likely to drag.

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[AndrewB]

Bahamian mooring.

Both from the bow. This method is used for holding position when on a long scope. For this reason it is typically used with rope rodes, rarely chain. In the UK this method is useful particularly in a tideway, normally placing the two anchors at 180 degrees to one another, one ahead, one behind the yacht. The two anchors should be attached to a common line by a swivel, which is then attached to the yacht. If you use separate rodes back to the bow, the yacht is likely to swing around on change of tide tangling them and making quick recovery difficult.

It is normally inadvisable to moor from anchors secured at bow and aft, this will almost certainly cause one to drag if the wind or current comes on the beam.

 

[flaming]

Have you considered getting a short (5-10m) length of chain and shackling the claw to the crown of the plough with this short length of chain. In this way you only have one chain coming over the bow, so no issues of having the two anchors drag into each other, or twisting together as the boat swings. Only real downside is having to lean out over the bow to pull the second anchor back on board when you recover the anchors.

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[charles_reed]

Anchoring in a cala

Fore and aft anchoring is commonplace in the Med. It's frequently used to bring a boat head-on to referred swell, in tidal waters. but seldom used except on an attended boat.

If you're laying a permanaent mooring neither of your proposals are advisable.

Two anchors, preferably spade-type (your grapnel is well-nigh useless in the scenario posited), upstream and downstream, connected by a heavy chain with a central swivel riser to a stout buoy with a pickup attached to the top of the riser would be the simple answer.

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[markdj]

Re: Anchoring in a cala

We use a Bruce anchor at the bow with 70metres of 10mm chain coupled with a kedge anchor (danforth) onto a 3strand warp for the stern. We only use the kedge when there is a heavy swell and we usually put the stern into the waves to reduce slapping from the planing hull. Any time we have done this we have never dragged our anchor and get a good night's sleep too. Sark in the Channel Islands was a prime example of a heavy swell when we used the kedge many times.

To be honest, the only time we have dragged the anchor was when we were not sure that it caught in after putting out the chain. After putting out 3-4 times the depth of water, in chain we reverse and I put my foot on the chain and feel the vibrations til the anchor catches. The chain normally goes taut out at a shallow angle and then we know it's dug in.

Hope this helps



MarkDJ

<hr width=100% size=1>Princess Owners Club
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[Benbow]

Re: Anchoring in a cala

Yes the special case in the med was what I had in mind when I said (almost).

I assume you mean unattended !

We are not discussing a permenant mooring are we ? If so then of course the situation is completely different.

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[[3889]]

Many thanks for advice. Planning to leave boat unattended for 24 hrs or so so a permanent mooring is not needed. I will go with the short length of line to a swivel idea.
Regards
Andy

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