Anchoring in a blow?

I think most of the advice and reasoning in the link is spot on.
One big good anchor has a lot going for it.
 
...Personally successfully ridden out many a gale (through p!ss poor pr!or performance of forecasts) on shingle/sand with a Danforth. Lost that years ago 'cos it got too cqr.... Since then had a pair of CQRs since then which, to be perfectly honest, have been as effective as a bag o'sand on a string. (15 & 25lb CQR, short 3/8" chain then rode on both)

Also have a big fisherman to throw at rocks if we ever get any around here.
 
I agree with The idea of a big anchor, but I have also successfully used two anchors in 45 degree V to reduce swinging. It is true that the boat will be primarily loading one and then the other, but if they are both up to the job that is not a problem, and the shock loads associated with shearing back and forth are eliminated.
 
One (heavy) anchor or two?

Rarely mentioned, but it will depend on some degree on the nature of the holding.
I was anchored at Arisaig about eight years ago when a blow came through. Winds peaked at over 60 knots. The ground there is mainly softish mud: excellent holding but with a distinct limit. Of a dozen or so yachts at anchor, every one with one hook dragged. No boats dragged with two hooks set.

My preference with a severe blow forecast is two hooks (actually it's to be elsewhere, but not always possible :)): primary bower all-chain, the second in a vee with plenty of rope to cushion any snatching and reduce sheering.
 
I think the article is 100% correct in all assumptions. I have twice tried the two anchor V formation, once in the Ionian with 60 knots of wind, and both times watched as the bows blew off and the boat just sheered from one side to the other - only momentarily were both anchors taking any load - when the bow passed through the wind. The potential problems in setting and retrieval make the exercise best avoided and I would never repeat it. Much better, in my opinion and as the article author states, is to have a backup anchor already prepared to deploy if dragging should occur or to move position for any reason, one of which could be another boat dragging down on you (happened to me this year).

Oh, and also - very important - use a new generation anchor.
 
Many people mention a good and oversized anchor but very few mention chain or over sizing it. I would suspect that heavier longer chain can help in a big blow as much as the anchor itself. :confused:
 
Barnac1e said:
I think the article is 100% correct in all assumptions. I have twice tried the two anchor V formation, once in the Ionian with 60 knots of wind, and both times watched as the bows blew off and the boat just sheered from one side to the other - only momentarily were both anchors taking any load - when the bow passed through the wind. The potential problems in setting and retrieval make the exercise best avoided and I would never repeat it. Much better, in my opinion and as the article author states, is to have a backup anchor already prepared to deploy if dragging should occur or to move position for any reason, one of which could be another boat dragging down on you (happened to me this year).

Oh, and also - very important - use a new generation anchor.
Click to expand...

Your point is well-made, but to my mind the benefits of being able to deploy two anchors are so great that it would de wrong to avoid it as a matter of 'policy'. Obviously I don't know the precise set-up on your boat, and no doubt you've given it plenty of thought, but I'd raise the truism that any system isn't worth having unless it's quick and easy to deploy. (As someone who has sailed mainly single-handed, this is especially relevant to me).

I've never dragged with two hooks, but was set up so the second bower could be quickly ditched on a fender if needs be. (All single-handers are especially wary of dragging in wild conditions, since it's tricky to be at both ends of a boat and a cockpit windless control isn't a complete solution.)

I wonder, too, about the angle of the much-quoted 'Vee'. With one chain and one mainly rope rode, a narrower Vee makes best use of the elasticity of the latter. I've found that it's usually possible to adjust it so that it is always under tension, relieving the load on the other. Of course this could lead to problems if the wind shifts markedly...but no-one said anchoring's perfect :)

Couldn't agree more about choice of anchor. Out here you can barely walk into a bar without someone offering you one of those hinged things cheap.
 
macd said:
Your point is well-made, but to my mind the benefits of being able to deploy two anchors are so great that it would de wrong to avoid it as a matter of 'policy'.
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You are right, nothing should be rejected out of hand, what didn't work for me may do so for someone else in different conditions and with a different boat. The times I used two anchors was with a Trapper 500, which has a pronounced sheer to the bow, making it much higher than amidships and presenting a large pressure surface to weather-cock in a gale. More modern, flat sheer yachts may not react in this way. But I know I will never be owning such a craft.
Obviously I don't know the precise set-up on your boat, and no doubt you've given it plenty of thought, but I'd raise the truism that any system isn't worth having unless it's quick and easy to deploy. (As someone who has sailed mainly single-handed, this is especially relevant to me).
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My present boat (HR94) has metal eyes set into the high gunwale forward on both sides that, suitably protected, could probably provide good leads for two bower, vee'd anchors, but I really no longer can see the point. As I invariably sail single-handed too I am now very much into the KISS principle and two anchors at any one time sure ain't simple.

I've never dragged with two hooks, but was set up so the second bower could be quickly ditched on a fender if needs be. (All single-handers are especially wary of dragging in wild conditions, since it's tricky to be at both ends of a boat and a cockpit windless control isn't a complete solution.)
Click to expand...

The first time I did drag on two anchors but that was in 20cm sand over flat rock (Sv Klement Islands, south of Hvar) - any anchor would have dragged there, every other yacht was skidding around and re-anchoring all night. One French maxi ended up on the beach.

This year I just didn't have time to slip - he was down on me running his engine trying to clear me but was caught with dinghy on one side of my chain and boat on t'other - €7'200 worth of damage done - to ME. :mad:

Couldn't agree more about choice of anchor. Out here you can barely walk into a bar without someone offering you one of those hinged things cheap.
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:D My CQR is stowed along with the big Danforth as backups. Just can't bring myself to get rid of them.
 
Once, when we still has a hinged thing as the bower, we sat out winds of 50 - 60 knots hanging off 2 anchors (bower and danforth on rope). The boat moved all over the place but when coming through the wind with the greatest strain on the rodes, both anchors were taking the strain. We didn't move. But the wind remained from the same direction (as forecast!) and we had a fun hour and a half untangling the weed from the chain and rope before we could recover both anchors.

We replaced the hinged thing (with a 3rd generation anchor) this summer and by some mischance had to sit out not too dissimilar winds in the same place as we'd used 2 anchors before. In some trepidation, we rigged the kedge (Guardian G23) but didn't deploy it and sat things out. Delighted to say the new anchor held nicely and we were not therefore called upon to repeat the untangling performance - for which I suspect we could have sold tickets.

Based on that empirical evidence, we now tend to hang off our new anchor rather than putting out the kedge as well. All that said, I have the gear ready to deploy kedge and bower as a tandem set up if we are faced with truely nasty winds and we feel the need for a security blanket.
 
Banac1e: there's clearly a lot of experience and reason behind your preferences. As it happens the boat I've done the most anchoring with was a Rival 32, which must be up there with the Trapper for its sheering, so I certainly understand your dilemma.

Which surely shows that there can be no one answer to the original question. You need to know your boat and gear in a variety of circumstances and make a judgement on any particular occasion in the light of all that. So any realistic answer to the bare question of "one or two" is inevitably much-hedged.

Obviously putting out two hooks is a bigger faff than one, and something I prefer to avoid...but a lot less faff than dragging towards god-knows-what single-handed on a wild, dark night (which is what would have happened at Arisaig, see post #9).

Perhaps the moral, as with all things boaty: use Plan A, but always have a Plan B.

Happy holding, all.
 
fisherman said:
I would worry that if one is insufficient, two separate anchors will drag one at a time as the boat sheers, hence my preference.
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I could watch exactly that effect with two anchors in the sand over rock incident. It was reportedly a 60 knot bora (tents in a campsite ashore blew away) and the sheering put all load on each anchor successively and so I zig-zagged my way towards the beach. It was only after many attempts to re-anchor that one of them hooked into a rock crevice and held. The next morning I dived to discover the true nature of the anchorage - shown as such in my pilot book.
 
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My contention is that there are sound physical reasons for one or the other dependent on circs. With one anchor you could veer through, say 60 degs, 30 each way. Two anchors set 60 degs apart will theoretically stop you veering at all since you are already 30degs from both. However, the wider apart they are set the more likely you are to drag either until they come closer together and share the strain better. Think of dragging a weight along the ground with a rope, easier if you make fast one end and pull in the middle. With two backed up you will veer about the nearest but you are unlikely to drag both, and if you do two set separately would not help unless one found better holding in its travels.
 
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