kingfisher
Well-known member
This winter, I split up my anchoring gear. The anchor is in the nose, while the chain is in the back locker. This to improve weight distribution: the cockpit wouldn't drain properly, so more weight in the back was needed.
last sunday we decide to do a Club Med sail: go to the Springergeul on the Westerschelde (comparable to the Medway creeks), anchor off, unload the beach gear on the sand bar and enjoy the sand. 'We' is me, SWMBO and 5-year old Nathan.
We arrive at the spot, 1 hour before LW. As this is just a leisurly stop, I decide to forgo the hassle of dragging 15m of chain across the deck, and just attach an orange nylon warp. SWMBO received a crash course in anchoring in Turkey, so has absolutely no problems with taking the helm for an anchoring manouvre in sand ground like the Westerschelde. We drop the anchor at 3m depth, back off and let out about 15m of warp, the anchor holds instantly.
We swim for the beach, while Nathan gets ferried acros in a small inflatable (wearing his lifejacket, of course). On the beach we relax, read, frisbee, blabla, and get irritated by a motorboat that lands itself on the beach just in front of us, drops the hook on the beach, unloads passengers and pulls back 10m, right in our swinging circle.
The wind is from the side of the channel, and as the current abates, the boat starts to swing back and forth. Finally the incoming tide kicks in, but still the boat swings and veers. The wind constantly wants to push it over the anchor.
An hour later and the wind is up to a f3. We need to get going. I swim from an upstream position, but find it difficult to aim for the boat as she is swinging from side to side. I haul in SWMBO and Nathan on a line. SWMBO finds it difficult to get aboard on our stupid ladder which is just one step too short.
We start up the engine, I haul in the anchor line. All goes well the first 5m, but then the line is taut, without movement, and is pointing backwards. Uh-oh. I give and I pull, but nothing. Clearly the line has wrapped itself around keel/rudder/prop (or all of the above). After about 10 mins of pulling, I let slip the line and pray. Suddenly the boat is off. Thank God for slippery nylon. We do a large turn, I helm, SWMBO on the nose and she picks up the line at the first contact point. Good girl. We switch, I haul in. But before you can say "danforth", the line has curled itself round the boat again. Sigh. I let slip again, and we do the whole thing again.
While we are doing that, a RIB decides it would be a good thing to zoom through the anchorage at speed. We frantically wave at them, but they look at us like cows at a train. Finally they slow down, I point out the floating nylon line, but if they do want to sail over it, be my guest. They thankfully move off.
We pick up the line again, and this time we steer with the current against the wind and I pull in faster, so the boat does not get the chance to ride over the line. We haul in anchor and leave. My back still hurts.
Lesson learned:
- an anchor on a nylon warp will hold your boat. But I would not overnight on it.
- a chain or weighed line will sink from the nose. When the boat turns, the line is too deep to catch keel/rudder/prop
- on the other hand, the nylon line allowed us to retreive the anchor, once we slipped the line.
- our bathing ladder is one sport to short. With the current running under the boat, SWMBO could not pull herself up. Even with my help, this was difficult. Now, this was in 20° water, with no waves and she was wearing a bikini. Change that to 1m waves, 12°c water and foul weather gear, and a disaster is in the making. It was very sobering to SWMBO. I had already explained her a few times about using the mainsheet block and tackle, but now she begins to grasp the problem. And I am still not convinced that retreiving a MOB in full gear by myself would be possible. And I don't think SWMBO will be capable of hauling me out. We need to practice on this.
- floating nylon lines seem to attract MOBOs. Dunno why.
last sunday we decide to do a Club Med sail: go to the Springergeul on the Westerschelde (comparable to the Medway creeks), anchor off, unload the beach gear on the sand bar and enjoy the sand. 'We' is me, SWMBO and 5-year old Nathan.
We arrive at the spot, 1 hour before LW. As this is just a leisurly stop, I decide to forgo the hassle of dragging 15m of chain across the deck, and just attach an orange nylon warp. SWMBO received a crash course in anchoring in Turkey, so has absolutely no problems with taking the helm for an anchoring manouvre in sand ground like the Westerschelde. We drop the anchor at 3m depth, back off and let out about 15m of warp, the anchor holds instantly.
We swim for the beach, while Nathan gets ferried acros in a small inflatable (wearing his lifejacket, of course). On the beach we relax, read, frisbee, blabla, and get irritated by a motorboat that lands itself on the beach just in front of us, drops the hook on the beach, unloads passengers and pulls back 10m, right in our swinging circle.
The wind is from the side of the channel, and as the current abates, the boat starts to swing back and forth. Finally the incoming tide kicks in, but still the boat swings and veers. The wind constantly wants to push it over the anchor.
An hour later and the wind is up to a f3. We need to get going. I swim from an upstream position, but find it difficult to aim for the boat as she is swinging from side to side. I haul in SWMBO and Nathan on a line. SWMBO finds it difficult to get aboard on our stupid ladder which is just one step too short.
We start up the engine, I haul in the anchor line. All goes well the first 5m, but then the line is taut, without movement, and is pointing backwards. Uh-oh. I give and I pull, but nothing. Clearly the line has wrapped itself around keel/rudder/prop (or all of the above). After about 10 mins of pulling, I let slip the line and pray. Suddenly the boat is off. Thank God for slippery nylon. We do a large turn, I helm, SWMBO on the nose and she picks up the line at the first contact point. Good girl. We switch, I haul in. But before you can say "danforth", the line has curled itself round the boat again. Sigh. I let slip again, and we do the whole thing again.
While we are doing that, a RIB decides it would be a good thing to zoom through the anchorage at speed. We frantically wave at them, but they look at us like cows at a train. Finally they slow down, I point out the floating nylon line, but if they do want to sail over it, be my guest. They thankfully move off.
We pick up the line again, and this time we steer with the current against the wind and I pull in faster, so the boat does not get the chance to ride over the line. We haul in anchor and leave. My back still hurts.
Lesson learned:
- an anchor on a nylon warp will hold your boat. But I would not overnight on it.
- a chain or weighed line will sink from the nose. When the boat turns, the line is too deep to catch keel/rudder/prop
- on the other hand, the nylon line allowed us to retreive the anchor, once we slipped the line.
- our bathing ladder is one sport to short. With the current running under the boat, SWMBO could not pull herself up. Even with my help, this was difficult. Now, this was in 20° water, with no waves and she was wearing a bikini. Change that to 1m waves, 12°c water and foul weather gear, and a disaster is in the making. It was very sobering to SWMBO. I had already explained her a few times about using the mainsheet block and tackle, but now she begins to grasp the problem. And I am still not convinced that retreiving a MOB in full gear by myself would be possible. And I don't think SWMBO will be capable of hauling me out. We need to practice on this.
- floating nylon lines seem to attract MOBOs. Dunno why.
