Anchoring with a line ashore - any advice?

[Hurricane]

I've wondered about this.
Even the Baleares (which is relatively new to us) has this kind of problem so I'm a bit surprised that you arent already an expert in this type of anchoring.

I'm always nervous anchoring right close to the rock face so I am interested to hear what other Med experts say.

I remember reading an article in MBY by David Crossland - saying that he has perfected the technique now by swimming ashore with a lighter line first - or something like that - I cant remember - maybe he will be along here later.

 

[craigsmith]

In Croatia, most of the anchorages are relatively deep right up to the shoreline and it's common to drop anchor and take a line ashore to a convenient tree or rock. We've been trying this ourselves recently

So far we haven't had a problem but I do wonder whether we've been doing it right. Firstly, if you have the choice, which side of the anchorage do you choose relative to the wind direction? So far, I've always chosen the side with the wind from astern so the load is taken by the shore line rather than the anchor. Is this correct?

What about if the wind shifts? If the wind shifts 180deg, all the load goes on to the anchor and, being so close to the shore, the boat would be aground very quickly if the anchor dragged. Does taking a line ashore actually help the anchor to hold in that it stops the boat swinging from side to side? On one occasion when we were anchored overnight, the wind shifted overnight about 90deg and blew quite hard on the beam. Of course a flybridge boat like ours carries a lot of windage and both the shore line and the anchor chain became very tight. In these circumstances, should we have re-anchored normally so that the boat was swinging to the wind?

Lastly, is there any technique for getting a line ashore? So far I've been swimming ashore with the line as trying to get ashore from our RIB tender could easily damage it on the rocks but I won't fancy taking to the water once the temperature drops!

After several years in Patagonia and Antarctica, we have clocked up a bit of experience with tying ashore. In many 'anchorages' the anchor is either never used or is dropped but does very little, with multiple shore lines out round the boat like a spider web...

There are a few photos to be found on Peter's site in the photo journals:
www.petersmith.net.nz

Re the wind direction, offshore is probably best, but directly onshore can be okay. Your anchor does not have to endure enduring loads, and with the shore lines you are able to keep it under constant tension and if it drags it has to drag steeply uphill. This means the set is about as secure as can be expected.

If you have to handle side winds, use multiple shorelines, and consider multiple anchors too if practical. However, close to the shore in this sort of terrain you are usually well protected. Winds and gusts can be strong even 10s of meters away out in the open while you're nicely sheltered.

Back to the anchor, make sure you get it under constant tension as above. Drop the anchor well out where you want it to be, launch your dinghy, and send someone ashore with the lines*. Back the boat in as close as possible (let out enough anchor rode to permit) and let the rope handler sort out the shore ties. Once they're back, pull in the anchor rode and let out the shore lines until you're in the position you want (typically quite close to shore). Now tension the anchor rode, until all lines are nicely taut (not humming but you don't want slack floating around). This also ensures the anchor is placed in a static situation.

We use an aluminium tender and row it. Outboards are tricky to operate to do this job, props are at risk, and yes you can damage rubber duckies. If you intend to do a lot of this sort of work, consider changing your dinghy to something that can take a few bangs on rock. (Seriously). I don't think swimming is a good idea, and possibly even dangerous in poorer conditions.

* To get the lines ashore, you can use reels on the boat, which we don't like especially with larger boats and heavier gear. It is harder to pull a line off a reel, with the tension constantly stopping the dinghy (especially when rowing or paddling), and a real PITA if windy or when things are conspiring against you. We lay the line carefully into drop bags which are thrown into the dinghy, the line cleated to the boat obviously, and the line will simply pull itself out as you row in.

We just use cheap polyprop, floating, nasty stuff but does the job and we're not worried about the damage it ends up sustaining over time. Don't use sinking lines. In cold climates keep the lines above the water or they will freeze / get trapped under ice - not an issue in Croatia I'll warrant but collecting everything that floats by is nonetheless a pain.

 

[craigsmith]

P.S. You may want/need wire strops for the actual tie points, especially if tieing to rock.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

A raggie myself, but same principles. I almost always take a line ashore in places like Croatia, Greece, Turkey. The reason it is so secure is that as you say the bottom steeply drops from the shore, therefore if the anchor is being pulled uphill by the shore line, the chain is at a much shallower angle to the bottom, which is equivalent to a much longer scope. Anchored freely with the wind offshore, you have the opposite problem and sometimes no amount of scope will solve it.

Had 40knots blowing us to shore with a shore line and we stayed put for the 2 days the storm took to pass.

Only problem I found with Croatia was the weed stopping the anchor really biting.

Another good point about the anchor pulling uphill in this situation. I didn't think about that. Yes the holding can be variable in Croatia. Sometimes you get a good hold in mud and at other times, the anchor just scrapes across a rocky bottom. The popular anchorages seem to be the worst

 

[MYAG]

In Croatia, most of the anchorages are relatively deep right up to the shoreline and it's common to drop anchor and take a line ashore to a convenient tree or rock. We've been trying this ourselves recently

So far we haven't had a problem but I do wonder whether we've been doing it right. Firstly, if you have the choice, which side of the anchorage do you choose relative to the wind direction? So far, I've always chosen the side with the wind from astern so the load is taken by the shore line rather than the anchor. Is this correct?

What about if the wind shifts? If the wind shifts 180deg, all the load goes on to the anchor and, being so close to the shore, the boat would be aground very quickly if the anchor dragged. Does taking a line ashore actually help the anchor to hold in that it stops the boat swinging from side to side? On one occasion when we were anchored overnight, the wind shifted overnight about 90deg and blew quite hard on the beam. Of course a flybridge boat like ours carries a lot of windage and both the shore line and the anchor chain became very tight. In these circumstances, should we have re-anchored normally so that the boat was swinging to the wind?

Lastly, is there any technique for getting a line ashore? So far I've been swimming ashore with the line as trying to get ashore from our RIB tender could easily damage it on the rocks but I won't fancy taking to the water once the temperature drops!

Ah, one of my favourite parts of boating! Really is.

Mike, I have done all my boating in the Eastern Med for the past 9 years, mainly Greece/Turkey/Red Sea and I almost exclusively anchor this way up and down the coastlines. The fact that you have not had a problem so far is more down to getting it right than luck, me thinks. I have seen many boaters new to the area spend a couple of hours or more, going back and forth to the shore before getting it right.

If you have a good hold on the anchor (the angle of your chain entering the water in the 2nd pic of the OP looks about right)and sufficient strain on the rear lines (2 x and need to be quite tight and about 30-45 degrees from centreline), the boat should not pivot sufficiently to allow the anchor to break out to the side, instead keeping it in line with your centreline, a headwind should not drag an anchor with a good strain on it, the anchor will just try to dig in a bit deeper if anything and prevent you going astern, more so if its a steep incline as previously said by others. You will know when its all working well, the lines will get tighter as you have experienced. Its surprising the work those rear lines do. I have stayed out in 7/8's like this with strong winds swirling around from every direction and the anchor alarm set to a 10M radius has never sounded. Large swells can be interesting, best to avoid when anchoring this way, not that you would want to anchor there but may get caught out.

We use the tender to get the lines ashore, we get this set up before backing in too near to the shore (earlier the better), the tender then comes back out to meet the boat, lines are passed up at the stern and the slack taken in whilst going the remaining distance astern paying out the anchor chain. Once in the right place and tied off at the stern, winch in the anchor chain until nice and tight, I keep going until the winch slips, then load off to the bow cleats. If you are tying around a tree or rock, loop round and bring both ends back to the boat to tie off, you will effectively share the load on two lines and it makes it very easy to leave the next morning without launching the tender by undoing one end and pulling line back to the boat.

Just noticed that you are not too far from me, nice to know there are other boaters in the vicinity! Are there any others?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I've wondered about this.
Even the Baleares (which is relatively new to us) has this kind of problem so I'm a bit surprised that you arent already an expert in this type of anchoring.

I'm always nervous anchoring right close to the rock face so I am interested to hear what other Med experts say.

I remember reading an article in MBY by David Crossland - saying that he has perfected the technique now by swimming ashore with a lighter line first - or something like that - I cant remember - maybe he will be along here later.

Mike I can only think of a couple of places in Majorca where it's convention to take a line ashore and thats because the calas are so narrow that bigger boats dont really have any other option if they want to anchor there. Yup taking a light line ashore first would be a good idea. I find it quite difficult to swim in shoes (to protect my feet on the rocky shore) and carry a heavy loop of line at the same time as there's often a moderate current in Croatian anchorages and I'm not a strong swimmer

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

P.S. You may want/need wire strops for the actual tie points, especially if tieing to rock.

Thanks for the input, Craig. V Useful

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Ah, one of my favourite parts of boating! Really is.

Mike, I have done all my boating in the Eastern Med for the past 9 years, mainly Greece/Turkey/Red Sea and I almost exclusively anchor this way up and down the coastlines. The fact that you have not had a problem so far is more down to getting it right than luck, me thinks. I have seen many boaters new to the area spend a couple of hours or more, going back and forth to the shore before getting it right.

If you have a good hold on the anchor (the angle of your chain entering the water in the 2nd pic of the OP looks about right)and sufficient strain on the rear lines (2 x and need to be quite tight and about 30-45 degrees from centreline), the boat should not pivot sufficiently to allow the anchor to break out to the side, instead keeping it in line with your centreline, a headwind should not drag an anchor with a good strain on it, the anchor will just try to dig in a bit deeper if anything and prevent you going astern, more so if its a steep incline as previously said by others. You will know when its all working well, the lines will get tighter as you have experienced. Its surprising the work those rear lines do. I have stayed out in 7/8's like this with strong winds swirling around from every direction and the anchor alarm set to a 10M radius has never sounded. Large swells can be interesting, best to avoid when anchoring this way, not that you would want to anchor there but may get caught out.

We use the tender to get the lines ashore, we get this set up before backing in too near to the shore (earlier the better), the tender then comes back out to meet the boat, lines are passed up at the stern and the slack taken in whilst going the remaining distance astern paying out the anchor chain. Once in the right place and tied off at the stern, winch in the anchor chain until nice and tight, I keep going until the winch slips, then load off to the bow cleats. If you are tying around a tree or rock, loop round and bring both ends back to the boat to tie off, you will effectively share the load on two lines and it makes it very easy to leave the next morning without launching the tender by undoing one end and pulling line back to the boat.

Just noticed that you are not too far from me, nice to know there are other boaters in the vicinity! Are there any others?

MYAG, thanks for the reply. Yes, I need to get 2 long lines so that I can loop them back to the boat. Actually in the pics I couldn't get a good set on the anchor and any tension in the chain is probably more due to the weight of the chain and anchor which is why I was surprised that the boat remained so secure. However everybodys' replies have given me confidence to try this again

Yes you are just up the road from me. Actually we live up in Pednor between Chesham and Missenden. No I'm not aware of any other Mobo forumites in the area although there are quite a few who live in and around London

 

[Hurricane]

MYAG, thanks for the reply. Yes, I need to get 2 long lines so that I can loop them back to the boat.

Mike your new boat must be a similar weight to ours (40 ish tons) - what sort of lines are you thinking of.

Maybe weight isnt as important as windage.

Maybe Pollyprop?
So that they can be long and can be easily cut away if you get into trouble.
Would Pollyprop be strong enough?

 

[MapisM]

I find it quite difficult to swim in shoes (to protect my feet on the rocky shore) and carry a heavy loop of line at the same time as there's often a moderate current in Croatian anchorages and I'm not a strong swimmer

Are YOU swimming because someone else onboard is fully capable to handle the boat?
Because if not, I'd rather look for another bay.
If anything happen (anchor doesn't hold, sudden wind or current, whatever), it's rather at the helm than ashore that you'll want to be!

 

[MapisM]

So that they can be long and can be easily cut away if you get into trouble.

Well, you can release a cleat hitch no matter how tight the line is, in my books...
Or do you mean if the line gets tangled somewhere on the boat, around the prop, etc.?

 

[oceandrive]

Anchoring with stern line

Hi Huricane and other forumites,

We do this all the time and its not realy dificult. The main thing is absolute confidence by the driver to be able to decide if he or she can hold station long enough for a person to get the line ashore.

We usualy use a swimmer as Sunseeker owners will know that due to built in safety devices you can not launch a tender from the platform whilst engines running.

It goes like this a good driver at the wheel and another person on the anchor winch drop plenty of chain forget the usual 3-4x the depth of water get laods out. another person the swimmer wathes over the stern as the driver backs towards the rocks and when he feels he is near enough shouts that he is going in the driver then just holds station whilst the swimmer takes the line ashore. once tied off on shore around a suitable rock the person on the bow winches back up with the anchor until slight tension is on the stern line Job done.

If you are very confident that you still have loads of deep water behind you can winch back on your stern line to shore and get even closer creating your own little swim are at the stern of the boat.

Tips,
1,We have rules that once the swimmer leaves the boat he does not try to return untill he has the OK that the engines are off.

2, tie a fender hanging from your stern line so that nobody comes wizzing around the back of you and de cap them selves on your stern line.

3 if overnight we tie a tender to the stern line so that if it all goes wrong one person can jump in the tender and let the shore line go then bring the tender and line to the boat once it's re anchored.

Well thats our rules and for me it's worked for the last ten years. never gone wrong yet. Infact a good anchorage with a line ashore and possibly a boozer in walking distance is by far everybodys choice on board. Owners Kids are up in the morning and swimming around the stern of the boat can't do that in a marina.

We have just done a trip to Ibeza and we stayed in calas for 9 out of ten days Chill out bars and reastaurants on the beaches why spend 700 euros a night on a berth.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Are YOU swimming because someone else onboard is fully capable to handle the boat?
Because if not, I'd rather look for another bay.
If anything happen (anchor doesn't hold, sudden wind or current, whatever), it's rather at the helm than ashore that you'll want to be!

I'm swimming for a couple of reasons a) my SWMBO doesn't want to do it if the water even looks remotely cold b) she can handle the boat well enough c) launching the tender is a PITA and d) its usually my only exercise of the day!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Mike your new boat must be a similar weight to ours (40 ish tons) - what sort of lines are you thinking of.

Maybe weight isnt as important as windage.

Maybe Pollyprop?
So that they can be long and can be easily cut away if you get into trouble.
Would Pollyprop be strong enough?

No my boat is not 40t, probably in the 20-30t range. I'm not up on rope characteristics but I guess you need a rope with some flexibility to absorb shock loads but good abrasion resistance and I'm not sure polyprop rope qualifies as either

 

[vyv_cox]

No my boat is not 40t, probably in the 20-30t range. I'm not up on rope characteristics but I guess you need a rope with some flexibility to absorb shock loads but good abrasion resistance and I'm not sure polyprop rope qualifies as either

I don't normally look at the mobo forum but this thread caught my eye as it was the top one in the listings. Polypropylene is a good choice for taking lines ashore because it floats. Other ropes can snag underwater rocks and obstructions while being swum/tendered ashore. The braided type is nicer to handle than the three-strand sort.

 

[Hurricane]

We have just done a trip to Ibeza and we stayed in calas for 9 out of ten days Chill out bars and reastaurants on the beaches why spend 700 euros a night on a berth.

Hi Gary

You must have had better weather than us.
We were in Ibiza in June but the weather forced us into marinas for about half the time.
Was a bit disapointed with the eastern side of the island and couldnt get a good hold with the anchor in Formentera (westerlies) - Portinatx was fab though - pic in this month's MBY.

 

[oceandrive]

Hi Huricane,
Yes we had stunning weather and found some great calas on the North of the island. Better than Menorca as most have beach bars so somewere to go and eat in the evening and have a few pints. Good thing was and true to the nature of this thread good deep calas where we felt confident that all could leave the boat and go for a bite and a drink ashore as long as we could see the boat all could relax. we anchored at Formentera two days but moved the boat wack out to the north west coast to overnght. Must say I have done Menorca and Mallorca to death and Ibeza was a great shock to us all especialy as it's so near for us. We expected loads on raving teenies and pumping music all the time, we wer so wrong you can have calas which are compleatly tranquil and a little furtherdown the coast great calas with great beach bars and food open until the early hours which we all enjoyed.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Hi Huricane,
Yes we had stunning weather and found some great calas on the North of the island. Better than Menorca as most have beach bars so somewere to go and eat in the evening and have a few pints. Good thing was and true to the nature of this thread good deep calas where we felt confident that all could leave the boat and go for a bite and a drink ashore as long as we could see the boat all could relax. we anchored at Formentera two days but moved the boat wack out to the north west coast to overnght. Must say I have done Menorca and Mallorca to death and Ibeza was a great shock to us all especialy as it's so near for us. We expected loads on raving teenies and pumping music all the time, we wer so wrong you can have calas which are compleatly tranquil and a little furtherdown the coast great calas with great beach bars and food open until the early hours which we all enjoyed.

We loved Ibiza too when we were boating in the Balearics. For me it's the best of the 3 Balearic islands as far as cruising is concerned. IMHO it even has better weather because its that bit further south. The only thing I really disliked about Ibiza was how crowded it was during July/Aug but go in June or Sept and it can be idyllic. The teenage ravers are all based in San Antonio and you can easily avoid that

 

[MapisM]

and d) its usually my only exercise of the day!

It's a hard life, 'innit...?

 

[Hurricane]

Hi Huricane,
Yes we had stunning weather and found some great calas on the North of the island. Better than Menorca as most have beach bars so somewere to go and eat in the evening and have a few pints. Good thing was and true to the nature of this thread good deep calas where we felt confident that all could leave the boat and go for a bite and a drink ashore as long as we could see the boat all could relax. we anchored at Formentera two days but moved the boat wack out to the north west coast to overnght. Must say I have done Menorca and Mallorca to death and Ibeza was a great shock to us all especialy as it's so near for us. We expected loads on raving teenies and pumping music all the time, we wer so wrong you can have calas which are compleatly tranquil and a little furtherdown the coast great calas with great beach bars and food open until the early hours which we all enjoyed.

Hi Gary

I put this post up earlier in the summer after our June run round Ibiza

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242521