sailaboutvic
Well-Known Member
Well for a bit of fun we tried out the technique of dropping the anchor and not digging it in , what did we find .
We did it twice both time in sand once in four meters and once if six .we used 10mm chain with a 20 kg Ronca , 4x1 , .wind first time was 10 kts over the deck and the second time a bit less . No current of tide .
Out come , we drop it as normal and did slightly go back but just till the chain started to stretch on no account did we let the anchor start to did in . This I thought would be the same as dropping a anchor under sail and letting the wind take you back or under engine and letting the tide or wind take you back .
we sat back , we didn't put the kettle on ,
, it hot so we settle for a glass of wine on both occasions we stayed like that for all afternoon , about five hours and on both occasions the wind swing us around a few time stretching the chain in the opposite direction the first time the wind picked up to 15 kts over the deck for most of the afternoon . Both time the chain looked stretch .
Big pain I had to take all diving stuff out and went down to take a look , not some thing I usually do , that's check my anchor by diving on it .
What I found ...
Well we didn't drag . Good sign so I thought , it must had worked .
Down below was a very different story .
The chain snake round , I take it that it happen each time we turned .
the anchor it self ,... the first part of the chain seen to be in a straight line and there was no signs of disturbance , The anchor sat on top of the sand right way up with just the point about to bite.
There are my own conclusions and I have to say I am only guessing what might of happen happen .
1 as a rule once the chain start to stretch once any reveres movement has stop the boat normally goes forward ,( we in a non tidal or currant area) in my view this would mean with not much wind the boat would sit on around 10 metres on loses chain , if now the wind picks up strong the boat will not only go back on the looses chain but would also pull the anchor back until it digs in , if it does and not just keep dragging , depending how fast the boat is now moving , so even if the anchor did set it self the boat would had move as less 15 to 20 metres or move , taken into account the looses chain and for the anchor to set . any one who anchored behind me thinking my anchor was set is gong to be in for a surprise . Any rocks of shallow then I would be in for a surprise .
2 . All the swing we did , it wasn't the anchor that held us in place but the weight of the chain , I came to this conclusion because there was on sign of movement on the anchor or the first part of the chain .
3 if the wind picked up fast and strong , we had this happen quite a lot here , from almost nothing to 30 kts plus in seconds , there would be a good chance that the anchor wouldn't have a chance to set and we would just keep dragging .
At the end of my bit of fun I have to ask myself , would I be happy just dropping the anchor and hope for the best , off course the answer is NO .
Maybe someone else will come alone and tell me a different scenario , I know VYV have done a lot of test maybe he got some idea , I be interested to hear other view on my test ,
Last thing , we re set each anchor before we called it a night , both time it took some metres before the anchors took hold one reason is because the stretching of the chain and for the anchor to bit , the second anchor took hold but has we increased the rev it popped out and only after easing off the power and giving it a few second to settle and then slowly putting the power back on did it set .
www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com
We did it twice both time in sand once in four meters and once if six .we used 10mm chain with a 20 kg Ronca , 4x1 , .wind first time was 10 kts over the deck and the second time a bit less . No current of tide .
Out come , we drop it as normal and did slightly go back but just till the chain started to stretch on no account did we let the anchor start to did in . This I thought would be the same as dropping a anchor under sail and letting the wind take you back or under engine and letting the tide or wind take you back .
we sat back , we didn't put the kettle on ,
, it hot so we settle for a glass of wine on both occasions we stayed like that for all afternoon , about five hours and on both occasions the wind swing us around a few time stretching the chain in the opposite direction the first time the wind picked up to 15 kts over the deck for most of the afternoon . Both time the chain looked stretch . Big pain I had to take all diving stuff out and went down to take a look , not some thing I usually do , that's check my anchor by diving on it .
What I found ...
Well we didn't drag . Good sign so I thought , it must had worked .
Down below was a very different story .
The chain snake round , I take it that it happen each time we turned .
the anchor it self ,... the first part of the chain seen to be in a straight line and there was no signs of disturbance , The anchor sat on top of the sand right way up with just the point about to bite.
There are my own conclusions and I have to say I am only guessing what might of happen happen .
1 as a rule once the chain start to stretch once any reveres movement has stop the boat normally goes forward ,( we in a non tidal or currant area) in my view this would mean with not much wind the boat would sit on around 10 metres on loses chain , if now the wind picks up strong the boat will not only go back on the looses chain but would also pull the anchor back until it digs in , if it does and not just keep dragging , depending how fast the boat is now moving , so even if the anchor did set it self the boat would had move as less 15 to 20 metres or move , taken into account the looses chain and for the anchor to set . any one who anchored behind me thinking my anchor was set is gong to be in for a surprise . Any rocks of shallow then I would be in for a surprise .
2 . All the swing we did , it wasn't the anchor that held us in place but the weight of the chain , I came to this conclusion because there was on sign of movement on the anchor or the first part of the chain .
3 if the wind picked up fast and strong , we had this happen quite a lot here , from almost nothing to 30 kts plus in seconds , there would be a good chance that the anchor wouldn't have a chance to set and we would just keep dragging .
At the end of my bit of fun I have to ask myself , would I be happy just dropping the anchor and hope for the best , off course the answer is NO .
Maybe someone else will come alone and tell me a different scenario , I know VYV have done a lot of test maybe he got some idea , I be interested to hear other view on my test ,
Last thing , we re set each anchor before we called it a night , both time it took some metres before the anchors took hold one reason is because the stretching of the chain and for the anchor to bit , the second anchor took hold but has we increased the rev it popped out and only after easing off the power and giving it a few second to settle and then slowly putting the power back on did it set .
www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com
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