Bahamian moor in Caribbean

[NormanS]

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Top line in reply box. Got all sorts of options, you may have to ding on the furthest right one that looks like a gear cog first.

????

Thanks for that, I always wondered but wasn't sufficiently interested to find out.
As they say, everyday's a school day. ?

 

[Zing]

Slight thread drift but as there are at least 2 people who have been/are in Antigua posting here, is it worth getting the more detailed North Antigua chart (Imray A271) as well as the Imray A27 which I already have or is it just bigger scale with same amount of detail? Thing about chart plotters is they're great in real time but carp for planning.

I do everything electronically now. TimeZero, INavX, OpenCPN. For planning your trip in advance I suspect Navionics would be the best option for you.

 

[TNLI]

This is not an anchor thread! The question is how best to rig with the standard kit on a charter yacht which I assume is a kedge anchor with a short bit of chain and the rest rope. If it’s octoplait then the end won’t pass through the link of a 5/16th chain.
I could take a shackle with me and attach it to the kedge rope with an anchor hitch but what is the largest shackle of which the pin will easily pass through 5/16th link?

Why don't you ask the charter company what type of anchoring gear it has fitted as standard ??

If you are not satisfied with their list, then DYOR on what you need and then borrow or buy what is missing, like a secondary or storm anchor. Also if there is any coral or any wrecks, all chain is best, although I do use nylon or polypropylene warps for secondary or stern anchors.

So, drifting slightly off topic, ere is my current list of anchors for my 27ft alloy lifeboat:

35 lb CQR storm anchor, with an all chain rode.

20lb Bruce with 20m of 8mm chain and 80m of nylon line.

6lb folding grapnel with an nylon line, (Emergency engine failure stern anchor).

PS: Never use a stainless swivel, or even a simple shackle. Cheap stainless is often cheap because it has not been annealed, or is made using recycled steel. In the first case it will fatigue crack very quickly and in the second it will tarnish and then suffer serious crevice corrosion. I've even had a 12mm stainless bolt fail when I tightened it up due to a casting flaw. Heavily galvanised steel is incredibly strong and very resistant to corrosion, so both my CQR and BRUCE anchors are the real deal, not a knock off with world record for ultra thin electro plated Zinc.

I do occasionally buy real stainless steel bolts or clevis pins direct from a company based near Coventry, and those certified bolts are light grey. Top quality stainless with a real good fatigue life does not shine unless it's Chrome plated, and will always have Whitworth threads in the UK, or metric fine in Germany. It costs about 4 times as much as the stainless sold from a good chandlery, BUT like anchors, you get what you pay for!

PPS: Before you try using a Bahamian moor, fore and aft, extended twin anchor V, or 3 point moor, make sure you ask you neighbours how they are anchored, or just sniff around the bow section if they have gone AWOL. That way you can reduce the chances of an unexpected meeting during the night when your double anchor 3:1 scope set up fails to match the swing circle of the power boat with a single anchor with a 5:1 rode.
Also try and turn up at low tide with the sun high enough to see any debris, or even the outer limits. Coral heads grow very quickly, and the locals don't do free wreck removals! It also makes it easier to kedge off if you run aground near low tide.
Finally if you get into big storm trouble, like wot I ave done, think about running ashore or onto a suitable mud bank rather than find out if your storm anchor and cleats are good enough. I did that with my old steel Van Der Stadt 34 once in St Martins inner lagoon, and spent a very comfy night in the putty. Had to turn the radio off due to all the screaming about dragging, a big gin palace that had snapped its stern lines in the marina, not that it was in the marina for very long!

 

[Stemar]

Just a slight divergence, if a swell runs at an angle to your boat, rig a veering line from the quarter to the anchor rode and realign the boat to a single anchor, for overnight, this has served me well to keep bows to anything lumpy at an angle to the stream.

Works well when moored to a buoy, too.

 

[geem]

Why don't you ask the charter company what type of anchoring gear it has fitted as standard ??

If you are not satisfied with their list, then DYOR on what you need and then borrow or buy what is missing, like a secondary or storm anchor. Also if there is any coral or any wrecks, all chain is best, although I do use nylon or polypropylene warps for secondary or stern anchors.

So, drifting slightly off topic, ere is my current list of anchors for my 27ft alloy lifeboat:

35 lb CQR storm anchor, with an all chain rode.

20lb Bruce with 20m of 8mm chain and 80m of nylon line.

6lb folding grapnel with an nylon line, (Emergency engine failure stern anchor).

PS: Never use a stainless swivel, or even a simple shackle. Cheap stainless is often cheap because it has not been annealed, or is made using recycled steel. In the first case it will fatigue crack very quickly and in the second it will tarnish and then suffer serious crevice corrosion. I've even had a 12mm stainless bolt fail when I tightened it up due to a casting flaw. Heavily galvanised steel is incredibly strong and very resistant to corrosion, so both my CQR and BRUCE anchors are the real deal, not a knock off with world record for ultra thin electro plated Zinc.

I do occasionally buy real stainless steel bolts or clevis pins direct from a company based near Coventry, and those certified bolts are light grey. Top quality stainless with a real good fatigue life does not shine unless it's Chrome plated, and will always have Whitworth threads in the UK, or metric fine in Germany. It costs about 4 times as much as the stainless sold from a good chandlery, BUT like anchors, you get what you pay for!

PPS: Before you try using a Bahamian moor, fore and aft, extended twin anchor V, or 3 point moor, make sure you ask you neighbours how they are anchored, or just sniff around the bow section if they have gone AWOL. That way you can reduce the chances of an unexpected meeting during the night when your double anchor 3:1 scope set up fails to match the swing circle of the power boat with a single anchor with a 5:1 rode.
Also try and turn up at low tide with the sun high enough to see any debris, or even the outer limits. Coral heads grow very quickly, and the locals don't do free wreck removals! It also makes it easier to kedge off if you run aground near low tide.
Finally if you get into big storm trouble, like wot I ave done, think about running ashore or onto a suitable mud bank rather than find out if your storm anchor and cleats are good enough. I did that with my old steel Van Der Stadt 34 once in St Martins inner lagoon, and spent a very comfy night in the putty. Had to turn the radio off due to all the screaming about dragging, a big gin palace that had snapped its stern lines in the marina, not that it was in the marina for very long!

Why would you buy anchor gear for a charter boat!! It's the charter company's responsibility to provide adequate gear. It's a holiday not an expedition to Greenland!

 

[Neeves]

Why would you buy anchor gear for a charter boat!! It's the charter company's responsibility to provide adequate gear. It's a holiday not an expedition to Greenland!

This should really have been post No 2 - but then the same could be said of many threads and where would we be if the obvious question was asked first (or second) up.

Mind you on an expedition to Greenland I would expect the expedition organisers to have all the kit as well. I'd have enough to carry with my foul weather gear, harness, helmet and a decent supply of malt whisky without worrying about shackles

Jonathan

 

[Genoa]

Works well when moored to a buoy, too.

Learn something new every day... never tried that in 40 years!

 

[eddystone]

This should really have been post No 2 - but then the same could be said of many threads and where would we be if the obvious question was asked first (or second) up.

Mind you on an expedition to Greenland I would expect the expedition organisers to have all the kit as well. I'd have enough to carry with my foul weather gear, harness, helmet and a decent supply of malt whisky without worrying about shackles

Jonathan

With a decent supply of malt whisky you really won't worry about shackles?

 

[Bajansailor]

Finally if you get into big storm trouble, like wot I ave done, think about running ashore or onto a suitable mud bank rather than find out if your storm anchor and cleats are good enough.

Big storms are forecast very well these days - everybody knew that Hurricanes Irma and Maria were going to be humdingers heading their way.
And the best thing to do in these circumstances (IMHO) is to run.
Any boat that ran 50 odd miles south of St Maarten or the BVI's when they were clobbered by hurricanes in 2017 would have survived quite happily.
I think I would prefer to do this, rather than being aground in SXM putty.