Emergency anchoring

[NormanS]

Quote: Well, if you still have 100m depth then you're not on the verge of going aground. Maybe there is a place or two in the world where depth goes from 100m to shallow pretty fast, but that's pretty rare. I was in the Sea of Cortez in January; there are underwater canyons and some weird gradations of depth, but even there you have a few cables of anchorable ground before you're on the beach. end quote.

You don't have to very far to find 100 metres close to the shore. There are lots of places on the West Coast of Scotland like that.

 

[elton]

The first and last time I tried emergency anchoring I suffered 6 broken fingers as it bedded suddenly and unexpectedly at 6 knots. I couldn't do a great deal to save the boat after that. It's easy to imagine how we might have remedied the situation, whilst sat in front of a computer in a warm cosy lounge.

 

[Dockhead]

The first and last time I tried emergency anchoring I suffered 6 broken fingers as it bedded suddenly and unexpectedly at 6 knots. I couldn't do a great deal to save the boat after that. It's easy to imagine how we might have remedied the situation, whilst sat in front of a computer in a warm cosy lounge.

Certainly true, Rocketman, as several of us have mentioned.

Nevertheless, the warm cosy lounge is exactly the right place to think over: "what would I do"?

It's too late to think it over, and certainly too late to solicit opinions here, once you're already in the emergency situation.

What happened to you? Did you lose your boat? Care to share?

And do you think that emergency anchoring would be the wrong approach to the situation named at the beginning of the thread? Your experience will surely be valuable to all of us.

 

[Dockhead]

Maybe there is a place or two in the world where depth goes from 100m to shallow pretty fast, but that's pretty rare.

I take it you have never sailed in the Ionian sea!

Nope, nor in Scotland. Depths drop off quite fast in the Aegean, but not to that extent (100 meters 15 feet off the shore!!! That's a 20:1 slope or basically a sheer cliff, 300 feet high, and underwater -- f*** me! Never heard of such underwater geography). Maybe I spoke too soon. You'd be well stuffed to be in that situation in a place where you have 100 m of water 15 feet (or even 100 feet) from the shore. Yikes!

 

[elton]

Nevertheless, the warm cosy lounge is exactly the right place to think over: "what would I do"?

I wouldn't disagree with what you say. I'm just saying it's a lot easier!

As for myself, everything that could go wrong went wrong (or so it seemed). Wind and tide against me; firstly rigging failure, then prop shaft failure, then the shattered hands. Oh, but the VHF was working thank the Lord.

My prang

 

[Roberto]

yes it is mostly an academic discussion, though I do not find my lounge particularly cosy :laugh:

yet there might be cases when anchoring in an emergency is not necessarily anchoring in urgency, as an example: you sail at 2-3 miles from a lee shore (a distance often deemed sufficient in normal-ish winds), in a place in the world where there are no immediately available rescue services

all of a sudden you lose your rudder and steering capabilities, and begin slowly drifting towards the shore. You take a look around and realise you will be on the rocks in 30min ? 45min ? One hour ? That leaves some time to think about the best course of action, or at least some course of action maybe ?

too short a time to invent a jury rudder, and rescuers are 1.5 hours away...




ps I indicated a 100m depth to make it equal to a long cable one might have onboard, but might have said 50m depth with 50m cable on a gently sloping sea bottom..


thanks a lot everyone for the thoughts so far :smile:

 

[Dockhead]

I wouldn't disagree with what you say. I'm just saying it's a lot easier!

As for myself, everything that could go wrong went wrong (or so it seemed). Wind and tide against me; firstly rigging failure, then prop shaft failure, then the shattered hands. Oh, but the VHF was working thank the Lord.

My prang

"Prang" is a bit of an understatement. What a horrifying story!

 

[Dockhead]

yes it is mostly an academic discussion, though I do not find my lounge particularly cosy :laugh:

yet there might be cases when anchoring in an emergency is not necessarily anchoring in urgency, as an example: you sail at 2-3 miles from a lee shore (a distance often deemed sufficient in normal-ish winds), in a place in the world where there are no immediately available rescue services

all of a sudden you lose your rudder and steering capabilities, and begin slowly drifting towards the shore. You take a look around and realise you will be on the rocks in 30min ? 45min ? One hour ? That leaves some time to think about the best course of action, or at least some course of action maybe ?

too short a time to invent a jury rudder, and rescuers are 1.5 hours away...




ps I indicated a 100m depth to make it equal to a long cable one might have onboard, but might have said 50m depth with 50m cable on a gently sloping sea bottom..


thanks a lot everyone for the thoughts so far :smile:

30 -- 60 minutes is a lot better. Maybe you don't have time for a jury-rigged rudder, but you can try different sail trim combinations to try to steer the boat (here a split rig is nice).

If the rudder is jammed to one side, you might get her to heave-to on the other side. You might be able to sort the rudder if you get the boat in a stable hove-to position, if the problem is something like cables jumped off of the quadrant.

If you have a sea anchor or a drogue, you can trail that on a bridle led to a cockpit winch on either side, and damn well steer with that.

With a sloping bottom (not a sheer underwater cliff), you ought to be able to anchor before it's too late (if it is simply impossible to find some way to steer, and sail or motor off). But you will never get the hook to hold at a 1:1 scope or even a 1:2 scope. You would have to let the boat drift into shallower water (better hove-to and slowly, if you can). If you've only got 50 metres of chain, you may want to bend on some other warps. You'll want 75 metres of scope if you drop the anchor in 15 metres, better 90.

Get your other anchors ready in case the main bower doesn't hold or fouls or something.

Oh, and don't forget -- kneel down in the cockpit and say a fervent prayer.

 

[planteater]

I think I've cooled to the idea of dangling the anchor for drag. I guess the sensible thing to do would be keep a drogue ready at the stern where it could be deployed safely.