How confident are you when anchoring?

kindredspirit

kindredspirit

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Boat: Kilrush.
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How confident are you when anchoring?

Would you be confident enough to go ashore leaving the boat unattended? Would you confident enough to anchor overnight and snore away contentedly without getting up to check.

I must admit, I’m more confident to attach to a mooring even though I don’t know how old, or in what state the mooring is. Logically, however, my anchor “should” be better but sometimes your mind doesn’t work logically.

I’m just really musing here.

I’m going to get a “Bugelankor” type made up locally to give myself peace of mind. And it’ll be slightly oversize as well. Am I being paranoid?

The only times my anchor dragged was in soft mud with a 6/7 knot tidal flow. It didn’t lose it completely, only dragged, but it still nags at the back of my mind.

I’m just really "thinking out loud.”




.
 
very good thinking out loud imho.

I like to be confident and have worried far more than dragged. I do snore away, and do leave the boat unattended too.

One good tip is to stay on board for a while anyway. Another is to anchor early in the day so you've had a while at anchor - not always possible tho.

Another which i tried successfully outside yarmouth was do get the boat moving backwards at over 5 knots and then bomb out the anchor - yep the whole lot even tho max 15m depth there. This ensure a decent wham of clean anchor on the bottom without it's chain snagging it, tho i suppose it's a bit extreme.

I think best routine is to move backwards aa bit as it drops, and get say 2x depth down and see (with moderatere astern) if it "pulls" - and then drop loads for an overnight stay if space allows. 7 x is no prob. More than that could risk someone else snagging but if you're alone - why not dump the most of it? better on the seabed really.

I started dragging in Golfe juan once as the wind came up in a fairly weed-ridden dodgy non-anchorage. However, i had backed up to the outer swimming line of buoys are all cneccted which massive ground tackle along the shoreline and which they put down each summer ....and put a stern line around, so the boat wasn't lost.

Slightly oversize everything you can afford if not racing imho. Dunnio about the specific anchor tho

good luck. No, not paranoid - the wind or tide IS try to blow the boat away and the rocks would love to smash it...
 
Very confident - my wife gets up and looks out of the window at least every hour. Did wake me once in the early hours to tell me the land had moved around the other side of the boat.......
 
Must admit I'm the same. Though my mate Long John just throws the hook over and goes to sleep. Mind I anchored once and went to shore just for a cup of tea and had a hell of a job catching boat in the dinghy!! Never had any trouble since, but only achor overnight where I think it's very safe. Trouble is there are very few places left. Most places now covered with buoys a bit like parking meters. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
anchor and chain in accordance with normal recommendations - very nervous

I have much heavier chain and anchor (2 sizes up). I dig in the anchor (good burst astern) and sleep like a babe.
 
I would love to add here like an arrogant raggie, oh yes, never a problem, but can't.

Am always really careful when dropping the hook, spend time ensuring it is well dug in, plenty of scope etc. But through the night I am restless and keep checking through the window to see everything it where we left it.

I think, I hope it is experience that changes your confidence. There are live aboards who leave the boat at anchor for days, why is it different for them?

I seem to tune in to the boat during the night, a noise inaudible to the human ear will have me sat up in the bunk.

But then I am a dog!
 
I don't mind admitting that I probably wouldn't sleep a wink anchoring overnight. Best I could do would be to choose a familiar spot in ideal conditions, put out a second anchor and set the anchor watch alarm. Then hope I could sleep.
 
Generally reasonably confident, of course depending on the circs. When aboard probably the majority of nights are spent anchored one way or another. Certainly more confident than attached to a buoy.

Hope you don't mind a raggie butting in with his sixpennyworth /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif, but here goes. A blissful night's sleep can be had by doing the following:

First, when dropping the anchor, don't do it at 5 knots backwards. The boat should drift downwind/tide at a SOG of about half a knot. 5 knots backwards will likely make the anchor skate over the ground until it snags on some fickle object which may or may not come unhooked in the night. You need instead to get the anchor to bury itself in the ground, and it will only do that if pulled gently. Let the chain out at a steady rate. When you've let out five times the depth let the wind/tide blow the boat back to its natural resting place, then VERY VERY gently use the engine to stretch the chain out fully across the ground in the same direction, again, moving over the ground at about half a knot should be about right.

Once the boat has been brought up short by the anchor, and the boat has come to rest in the natural direction dictated by wind and tide, increase the revs astern steadily. Imagine a 30 knot wind (F7), and think how many revs are needed to hold your boat astern against such a wind. If you apply this many revs, you will be approximating the force given by a 30 knot wind acting against the hull. Take a transit on two objects on the shore to see if you're stationary against the ground. If the boat doesn't move with this many revs applied for 30 secs or more then you can sleep well knowing that the anchor is well dug in and will resist a F7. Hopefully any more than a F7 will wake you up.

There are one or two wrinkles: first is if you need a shorter scope than 5:1 (measured of course according to what the depth WILL be at high tide). In this case, dig the anchor in at 5:1, and only after it is well dug shorten in to 4:1, or if you really have to, to 3:1. 3:1 is not really enough for a good night's sleep though.

Next wrinkle: what if the wind/tide change direction? If you have at least 4:1 (I'm assuming a decent proportion of chain), a CQR-type should be gradually be pulled round and reset itself without a problem. But you could set an alarm clock for an hour or two after the tide changes direction to reassure yourself that it has reset. With enough scope though it shouldn't be a prob. Wind changing direction is harder to predict, but is only an issue if it blows hard. Generally if it starts to blow hard, you'll probably wake up and stick your head out anyway.

The only likelihood of the anchor being pulled out if it is well set if the boat is sheering around a lot. This is only really likely to be a prob with wind against tide. With wind against tide, be more vigilant, wake up regularly to see of shearing is occurring. Also try to reduce windage if possible by dropping cockpit covers/canopies etc.. When the wind and tide are in the same direction you can sleep blissfully.
 
I am not confident when anchoring, i wake up every hour and check position.

Strong tides localy.

I do however leave boat and go ashore.

The important thing is that you know what you are insured for some you can leave others are not insured when off boat !
 
If you've dug the anchor in well and checked it in the way described an anchor watch shouldn't be at all necessary in normal conditions in a decent anchorage, you can sleep sound. Even while asleep, with practise your subconscious should keep a watch by monitoring any unusual changes in motion or sound of the vessel. Of course if a gale brews up it's a good idea to stick your head out regularly. Also it's a good idea to sleep in the forecabin because in the unlikely event that something went pear-shaped you will likely hear the chain dragging. In fact, you can also normally hear the chain moving and resetting the anchor on the turn of the tide.

In any case, you can sleep much sounder than on a mooring buoy!
 
p.s.

I should have said: if it fails the 30knots-worth-of-revs test, then you have to wind the whole thing up, clear of the weed and mud, and start all over again, and keep doing it until you're confident it's well and truly dug in. With practise, you'll almost be able to 'feel' what it's doing on the seabed.
 
I am rather confident, providing the conditions are suitable. I find that tidal streams are not a problem ( not 6-7 knots, of course, because that is a lot), non-tidal areas with wind make the boat move a lot.

If in a tidal area, it helps a lot if you wait until the tide has changed twice before leaving the boat unattended. I sleep like a log in normal conditions, but I have a habit of setting the GPS anchor watch. I have had alarms, they all were false. Don't set the radius too tight.

The boat is a heavyweight, therefore not sensitive to wind shifts, and we use a 65lbs CQR with 10 mms chain only.

Do it often, you will build up your confidence quickly

cheers
 
About 50%
The problem with power boats as opposed to yachts is they move around a lot with the wind and any anchor system just comes undug. Couple this with the boat manufacturers fitting of a size of anchor 'just' inside the recommended weight for the length of boat. In the Med the wind will go around 180 degress during the night so expect to wake up somewhere different to where you started.
Solutions:
2 anchors
plenty of chain
check the ground (no weeds)
Set your depth warning
Set your GPS warning
 
Have only anchored in present boat for a few hours at a time and have yet to leave it by itself.
Have often anchored overnight on yacht charters but have yet to survive the whole night without getting up once just to check "what that noise was and are we still in the same place". On one occasion, somewhere on Harris, it was us hitting a fishing boat and no we were not /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. Ok we had anchored in a slightly dodgy place and put 2 hooks down but the wind changed through 90 degrees and blew at F7 for an hour or so.
I think that eventually practice would make you used to the idea. Alternatively, drink more /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I anchored overnight quite a lot last year because so many Med marinas are full in high season. I always felt happier putting out 4:1 or 5:1 chain to depth rather than the recommended 3:1 and I always snorkeled out to check that the anchor was dug in and aligned properly. I would set the anchor watch alarm on the plotter but the alarm is not loud enough to wake me asleep in a forward cabin (anyone know how to rig a remote alarm?) Not once did the anchor drag despite experiencing F5-6 winds on a couple of nights
I think it is important to check the size of your anchor and chain relative to the size of your boat. Some manufacturers (eg Sealine) skimp on anchor sizes whereas others (eg Fairline) generally oversize anchors so I would feel a lot more confident in a boat with a decent size of anchor. The other item to check is the shackle attaching the anchor to the chain which on one boat I have owned was very badly corroded. You can have the biggest anchor in the world but its useless without an adequately strong shackle to attch it to a chain
One last point is that most if not all insurance policies require that a boat be manned when at anchor so buggering off for lunch may void your insurance policy. If we go ashore, I always try to eat in a restaurant where I can watch the boat. My SWMBO thinks I'm nuts
 
Fairly OK actually,

for peace of mind we have the GPS alarm on and also on the second unit but as mentioned don't set the range to short otherwise it will be pinging all night as the tide rises and falls if you have a lot of cable out.

Our rig is all chain and we always have the full 50m out and thats some weight to be dangling off the the pointy bit and would nearly hold you on its on without a hook in slow tides or light winds. I drop the hook while slow astern let the hook 'swim' to the bottom when she bites give her some power hold it for a few seconds and watch for any drift.

With the right tackle and good bottom to hook into there is never really any concern unless it blows up a houlie and then we would up sticks and dodge about until day light and take it from there.

Probably just repeated all the previous post but too lazy to read them back.
 
Re: \"feel\" the anchor

erm, not in a bigger boat you won't! It reels out and that's that! ps i only did the whamming backwards as last resort outside flippin yarmouth where it wouldn't set the first few times slowly, honest.
 
Pretty confident, usually.

Only ever overnighted in Studland, where we know the holding is good. First time we did it, SWMBO was up half the night. We also set the anchor alarm on the plotter. Following morning, I checked it and, courtesy of a little too much Vino Collapso the night before, found it set incorrectly - we would have been in the Bankes Arms car park before it went off.

So now we just chuck the pick out, and go to sleep. The worst night we had was when the wind swung round to due East f5-ish, which meant a lot of snatching and rolling, but never moved an inch.
 
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