I need advice on anchoring a catamaran

[sailingcatlady]

I've bought a 42' cat and find she has on board a bridle to take to the two bows, so that the anchor will settle in between them. I am wondering if this is standard procedure for anchoring a cat? I remember (seems like a thousand years ago) crewing on a cat where they anchored with one anchor off one bow only but this dragged after a day or two and they put out a second anchor off the other bow at a strong diagonal angle.
Anyone out there with experience who could advise me? I am shortly setting off to anchor around the Canaries, so need to know.
E.

 

[jeremyshaw]

A bridle is standard procedure for anchoring a cat - though not all use them.

It has the advantages of:
* helping the cat behave more like a mono (swinging together) than if you hang off one bow.
* acts as a snubber
* reduces risk of chain fouling/damaging the bows
* reduces tendency to sail round the anchor

On my old Snowgoose, which had a 'third bow' i.e. fibreglass projection right at the same level as the proper bows, I didn't use the bridle in calm conditions.

On my Fountaine Pajot Belize, which has the anchor set back from the front beam, I use it all the time. Most cat owners I know - even those who have anchors set on the front beam, use a bridle.

Various methods are in favour for attaching the bridle to the chain. I used to use a rolling hitch which worked fine, but now I use a snap shackle. Of course you need to be sure of the quality and breaking strain of any attachment device you use.

 

[Perry]

It is quite usual to lay to a bridle when you anchor a cat, after you have dropped the anchor and are secure attach the bridle and let out more chain until the weight of the boat is taken by the bridle. If I am in a small bay I usually drop the kedge as well to stop the boat veering about.

 

[Headbone]

Excellent site for all things multihull

http://www.multihullforum.com/forum/default.asp

Go to ' All forums' and in the last section there is plenty of stuff on anchoring. Register and use search tool. If search seems not to work, simply repeat and results usually appear.

Best wishes

 

[boatmike]

I would endorse all of that and add that the length of each half of the bridle should be less than the distance between the hulls because you will find a cat has a tendancy to sail over its anchor and this keeps the chain from fouling the inside of the hulls. I also believe that for blue water cruising a drouge of some sort should be carried to stop the boat from broaching in storm conditions. This should be set on a bridle off the stern.

 

[wotayottie]

[ QUOTE ]
I would endorse all of that and add that the length of each half of the bridle should be less than the distance between the hulls because you will find a cat has a tendancy to sail over its anchor and this keeps the chain from fouling the inside of the hulls. I also believe that for blue water cruising a drouge of some sort should be carried to stop the boat from broaching in storm conditions. This should be set on a bridle off the stern.

[/ QUOTE ]

Both very fair points but you will find the "sailing over anchor" issue less important in the Canaries with little or no tidal currents. In the UK I found it a real issue, and contrary to all the comments you hear about cats swinging more at anchor, sailing at anchor was the problem when monos were nearby.

The bridle is also useful for mooring buoys.

Dont forget to have a discipline about reefing at certain windspeeds - the cat wont feel under pressure when in fact it is. So reef by the wind dial rather than your gut feel.

 

[Noddy]

Another vote for using a bridle.

Although I tend to anchor from one bow. Tie aline (rolling hitch) from the other bow. Then let the man anchor line out until the point where they join is in the middle.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Our bridle is left fixed to both cleats at all times, the centre has a chain link capture and pin, all stainless steel, after the anchor has been dropped and all is settled we clip onto the chain and let out a few more feet leaving a small loop of chain hanging under the bridle.

Just lifts off when retrieving the anchor, we then wrap and secure it on the hand rail ready for next time.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[wanderlust]

We have a Snowgoose. We use a polyprop bridle as it is very stretchy. We use a s/s chain hook and set either a short bridle or long depending on the conditions. If it gusty we set a long bridle to reduce snatch in the gusts. Nobody has mensioned the reduction in noise of the chain over the roller when you are trying to sleep at night. The bridle solves this. When we were in the Caribbean and we had strong winds we would set a secong anchor from the rib using a small amount of a chain then rode. We would use a s/s shackle through our main anchor chain and attach the second anchor rode below the point of attachment of the bridle. the two anchors would be set in a y pattern in the direction of the prevailing wind. This set up worked very well and the shock absorbing effect of the two anchors and the bridle was excellent.

 

[douglas_family]

recently tried anchoring our cat for the first time, during sea trial and had planned to try a bridle as i has read that it was the way forward. Took quite a while to rig it due to not knowing what we were all about having trouble with windless etc. while we were messing arround the wind picked up a little and the boat was sailing arround all over the place when we eventually got it rigged she sat head to wind and maintined a strait pull on the anchor. mono's 've been on (although smaller) have never sat so well. Think getting a good arrangement that is easy to use is a must.

 

[steveh]

On our cat we had chain and then a rope rode that was set from the centre of the boat. We then used a 3 legged rope bridle that was fixed to cleats on each hull and attached to the rode with a rolling hitch. Whatever method you use, remember you may want to let out more rode if the weather changes. My experience of anchoring in the Canaries was that the wind can increase very quickly. I found it generally a windy place and not that many good anchorages.

 

[douglas_family]

[ QUOTE ]
Excellent site for all things multihull

http://www.multihullforum.com/forum/default.asp



[/ QUOTE ]

followed this link and joined the site but didn't think it was very good as it is not sufficiently supported and has numerous broken link this american site is quite good though

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f74/

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Excellent site for all things multihull

http://www.multihullforum.com/forum/default.asp



[/ QUOTE ]

followed this link and joined the site but didn't think it was very good as it is not sufficiently supported and has numerous broken link this american site is quite good though

[/ QUOTE ]

The trouble with the multihull forum is the owners agenda, he will edit your posts if they disagree with his views, he is it has to be said, a total wally.