In BVIs with Delta Anchor

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eddystone

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Hi
First charter for well over 10 years and with wife who is dinghy sailor so being super conservative. So far made sure early enough to pick up mooring ball. Conditions have been quite heavy with gusts up to 40knots in anchorage. - do you think the Delta anchor will hold - can’t determine size but it’s a Janneau 389
 
eddystone said:
Hi
First charter for well over 10 years and with wife who is dinghy sailor so being super conservative. So far made sure early enough to pick up mooring ball. Conditions have been quite heavy with gusts up to 40knots in anchorage. - do you think the Delta anchor will hold - can’t determine size but it’s a Janneau 389
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Most anchorages in the BVIs are very sheltered. The anchor will be fine just make sure you have between 5:1 and 8:1 scope. More strong winds forecast for Tuesday Wednesday. Drop the anchor with the boat either moving backwards slowly or sideways such that you don't pile the chain on top of the anchor. Dont pull the anchor wth the engine in astern until you have at least 5:1 scope out. Keep the boat speed very low circa 0.5kt as you layout the chain.
 
Depends where you anchor... all the most sheltered spots tend to be full of mooring balls... and if it is a good sheltered location, It tends to be full of folks who can’t anchor. Which dramatically increases your stress level if you do choose to anchor...

my advice would be to make best use of the moorings... and if your anchoring in great harbour JVD, then be prepared to stay up all night in the cockpit.... every time I have anchored there it’s been total chaos...
 
photodog said:
Depends where you anchor... all the most sheltered spots tend to be full of mooring balls... and if it is a good sheltered location, It tends to be full of folks who can’t anchor. Which dramatically increases your stress level if you do choose to anchor...

my advice would be to make best use of the moorings... and if your anchoring in great harbour JVD, then be prepared to stay up all night in the cockpit.... every time I have anchored there it’s been total chaos...
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Yep, its the Caribbean by Disney. Charter boats everywhere! Most are clueless and rush to take the moorings at $30/ night. We spent a week there just passing through. For a non charter boat its more than enough! In my opinion its a soulless place. Ok there are nice anchorages and we have never used a mooring at $30/ night. If you look hard you can find an anchorage all to yourself. I have never been anywhere where you see so many charter catamarans. Most never sail anywhere, they just engine from mooring to mooring
 
eddystone said:
Hi
First charter for well over 10 years and with wife who is dinghy sailor so being super conservative. So far made sure early enough to pick up mooring ball. Conditions have been quite heavy with gusts up to 40knots in anchorage. - do you think the Delta anchor will hold - can’t determine size but it’s a Janneau 389
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I hope you had a good night.

How’s the BVI? Is everything open now and has it recovered OK from Irma?
 
Off there in January, looking forward to the different experience and expecting it to be as packed as the Ionian was in August, quite interested to hear your views and any tips. Planning to usual anticlockwise circuit with option to visit Anegada then downwind from there to Cane Garden Bay. Are the lead in buoys back in CGB?

I found Scott F's You Tube series "alternative anchorages in the BVI" interesting. I wonder if they are still valid since I don't believe he's based there anymore.
 
Just arrived in great harbour, JVD and found a mooring ball. Sunsail said there’’a only 100ft anchor chain so don’t anchor in more than 40ft!!!
Great harbour second place I’ve seen reservable (orange) balls after Manchineel bay, Cooper Island
 
Gusts to 40 knots is reasonable wind, but nothing to be scared about. The Delta anchor is a good design, but not state of the art. The size is not mentioned, but on a charter boat you have no control over the size or design of the anchor chosen. You need to make sure other factors are in your favour as much as possible.
The quality of the substrate, the degree of protection and the scope you deploy are all factors you can control. The more marginal the quality and size anchor equipment the more these factors need to be optimised.

Edit: I see you have found a reliable mooring . This sounds like a great option in the circumstances.
It is a pity charter boats are sometimes not equipped with better anchoring gear that would allow customers to enjoy remote places without facilities such as moorings even if conditions were less than ideal.
 
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noelex said:
Gusts to 40 knots is reasonable wind, but nothing to be scared about. The Delta anchor is a good design, but not state of the art. The size is not mentioned, but on a charter boat you have no control over the size or design of the anchor chosen. You need to make sure other factors are in your favour as much as possible.
The quality of the substrate, the degree of protection and the scope you deploy are all factors you can control. The more marginal the quality and size anchor equipment the more these factors need to be optimised.

Edit: I see you have found a reliable mooring . This sounds like a great option in the circumstances.
It is a pity charter boats are sometimes not equipped with better anchoring gear that would allow customers to enjoy remote places without facilities such as moorings even if conditions were less than ideal.
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I must agree.

it beggars belief that charter companies do not supply as standard idiot proof anchoring gear (not suggesting the OP is an idiot :) ) But many people chartering will simply not have much experience and the charter companies, I assume, would like repeat business. One dragging anchor will have a lasting memory and is unlikely to result in a second charter - the better anchors are hardly expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Jonathan
 
We chartered there nearly 20yrs ago and found that the mooring buoys (as we used to call them) had expanded beyond the sheltered areas and the outer ones could be quite bumpy: we left one because we were hitting the bottom. And it was a long way to the restaurant!

(Comment from my wife: 100ft? That's only 30 metres! It's not enough to moor a rowing boat. )
 
I don’t think it’s the quality of the anchor or gear that is an important factor in charter boats anchoring, it’s the technique.

Many charterers know how to anchor and just do it but many others wouldn’t succeed (except by accident) regardless of anchor chosen. A Rocna doesn’t protect against anchoring on a 1:1 scope, or dropping all the chain in a pile just ahead of the next anchored boat, or reversing at high speed through the anchorage as you start dropping the anchor, or even laying your anchor chain at right angles to all the other boats as there seemed to be room there.

My stance is biased as our inherited Delta (copy?) is a fine anchor and has held us for a decade in difficult conditions without dragging once set - but it would be nice to have one that set more quickly or I’d feel as safe in 75 knot gusts as I do in 50, so one day.
 
My Delta never dragged in 6 years in the BVI.

The only place out there you really have to watch is Great Harbour in JVD. The bottom is sand with granite beneath, so make sure you put ALL of the chain out and really dig it in with a good blast of reverse.
 
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