Leaving the boat on anchor for 2 weeks in Ibiza

[sebastiannr]

Hi all,

Leaving a boat on anchor has been covered in previous posts, but not for this length of time as far as I'm aware.

We have to fly back to the UK from Ibiza for 2 weeks, leaving the boat in Ibiza.

We were hoping to pick up a mooring in San Antoni via a live-a-board that I met a couple of years ago here. That didn't materialize so we are now faced with the prospect of leaving the boat on the anchor.

I'm not too worried about dragging - I'll use 2 anchors, bring the snubber/warp back to the winches, and secure all chafing points in rubber hose. I'm more worried about theft, but there are many unattended boats in this bay and we will take anything of value off the boat.

Still, I'm inevitably filled with a sense of dread for abandoning our beloved in a foreign harbor for 2 weeks.

What are peoples opinions about leaving the boat on anchor for that long?

Thanks,

Seb

 

[prv]

Well, people do. Depends how much confidence you have in your ground tackle, really.

Older books I've read used to advocate laying a temporary mooring in the following manner:

1. Shackle your spare anchor to the inboard end of your main chain. Lay and set the main anchor as normal.
2. Lay out chain until you reach the middle. Tie on a long warp, and then continue laying out chain (and warp) until you come to the end. Drop the other anchor.
3. You now have your whole length of chain lying along the bottom, with an anchor on each end (one set, one not yet) and a warp tied to the middle.
4. Haul yourself back to the middle using the warp. As you lift the middle of the chain, anchor number two will be pulled inwards, and (in theory) set.
5. Shackle a large swivel onto the chain at the mid-point, then three or four metres of chain onto the swivel to get the main chain below your keel.
6. Bring the end of the short piece of chain over your bow roller, and secure to the samson post.

This gives you two anchors, both on chain even though the kedge is normally only on a warp, and no possibility of twisting the cables together as the boat revolves unattended. I've never tried it, but it sounds plausible as long as the extra gear (swivel, shackles) is up to snuff.

Pete

 

[lustyd]

as the boat revolves unattended.

Not exactly on topic but would it revolve in Ibiza? I guess with wind changes it might? Serious question, I've never really sailed the Med!

 

[prv]

Not exactly on topic but would it revolve in Ibiza? I guess with wind changes it might? Serious question, I've never really sailed the Med!

I did start to write about laying the anchors up and down tide, then I re-checked the location header and didn't bother.

I think you do get a little current in the Med, plus wind certainly. It's ten years and more since I sailed in the Med (and that only flotilla bimbling), but I could well imagine wind blowing gently one way each morning and then strongly the other way each afternoon - it's the sort of pattern you tend to get. No doubt some of the resident Med-dwellers could enlighten us.

Pete

 

[silver-fox]

My insurance specifically excludes leaving the boat for any period at anchor over 24 hours. I would check your cover before making a final decision.

But then you know in your heart of hearts what you should do don't you?

 

[baffled9]

You can't be serious.........?

 

[prv]

You can't be serious.........?

Why not?

The Pardeys used to leave their boat at anchor (the two-anchor swivel mooring described above) while they flew back to the USA for a month or more at a time. That boat was all they owned in the whole world, and for most of the time they were writing, wasn't even insured.

There's no doubt that I'd be nervous if I was forced to do the same, but it isn't inherently a completely insane thing to do. Provided, of course, that you have good and trustworthy ground tackle, which I assume as a liveaboard the OP does.

Any chance of finding somebody to keep an eye on her for you?

And yes, as Silver Fox says, definitely check your insurance position.

Pete

 

[Sybarite]

Hi all,

Leaving a boat on anchor has been covered in previous posts, but not for this length of time as far as I'm aware.

We have to fly back to the UK from Ibiza for 2 weeks, leaving the boat in Ibiza.

We were hoping to pick up a mooring in San Antoni via a live-a-board that I met a couple of years ago here. That didn't materialize so we are now faced with the prospect of leaving the boat on the anchor.

I'm not too worried about dragging - I'll use 2 anchors, bring the snubber/warp back to the winches, and secure all chafing points in rubber hose. I'm more worried about theft, but there are many unattended boats in this bay and we will take anything of value off the boat.

Still, I'm inevitably filled with a sense of dread for abandoning our beloved in a foreign harbor for 2 weeks.

What are peoples opinions about leaving the boat on anchor for that long?

Thanks,

Seb

I remember a squall in Minorca of an intensity tht I dont think I have seen since : chairs and tables flying through the air. I wouldn't want my boat under anchor in that.

This said, the double anchor situation seems the least worst system.

 

[NormanS]

For several years now, I have left my ketch anchored for four weeks each year, in the Outer Hebrides, where the weather can be "challenging".I use two anchors in a "Bahamian Moor", and have had no problems. My ground tackle is adequate, however.

 

[vyv_cox]

Does it have to be Ibiza? Son Owen kept a boat at anchor unattended for many months alongside the marina at Portals Nous in Mallorca. This is a very well protected anchorage with excellent holding and he had no problems until an idiot dragged down on him. We anchored there for a week and had no problems leaving the boat overnight a couple of times. If you check Google Earth you will see half a dozen boats there. Somebody in the marina will keep an eye out for your boat if you ask.

 

[ytd]

"there are many unattended boats in this bay"

that would ne my biggest worry - that someone would drag down onto you and then it doesn't matter how good your ground tackle is. Can you get a liveaboard there to keep and eye on it.

 

[Garold]

Lots of examples of people who have left their yachts for similar periods at anchor.

However, maybe a boat-sitter would assuage some anxieties.

Good luck.


Garold

 

[chinita]

I lost two blades from an Airmarine Wind Generator in a violent squall which hit me out of nowhere whilst at anchor in San Antonio. I would have lost them whether or not I was on board.

Point is that, in principle, it makes no real difference whether you are away of a couple of weeks or a couple of hours; even if you are ashore doing your shopping and something happens, there is SFA you can do about it.

It is called risk.

You can address the risk by doing all the things with your ground tackle that others have suggested; leave the tender tied up to give the impression your are on board and slip another live-aboard a few bob to keep an eye on her.

If you unhappy accepting the risk then bite the bullet and pay the marina charges (if you can get in one, that is).

Whatever you decision, make sure you are reasonably happy with it or you will be fretting like a puppy locked in a kitchen.

Good luck.

 

[ripvan1]

PM sent.

 

[blueglass]

You can't be serious.........?

+1 I wouldn't sleep for the entire 2 weeks!

 

[sebastiannr]

Thanks for all the responses, very good points from all. Quite a divide though - some would say it's ridiculous, others that it's not that big a deal. I probably fall somewhere in between.

I don't have a problem leaving the boat for a couple of days, so I suppose 2 weeks is no different. I think if you're confident in your ground tackle that takes a lot of the worry away. We were anchored in gale for a couple of days in June, after putting down two anchors @ 60 degrees plus another as a hammerlock moor to reduce horsing, we didn't move an inch in soft sand, so I'm pretty confident in the gear. We re-enforced the deck cleat by bringing rope back to the main cockpit winches and applying a bit of tension.

Anyway, I guess having a boat-sitter would be the best solution, or to persevere with trying to get a mooring (although I would probably have more faith in my ground tackle than the mooring around there).

I recall reading the book 'Swan, the second voyage', where the author lived on his boat for 7 years at anchor!

 

[prv]

Quite a divide though - some would say it's ridiculous, others that it's not that big a deal.

I suspect - and apologies if I'm being unfair to anybody - that simply reflects the spectrum of sailing habits from day-sailing between marinas with the anchor usually being used only at lunchtime, to liveaboards who spend all their time on the hook.

Looking at the toothpicks on the bows of some boats I see, their owners would be quite right to be horrified at the idea of leaving the boat unattended. But their experiences are not the totality of anchoring.

Pete

 

[blueglass]

I suspect - and apologies if I'm being unfair to anybody - that simply reflects the spectrum of sailing habits from day-sailing between marinas with the anchor usually being used only at lunchtime, to liveaboards who spend all their time on the hook.

Looking at the toothpicks on the bows of some boats I see, their owners would be quite right to be horrified at the idea of leaving the boat unattended. But their experiences are not the totality of anchoring.

Pete

I guess we lie in the middle of that spectrum and lie at anchor for anything up to a month(regularly moving) but still would not be happy being out of the country for two weeks with my boat at anchor. Quite happy going ashore for a day or so but no longer. My experience is coloured at the moment because the last time I came from ashore I found a large cateramaran had dragged and buried its davits in my guardrails and gouged out 4,000 euros worth of GRP and stainless steel repairs. My anchor was holding BOTH boats. Dread to think of the outcome had I been 2,000 miles away at the time.
Similar unplanned for scenarios can never be ruled out. Its not just changing weather to contend with, but other boats who may well not be as carefully anchored as you are!

 

[prv]

Similar unplanned for scenarios can never be ruled out. Its not just changing weather to contend with, but other boats who may well not be as carefully anchored as you are!

Yep - but they can just as well collide with you in a marina or (probably a little less likely) on a mooring. And a mooring could break - you have to trust whoever put it there, which in some places you may not. I have the load test certificates for my anchor chain and the 6-tonne shackle that joins it to the anchor, so I trust them.

Ultimately, I think I would worry wherever I left my boat. Not that that helps the OP much

Pete

 

[vyv_cox]

Yep - but they can just as well collide with you in a marina or (probably a little less likely) on a mooring. And a mooring could break - you have to trust whoever put it there, which in some places you may not. I have the load test certificates for my anchor chain and the 6-tonne shackle that joins it to the anchor, so I trust them.

Ultimately, I think I would worry wherever I left my boat. Not that that helps the OP much

Pete

The person whose boat dragged down on Owen's in Portals Nous is a case in point. The owner was on board at the time, the boat finished up pretty much on top of Owen's, with both boats being held by Owen's anchor. So what did the owner do? Fetched his bolt croppers and cut Owen's chain! Fortunately his friend in the marina witnessed it all and saved Owen's boat from going ashore.