overnight anchor

did this many times since 1995..
many sugestions here are very good...
I would add along Deleted User very useful to make the boat ready tender up and gear all in its place, to check a good weather forecast so it is near to sure that the spot you are is safe
I had very few bad night on anchor to really stop me from doing it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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I never sleep as well as when we berth in a marina, particularly when there's a bit of wind and the anchor chain is grinding a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]You'd better secure the anchor chain to a cleat with a short line, releasing the tension on the winch. Aside from removing the noise completely, your winch will be grateful.

Oh, and in reply to the OP: totally confident, if and when anchored in a proper place.
I've overnighted in places like this one, surrounded by the coast for the whole 360° around the boat, with nicely holding bottom and the possibility to use a lot of chain. A situation inherently safer than any marina, if nothing else because when anchored the boat is always bow to wind.
 
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You'd better secure the anchor chain to a cleat with a short line, releasing the tension on the winch. Aside from removing the noise completely, your winch will be grateful

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You're right, Mario. Actually last season, I did buy a chain snubber and that reduces the chain noise substantially. I never did allow the winch to take the whole load of the chain because my boat has a chain strop fitted
 
Stay out on anchor quite a lot during the summer in the med which is far easier than a tidal area. But the most valued bit of extra kit is a kedge anchor. ( Made up from a 15kg Danforth lays flat for storage with 5m chain atached to 30m 8mm line)

AS an extra point to all this if you have plenty of available swing area let out as much chain as poss. remember that the chain creates loads of friction so the more the better. 3 x depth when stopping for a coffee 4 x when stopping all day all the lot when giong to bed.

To be right you should always have somebody on anchor watch. especialy in strong winds or tidal areas. but must say

What we do is anchor as usual bow into the wind and then drop back full amount of chain out, then kedge anchor over stern lock of on a stern cleat depth + about 20m then lift back aprox 20m on bow anchor until you have slight tension on stern. Now you are sprung bow and stern with your bow to the wind.

You will have noticed that when you anchor normaly a planing boat tends to draw its beam to the wind and you get a constant swinging as the wind blows down port side then the swings back past 12 o'clock position and then the starboard side will draw towards the wind it's this effect that tends to break the anchor out of what you thought was a good holding. You can see exactly the same effect with a running shower with a curtain. Ever noticed when running a shower how the shower curtain bellows towards the fast moving water. in a more advanced way it's also what makes aeroplanes fly.

So by using a kedge anchor you are locking the vessel either bow directly to the wind, with no swinging so less chance of a breakout or alternativly allowing the boat to swing either to port or starboard a little then lock there, with out returning to the 12o'clock position.

On our 37' school boat a 15 kg danforth stows flat and the chain stows in a bucket for the purpose.

In the med you will see hundreds of boats around the coast line on anchor then backing up to a rock where they will throw a line over and the use this principal. you can also do this with a mooring buoy which is not heavy enough to hold your boat but it will act to stop you swinging by connecting a stern line to it.
We also have an extreem set up which we take when on charter in the South of France which has been handy mid season when due to the cost of or the lack of berths available you can be forced out on anchor hat ever the conditions. this is made up from a 15kg danforth with 5m chain then another 15 kg danforth and 15m chain conected then to 50m 15mm brade on brade this will act as a kedge or an additional bow anchor. You wont go anyware. Some wil remember a similar set up being demonstrated at London Boat show last couple of years but instead of a weight as they used we use a second anchor. A nice carpet square compleats the kit so you don't chip the gel as you pull the chain in.

We have what we call the lagoon on the entrance of the port and its not unusual to see people anchor boats up using the above principal and they will stay their for four or five months at a time without moving storms the lot.
 
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I did buy a chain snubber and that reduces the chain noise substantially.

[/ QUOTE ]A chain snubber? Wazzat?
Aside from not knowing the terminology, I'm also curious because you're saying that you bought it!
My "chain snubber", if that's the proper name, is simply a spliced line attached to a s/s ring, and a s/s snap hook to attach the ring to the anchor chain.
Ok, I also bought those components, but I'd have rather said that I made the final thing, if you see what I mean... Besides, the chain noise with this simple trick is not just substantially reduced - it's totally eliminated.
 
I also have been looking for some device that will hold the chain. I'm told that there is one. But never found it. A hook through the chain, looks like the weekest link to me. I wrap the chain round a cleat, if I think it's needed.
 
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A hook through the chain, looks like the weekest link to me. I wrap the chain round a cleat, if I think it's needed.

[/ QUOTE ]Urgh!!!
I don't dare thinking of wrapping the anchor chain round my deck cleats.
And I'm sure you'll see why just looking at this pic!
Winch.jpg

Now, just to better explain how I arranged the thingie (that by now I understood is called snub line): first of all, I simplified a bit in my previous post, 'cause I actually used two spliced lines.
But that's just to avoid the risk that just one line might scratch the bow paint while the boat swings around.
Two lines mean a bit more work to deploy them, but allows for a perfectly centered pull on the chain, with no interference with the bow. Other than that, one line is obviously enough.
Before splicing the lines, I opened the two thimbles a bit, enough to put a 10 mm s/s ring inside them, and then I spliced the lines around the thimbles (I used 3-ply 16mm lines).
Job done, the last bit you need is a 10 mm s/s snap hook attached to the ring, to be put through the chain before securing the lines to the cleats and finally release the chain tension and secure the winch brake again, just in case.

I see your point re. the hook being a weak link, though. But!
My initial thought was that if the pull would be enough to open a 10mm s/s hook, on one hand the winch should hold anyway, and otoh the chain grinding would be more than welcome to wake me up, 'cause the situation would definitely need some attention.
That said, I've now used the above rigging for the best part of a decade, with a boat that when loaded is not far from 40T, and never had a single problem.
Actually, I've been much more scared in some occasion by the tension on ground lines while moored stern to in marinas, with very strong crosswind! When the boat is allowed to swing while anchored, the chain tension never goes anywhere near that.
 
Another very simple "snubline" is simply to attach a mooring rope to one bow cleat, pass it through a chain link and back to the cleat on the other side of the bow. now release a little chain until the rope drops to around the waterline and takes the strain. Job done. You could rightly say that the rope is now the weakest link, which it is, but if it snapped (highly unikely) it is only the belt - you still have the braces.
 
We have a variation on Nicks snubber over here, marketed under the name of 'Tommy Springer'. Essentially mostly made up of bungee cord, the elastic cord the tower jumpers use, rope and SS hook. The heavier the boat, the thicker the cord.
It is suppose to increase the anchor hold by up to 25%, by stopping the snatching effect as the boat 'sails' on anchor during big blows. Also softening the impact, back through the boat. I have used one for a couple of years, all good so far, but I haven't been in an extreme situation, to test it out thoroughly.
 
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You will have noticed that when you anchor normaly a planing boat tends to draw its beam to the wind and you get a constant swinging as the wind blows down port side then the swings back past 12 o'clock position and then the starboard side will draw towards the wind it's this effect that tends to break the anchor out of what you thought was a good holding. You can see exactly the same effect with a running shower with a curtain. Ever noticed when running a shower how the shower curtain bellows towards the fast moving water. in a more advanced way it's also what makes aeroplanes fly.



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Now that answers my question - I was sitting watching my boat on its new mooring in Lamlash this weekend wondering she swung back and forth about 40 degrees when the wind picked up.

When the wife asked me why the yachts and the big RIB beside her just sat more or less head to wind I said in a "knowlegable sounding way" it was just beacause unlike our previous experience with Raggies, Mobos have more windage and no keel.

I may or may not admit to my mistake depending on quantities of /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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What we do is anchor as usual bow into the wind and then drop back full amount of chain out, then kedge anchor over stern lock of on a stern cleat depth + about 20m then lift back aprox 20m on bow anchor until you have slight tension on stern. Now you are sprung bow and stern with your bow to the wind

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Some very interesting info gskip but I've always wondered about whether a 2 anchor set up as you describe is actually safer. What happens if, as happens often in Med anchorages, an afternoon onshore seabreeze changes to what can be quite a strong offshore breeze coming off the land in the evening? With a kedge anchor set astern, when the wind changes direction, then the boat is held on what is usually quite a small kedge anchor rather than the main (bower) anchor. Similarly, with the kedge and bower anchors set forward, if the wind (or tide) changes around, then there is the possibility of the chains fouling each other and making it more difficult to hoist the anchors in a hurry
We do carry a kedge ourselves but I've never used it. I prefer one heavy anchor of good design (I like the Delta for Med use) and as heavy a chain as the windlass will handle. It's simple and you can up anchor and get out quickly

You gave a good explanation of why high sided mobos shear about at anchor but I'm not sure it affects the anchor holding that much. I often snorkel out to see how our anchor is set. Even on windy days with the boat shearing about at the surface, little if any of that movement is transferred to the anchor itself because, if you put enough chain, the movement of the boat and the upper part of the chain is well damped by the catenary effect of the chain.

All IMHO
 
The chain snubber I've got was recommended to me by rickp of this parish, if I remember correctly. I've forgotten where I bought it from but it's just a short length of rope with a hook at one end and a loop at the other and a rubber shock absorber in the middle. Obviously the loop goes around a cleat and the hook attaches to the chain and you let out a bit of chain until the load is taken by the rope. The shock loading from the chain is resisted by the shock absorber. Actually I've got 2 snubbers but it's probably overkill to use 2
 
I thought it was Jimmy Green but they don't seem to be selling the complete item any more?
 
Hmm, think I bought mine separately - but I can't remember. I've been using it for years now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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