Overnight anchoring.

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How the hell did Little Ship get there?

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Either that or JFM was secretly at the NW meet /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
If the flippion wind behaves itself, I may even pluck up the courage to do it this weekend
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with Cowes week? you wont even be able to get out of Chichester harbour!
 
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Of course, you can't always rely on conditions like those in the above posts, so the keys are to be confident in your ground tackle, choose somewhere with good holding, and know the weather forecast. Assuming you do that, and get enough chain down, you have very little chance of dragging, unless an unforecast storm kicks up, in which case you'll wake up anyway.

The more likely problem in most anchorages on the south coast, is making contact with other boats when the tide or wind turns, especially in really crowded places like Newtown Creek. When you turn up at an anchorage you don't know how much chain the other boats have down, and at slack water, especially with raggies, you sometimes don't even know whether their anchor is in front of, or behind, their boat. The answer is to try to avoid very busy anchorages your first few times, make sure you stay on the boat for a while after anchoring to see how the other boats are moving around, and also keep it in perspective that if two boats touch in the night, its a hassle and maybe an embarassment, but its far from being a disaster.
 
Agree too. It seems to be particularly prevalent in the Med too with some people even dropping their anchors whilst still motoring forwards at about 6kts and the dragging their anchors about 100yds before finally knocking their engines out of gear which is not only a waste of time but wrecks what wildlife is left on the seabed
I do what you do. Drop enough chain for the anchor to hit the seabed and then motor astern gently on one engine only, alternating between engines, until the required length of chain is flaked out. Then give a final tug on the chain with one engine until the anchor starts to dig in and the chain goes taut. IMHO, it is dangerous to use 2 engines when doing this, as, if the anchor snubs on a rock or other obstruction, you're likely to rip your windlass out of your deck
 
Before you think about anchoring overnight, check that your anchor and chain are correctly sized by checking the anchor manufacturer's recommendations. Too often, motor boat builders fit the minimum weight of anchor and chain they can get away with on the assumption that most owners will only day anchor and stay onboard
Whenever I've bought a new (to me) boat, one of the first things I do is look at whether the anchor and chain can be upgraded. This means checking the max chain size the windlass can take and checking the bow roller dimensions to see whether a larger anchor can be fitted. I also investigate what type of anchor is best suited for my likely anchoring grounds. FWIW and everybody has a different opinion, the Delta works better for me in a wider range of conditions than the Bruce or CQR particularly in the weedy conditions often found in the Med. Also because it has a relatively narrow shank, you can often upgrade a Delta and still use the same bow roller, if it is a closed type
I won't go into anchoring technique as that's been well covered by others but just to say a few things about conditions changing in the night. I have an anchor watch on my plotter but I can't hear the alarm from my cabin so it's useless. I do instruct all guests and crew on board to take a look outside if they happen to get up in the night and wake me if they are concerned. If you sleep in the forward cabin, if you're like me, you will hear changes like an increase in wave slap which warns you that the wind has got up or grinding of the chain on the bow roller which tells you that the boat is swinging about (you can reduce that grinding with a snubber system). If you're worried about swinging into other boats, then put large fenders out on both sides. You will also hear the anchor dragging, in the unlikely event that it does, because you will hear it and feel it through the chain
Don't worry about anchoring overnight. It's great fun, gives you the sense of real boating and saves you a few quid in marina charges
 
Aaarghhh! NoNoNoNo. The dreaded final tug! It's only a small step from there to the ploughing contests. I'm sure the logic must run along the lines of, "If 300hp won't make it it dig in and hold properly, it can't be good holding..." /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Well simply flaking it out whilst going astern is not going to ensure that the anchor digs in and if it does'nt dig in there's no point in buying an expensive anchor as you might as well tie a cheap lump of lead to the end of your chain. I've proved this to myself often enough because I almost always snorkel out to inspect the anchor. If you just drop it onto the seabed, more often than not it's going to sit on it's side. You have to drag it a few yards to get it to right itself and start to dig in. I'm not talking hundreds of yards but maybe 5-10yds
 
I think we're probably all talking about the same thing. We go gentle astern by going in and out of gear whilst laying out chain, then when enough is out, the boat is still travelling slowly backwards, and there are a few signs that the anchor has set. First you feel a gentle braking of the boat's astern movement, the bow usually swings round a touch, and also dips a couple of inches. All fairly subtle, but enough to know the anchor's set.
 
Yeah you're right, we are saying the same thing but, if I'm anchoring overnight, I do give the chain a gentle pull on one engine to try to get it to right itself and start digging in. For day anchoring, I don't bother
 
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I do give the chain a gentle pull on one engine to try to get it to right itself and start digging in.

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OK, I'll let you off with that then, Mike. But any more of that sort of behaviour and your next boat will be green and have 'John Deere' logos...

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Yep - agree.

Only difference in my method is that once I have the anchor on the seabed I like to dump a bit of chain on top then tad astern to ensure no forward motion more than anything else.

Then once all done I like to watch the anchor 'brought-up' by feeling the chain slacken off and wt come back on etc .

At night I also leave the ball up and deploy fenders too as I have have rather too many pj parties where others have dragged and come to join me!
 
AAMOI, what do peeps here do when lifting the anchor. The reason I ask is that I winced when I recently observed a 40ft skipper lift the hook with the bow switch, nobody at the helm (his other half was applying sun lotion), and the boat dragged itself around, following the chain until eventually it was straight.

The screeching noise was awful.

Our method is MrsSV at the helm with me at the bow. I signal left / right, fore / aft as required to keep the chain vertical.

The only screeching noise I encountered was when I anchored at a bay called "dissused cables" - yup, you gussed it /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Me at the helm, SWMBO keeping a lookout for the anchor to show itself in the water and operating the foot controls for the winch, ease the boat forward forward to take up the slack and prevent the anchor digging itself towards the centre of the earth.

Then, if needed, go over the top of the anchor to release it from any snags.

Ease the anchor up and clear off any crud it's managed to pick up! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Yup, good point. I too see peeps dragging their boats to their anchors. On our boat SWMBO goes on the bow with the remote windlass control and she keeps pointing in the direction of the chain so I can monouvre the bow such that the chain is kept as straight and free as possible, the idea being to minimize the stress on the windlass
 
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Our method is MrsSV at the helm with me at the bow. I signal left / right, fore / aft as required to keep the chain vertical.

[/ QUOTE ] I am horrified and shocked that you can take Mrs SV away from sunbathing duty to manoeuvre the boat when you have a perfectly good remote control boat driving thingy.
 
Spot on - my method of choice too.

Here's one for you all though - how do you do this when you're on your own !!! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

My MF805 is not as heavy as your gin palaces but if I'm fishing on my own I get up on the pulpit with my windlass remote and I inch the chain into the locker a bit at a time because what happens is as you take up the "slack" bow in the anchor chain, stop and the weight of the chain pulls the boat foward. Repeat, repeat repeat etc. It's a bit slower than normal but I've actually seen a Beneteau 760 minus it's windlass, foredeck and much of the pulpit rail ....

Would welcome any other ideas ?

CD
 
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