Sea Anchors

snorkmaiden

snorkmaiden

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We have a Sadler 29 and are contemplating crossing from La Rochelle (or maybe Belle Ile) to Spain this summer. Any advice concerning sea anchor as a safety measure in case of being caught out by engine failure & weather combo?
 
I've never found myself in circumstances in which a sea anchor would have made life any easier. The usual armoury of heaving-to, running off and lying a hull have proved adequate. I've always thought that a sea anchor would require a great deal of experimentation and practice to get it to deploy advantageously, and in the conditions in which it would be used in anger. Bit of a catch 22.

I might consider a series drogue if I were doing a high latitude journey with a very high probability of heavy weather - but would prefer not to do such a trip anyway.

Having said that, the next time I do an offshore sailing trip I'll no doubt find myself on my knees in the cockpit begging for a sea anchor!
 
Salty John said:
I've never found myself in circumstances in which a sea anchor would have made life any easier. The usual armoury of heaving-to, running off and lying a hull have proved adequate. I've always thought that a sea anchor would require a great deal of experimentation and practice to get it to deploy advantageously, and in the conditions in which it would be used in anger. Bit of a catch 22.

I might consider a series drogue if I were doing a high latitude journey with a very high probability of heavy weather - but would prefer not to do such a trip anyway.

Having said that, the next time I do an offshore sailing trip I'll no doubt find myself on my knees in the cockpit begging for a sea anchor!
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Like many things in sailing its just a matter of practice & more practice.

If you are going to buy one look to do so from the States. Ours was less than half the price of those available in UK & Aus and that included import taxes.

See here. Lots of info http://www.para-anchor.com/
 
We had an Australian made Para-Anchor bought in the UK, the parachute must the right size for the weight of the boat so contact them to find out. To put that into context our boat weighed 14 tons and we had am 18 feet diameter parachute. One tip: make a bridle of rope (for the forward cleats) and chain encased in water pipe to fit around the bows with some slack, then shackle a line to it the same diameter as the parachute line and lead it back to alongside the cockpit. That makes it much easier to deploy. That was recommended to me by the RNLI. One other thought your boat has a skeg hung rudder so a parachute if fine. Parachute anchors allow boats to move backwards at about 45% to the wind and this can tear off a spade ruder, spade rudder boats should use drogues.
 
Twice I've carted a builder's 1 ton bag round the Atlantic. Never used in anger, even when riding out 50kts. As for buying a sea anchor/drogue, there are things I'd rather spend my money on.
 
>Twice I've carted a builder's 1 ton bag round the Atlantic. Never used in anger, even when riding out 50kts. As for buying a sea anchor/drogue, there are things I'd rather spend my money on.

We didn''t use our parachute anchor, liferaft, grab bag, danbuoy, lifesling or lifejackets, the only safety kit we used was harness and tether at night and in rough weather, but that's not a reason not to buy them. Sailors carry these for peace of mind and hope never to use them so I would recommend buying them especially if going long distance sailing.
 
KellysEye said:
One tip: make a bridle of rope (for the forward cleats) and chain encased in water pipe to fit around the bows with some slack, then shackle a line to it the same diameter as the parachute line and lead it back to alongside the cockpit. That makes it much easier to deploy. That was recommended to me by the RNLI. One other thought your boat has a skeg hung rudder so a parachute if fine. Parachute anchors allow boats to move backwards at about 45% to the wind and this can tear off a spade ruder, spade rudder boats should use drogues.
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Kelly's Eye Thanks for these helpful comments - one query: how exactly does one deploy - feed para and line out (but how to control/surge?) or throw all out and let bridle/cleats take the shock?
 
I wonder how discussions on heavy weather tactics, such as this and the 3rd reef thread on Scuttlebutt, would differ if they were being conducted on a small boat in 60 knots and 30' seas.

I marvel at the intricate, complex plans some people imagine can be implemented in storm conditions. If you've been on a small boat in such conditions you'll know what I mean; if you haven't, try to imagine it, and keep your systems as simple and robust as possible.
 
I didn't launch our parachute anchor but if the line is led bank to the cockpit feed the parachute and line out on the downwind side. You usually have about 200 feet of parachute line which will stretch so my bet is the shock will be OK for the cleats. I forgot to say the line back to the cockpit must have an spliced eye at the end for the parachue line shackle.
 
I've experienced some pretty tough conditions in Biscay as well as some other places. The tactics will differ for different types of boat but having sailed a Sadler 29 a bit I think it would heave to quite well with a good storm jib and possibly a heavily reefed main or trisail. These sails can be used as spares and also as sails for a jury rig so they have a number of uses. A sea anchor is only going to do what trailing warps/sail bags/sails/chain.

I would rather spend the money on extra harness points, second forestay, new rudder bearings, reinforced hatches washboard and or window storm boards.

And as others have said make it simple, accessible and stronger than you think you need. The boat is a good heavy weather boat so you shouldn't have too much to worry about.
 
> The tactics will differ for different types of boat but having sailed a Sadler 29 a bit I think it would heave to quite well with a good storm jib and possibly a heavily reefed main or trisail.

Indeed that is true, we had wind gusting up to 50 knots over Biscay. A cat hove to using both engines, a big ketch towed drogues, we kept sailing (38 foot steel ketch) with a heavily reefed genoa and a reefed mizzen that balanced the boat for the windvane. A cat hove to using both engines and a big ketch ran off with drogues. To give an idea of how bad it was a local fishing boat was lost will all hands, very sad.

>A sea anchor is only going to do what trailing warps/sail bags/sails/chain.

But they do different things, a sea (parachute) anchor goes on the bows and the boat goes backward, trailing warps/sail bags/sails/chain is the same as drogues over the stern slowing the boat down.
 
Meteo France weather forecasts are generally very accurate so there shouldn't be any need to sail in heavy weather. Main problem we've had crossing from LaRochelle is lack of wind, had to motor 40 hours last time to Gijon, previous trip to La Coruna we had the cruising chute out all the way. Save your money and wait for good forecast.
 
KellysEye said:
But they do different things, a sea (parachute) anchor goes on the bows and the boat goes backward, trailing warps/sail bags/sails/chain is the same as drogues over the stern slowing the boat down.
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You're right, I was thinking you could at least try to hold the boat bow into the breeze with drag from warps and sails, but I guess it will not have the same resistance as a huge parachute. these things do need to be tested before you have to use it for real though. So wait for a good F7 and go and play, then when you get the F10 at least you'll have an idea of the problems you'll face. I'll stick with hanked on storm sail on a separate forestay, bagged, tied to the rail but ready to go as soon as the forecast suggests anything near a F8.
 
>Meteo France weather forecasts are generally very accurate so there shouldn't be any need to sail in heavy weather.

We found the same and used MF for the first half of the Atlantic, much better than the useless NOAA forecasts in the east Atlantic that don't give winds under 20 knots. Unfortunately there are two problems. The first is the Forecast for he Finisterre area is usually wrong because the weather around Cape Finisterre is local and generally two forces higher than the forecast, which we knew, but had worse. Also on long passages you take what comes along and can't avoid the bad stuff.
 
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