securing a stern line to the beach

[rigpigpaul]

Hi All, I plan to anchor in small remote beaches this summer. They will be mainly small shale . I do not want to use an anchor. I want to maybe use an auger or rod hammered into the sand. Th e boat is 12m. Your advice is greatly appreciated. RPP

 

[Mistroma]

It would work when the wind is guaranteed to remain in roughly the same direction and not drop in strength. I've seen people take likes ashore to rocks or trees when strong wind forecast and it got up to F11. They had an anchor out as well and could release the shore line if required.

Taking a line ashore is really common in many places but the boat always has an anchor out or is tied to a mooring buoy.

In normal circumstances you'd never guarantee that the wind wouldn't drop or change direction. I don't see it as a feasible option without an anchor. You'd be pretty close to the shore, even with a long line tied to something on the shore.

Who suggested the idea? How successful was it and why did they say it was better than using an anchor? I realise shale gives poor holding but it will be enough to hold you away from the shore if a light breeze gets up. You probably wouldn't want to be anchored there if a strong onshore wind is likely.

 

[Neeves]

The idea of choosing an anchorage is that the wind is off the land, so the land offers some protection from the predominant wind. Your idea is thus very sound, in theory. Sadly the wind does not listen to forecasts (they are forecasts not certainties) and blows from inconvenient directions.

But if you sail in a keeled yachts and the tides are, say 4m, you will need to have your yacht secured such that you have water under your keel, no matter the state of tide - and this might mean you are a long way from shore. You might need a very long rode - and this will exacerbate the recalcitrance of the wind (as a long rode will allow your yacht to wander freely.

We often use shore lines, or rely on more than one anchor - for a variety of reasons - but commonly to stop our cat wandering around with gusty wind (coming into the anchorage from unpredictable directions).

Here the anchorage is tight, but good holding and 'outside' was subject to a Storm warning. Gust were coming down the hill sides and through gaps in the trees forcing both yachts to yawing in totally unpredictable directions. Blaze used 2 anchors off the bow at about 60 degrees (to each other) and one shore line and we used 2 shore lines and one anchor off the bow. Each of the shore lines are tied to trees.


Here was have set anchors of each transom, we have used dyneema as the aft rodes (old halyards) and you can just see one rode - its the pale line and we conventionally have deployed the anchor off the bow.



If you are going to set a rode to a beach you need to think through how you physically achieve this - as you need to leave the yacht to complete the exercise - who is going to be responsible for the yacht when you 'deploy' your auger?

Know how: Ground Tackle

Know how: Expanding your Anchoring Repertoire

In Patagonia shore lines are common but the yacht is always secured with an anchor, usually off the bow. Shore lines and devices are stored in a variety of ways, here conventionally using drum of rope on the transom



Less conventionally in a re-birthed laundry basket - but note the amount of rope available.


Take care, stay safe

Jonathan

 

[Bilgediver]

Hi All, I plan to anchor in small remote beaches this summer. They will be mainly small shale . I do not want to use an anchor. I want to maybe use an auger or rod hammered into the sand. Th e boat is 12m. Your advice is greatly appreciated. RPP

I would have more faith in an anchor embedded in wet sand below the surface than a spike in dry sand unless it was exceptionally long. A tree might be an option if a long enough line but a nuisance to other visitors to the beach. Would always deploy an anchor to take care of wind change as others show. The only exception might be a picniic stop.

Did once tie up to a tree with no anchor but then the water depth was against us. The tree was on a sheer cliff and the water deep.

 

[srm]

Having sailed a fair bit in Norway I like using shore lines where the water is deep enough to lie close in, though have used 50 metres plus to windward in storm conditions. In every case I anchored first then flaked the shore line into the dinghy. Secured the shore line to a large tree at ground level or big rock then paid the line out rowing back to the boat. Shore line hauled in so boat lay between anchor and shore. I do not like the idea of lying to a long shore line without an anchor deployed to hold the boat away from the shore should the wind could fall light or change direction.

Driving a stake into shale sounds somewhat dodgy unless you know conditions will remain calm, but even so you need a means to keep the boat from drifting back against the beach.

I have run shore lines onto a beach, but secured them to a buried anchor when natural strong points were not within reach. I have also secured the boat to trees fore and aft with big fenders against natural rock cliffs.

 

[rigpigpaul]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I intend using a bow anchor. I have anchored in plenty of bays with shore lines tied to rocks. I want to spend some time in small bays with shale beaches. I have a stern/kedge anchor which is a beast. It came with the boat. I could buy two smaller kedge anchors but means more gear to stow. I would not be anchoring in rough weather. RPP

 

[jdc]

I always assumed that the OP intended anchoring from the bow, and then using a line ashore from the stern in the classic manner - so the question 'what does one do if there's no convenient tree or rock to tie to?' is a reasonable one. My initial thought is probably 'go elsewhere where it will probably be more scenic anyway'.

But trying to answer the question at face value it strikes me that one needs a large block to tie to, rather like a mooring block. How to crate a large block? Answer: take a stout rubble sack of about a cubic metre (eg from Jewson's last delivery of sand), and on the beach dig a hole, put the sack in it and then back-fill the sack with the stones just dug out. Tie the stern line to the handles of the sack.

 

[Mistroma]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I intend using a bow anchor. I have anchored in plenty of bays with shore lines tied to rocks. I want to spend some time in small bays with shale beaches. I have a stern/kedge anchor which is a beast. It came with the boat. I could buy two smaller kedge anchors but means more gear to stow. I would not be anchoring in rough weather. RPP

I didn't see the stern line reference and either missed it or you were editing it while I was replying. I spotted it immediately today and realised my mistake before even reading the thread.

I imagine an auger would be as bulky as an anchor, possibly even more so. You could bury an anchor as it is designed to provide more holding that a similar weight of ballast. Ships used to use a rock as an anchor but soon discovered a purposed built anchor was better.

I suspect that if ground is solid enough for a medium sized stake then an anchor will grip as well. I suppose a 5ft stake would be OK but a pain to hammer in.

I'd probably stick to an anchor on balance and use a spade to bury it if grip isn't good.

 

[Yngmar]

We tied to whatever is there, big rocks, trees, bits of civilization (walls, rusty rings, once I found a huge cast iron winch half overgrown with vegetation) . Failing that, I'd use an aluminium Fortress/Guardian or some such and set it on the beach. Light enough to dinghy ashore and great unidirectional holding power. A Grapnel anchor (fixed or folding) would probably also work well - Greek fishermen use them for just about any situation.

Rods and augers will be comparably hard to set and probably tear out when pulled at 90 degree angles. The Swedes use special rock hooks (Schärenanker), but they have wonderfully cracked rocks suitable for that.

The other thing we figured out is that the whole job is vastly easier when you go bows towards the land, with a stern anchor out the back in the water. Much easier to hold the boat in position when shorthanded while deploying the shorelines. In light winds we just drop the bow anchor straight down temporarily (something we copied from Greek ferries) and then have all the time in the world to sort out shorelines. Once they're in place, we pick the bow anchor back up and hang between shorelines and stern anchor. Going that way around is also putting your rudder out of harms way and the very useful depth sounder near the bow where it can actually get useful readings.

 

[jdc]

...the whole job is vastly easier when you go bows towards the land, with a stern anchor out the back in the water.

Really interesting: can you explain more? I must admit I rather like the stern for ropes and bow for anchor, but maybe I'm just hidebound?

 

[srm]

Its interesting, in Scandinavia stern anchors and bow lines to the shore are the norm. In the Med bow anchor and stern lines ashore. Certainly, in Norwegian anchorages you can usually have the shore to windward and the stern anchor is just to hold the boat steady, sometimes in deep water.

 

[Yngmar]

Really interesting: can you explain more? I must admit I rather like the stern for ropes and bow for anchor, but maybe I'm just hidebound?

Erm, thought I did. I painted a modern art masterpiece to illustrate further:

1. Drop stern anchor as you approach, then move up to shore. Key advantages: Going bows in, your depth sounder will have a useful reading and you don't have to worry about smashing your rudder on a rock.
2. Drop bow anchor straight down. This is optional but makes it super easy because the boat will now stay put while you:
3. Tie lines ashore in your own time.
4. Pick up bow anchor

Only downside is, you need a usable stern anchor setup. We've got a Guardian anchor with some 60m pieced together rope and 5m chain leader on an old reel. Works quite well! When doing it the backwards way (stern towards shore), our monohull is quite tricky to hold in position with a breeze blowing from the shore. With this method one person can do the entire procedure on their own and it's overall far less messing about and amusement for others

 

[jdc]

Thank you. I understood what you were describing - I like the sketch 'tho! -but I didn't understand why it's better than the other way round: leave the line ashore and the anchors where they are, but turn the boat 180 in the sketch and you have what we do.

I guess the echo sounder as you come in is the key point?

 

[Yngmar]

The sounder readings actually showing the depth we're interested in is very useful (we used this on coastlines too steep to anchor the normal way), as is the rudder being out of harms way instead of pointing into rocks. The draft of the bow is much lower (with fin keels anyways), so on very steep coasts you can get further in this way. But that's just bonus.

The real advantage for us is that going bows in and using both anchors is just so much easier to do shorthanded. The wife isn't the fastest swimmer and not confident alone in the dinghy and holding position stern upwind with the bow anchor in deep water is quite tricky (in a flat calm, anything is easy, but that's been rare in practice). With our method it's very relaxed and I can even do it on my own. I drive the boat up to where we want it (stern anchor set out the back), stop, go forward to splash down the bow anchor. The boat usually falls back 1-2m and stays there. Then we can take our time swimming or dinghying ashore, picking a good thing to tie the lines to and taking them back to the boat. Afterwards everything can be adjusted on deck and the bow anchor picked up or not.

I've yet to see anyone do it with less faff, including the superyacht crews with four people in their support boat, pre-arranging lines with buoys to pick up from the ship. Took us a season to figure out, a cut toe (very sharp rock) and an angry seagull swooping at the wife while she struggled to tie a line around some boulder

 

[Dantp]

Something like this might work well buried in the beach
deadman snow anchor - Google Search

They certainly work in snow.

You would probably need it a bit bigger but essentially a flat plate buried just off vertical in the beach with a slot cut for the rope.

 

[rotrax]

Its interesting, in Scandinavia stern anchors and bow lines to the shore are the norm. In the Med bow anchor and stern lines ashore. Certainly, in Norwegian anchorages you can usually have the shore to windward and the stern anchor is just to hold the boat steady, sometimes in deep water.

Probably safer for the vessel to go bow in in the Baltic. Less chance of bending a prop or damaging a rudder.

Folklore has it that there are only two sorts of sailors in the Baltic.

Ones who have hit a rock, or those who are about to.

 

[srm]

Probably safer for the vessel to go bow in in the Baltic. Less chance of bending a prop or damaging a rudder.

Also, a lot of the smaller local boats do not carry a dinghy so go bows up to the rocks to get ashore.

As to hitting rocks, its part of exploring narrow creeks and anchorages. I have done so a few times on the west coat of Norway, but that was in a boat drawing two metres.

 

[BabaYaga]

Its interesting, in Scandinavia stern anchors and bow lines to the shore are the norm. In the Med bow anchor and stern lines ashore.

It should be pointed out though, that up here, stern anchor and bow lines to shore in 99 percent of the cases is about being close enough to step ashore directly from the bow.
As seen in the background of this photo – of one of the few occasions I have chosen to take long bowlines ashore, sort of 'med style' turned around.

 

[Neeves]

Another asset to consider are rock climbers pitons. Hammer one into a crack in a rock and you have an instant, or almost instant, anchoring point. The security of the devices is good - if you find a rock with a reasonable crack in it.

In reality you want a carabiner to fit the eye of the piton (also available where you buy your pitons).

You do need a hammer - any old (or new) hammer will do.

If you don't have any pitons handy take a few short pieces of reinforcing bar/rod - they will also be secure if hammered into a crack in a rock. If positioned carefully they ,make good anchoring points (commonly used by crayfishermen in Tasmania


In our last visit to the Baltic it was interesting the number of yachts that had no anchor on the bow but had a (bow) roller on the stern - so a stern roller and the rode led into a stern locker - housing a windlass. The idea of a modern anchor appears to have left the Balts cold - Bruce were very common. The reason for anchoring bow in is to protect the rudder. Unlike a Med moor that is to a pier with depth right upto the pier edge the anchorages in the Baltic are commonly to natural features that might could appendages. Scandanavian yachts are commonly designed, or have the relevant equipment to allow boarding from the bow (Passerelle - but sized to fit the bow).

Scandinavian chandlers and suppliers of components for yachts offer a number of items for Baltic mooring - a concept that would fit well in other parts of the world.

Think outside the box - anchoring is not restricted to deploying rode and anchor from the bow

Know how: Expanding your Anchoring Repertoire

Jonathan



Take care, stay safe

Jonathan

 

[srm]

The idea of a modern anchor appears to have left the Balts cold - Bruce were very common.

I remember being told in Norway that anchoring out in a bay was not a good idea as the bottom was soft with no rock for the anchor to grip.
I found my Bruce usually worked well on rock once it found a crack or edge to grip. Mooring between the anchor and shore line also ensured that the anchor was likely to maintain its hold with a consistent direction of load.