Stupid anchor question.....

[Alpha22]

Without wanting to start another anchor thread.......... The type of anchor is irrelevant (or is it?)

Stoopid question time.

I arrive in the hypothetical perfect bay/estuary and anchor up for the night. I set my anchor with the current tide and dig it in. I have a few beers and retire for the night.
At silly o'clock in the morning, the tide changes and I am now fast asleep in my bunk with the boat pointing the wrong way. What happens?

a) The anchor pulls out and re-sets itself magically.
b) The anchor holds fast 'cause I dug it in well.
c) I have to set an alarm clock and haul the anchor up in the middle of the night, in pitch blackness, in my PJ's and slippers and reset it the opposite way.
d) The anchor pulls out and we are washed up on the rocks and die a horrible death.

 

[Ian MacAulay]

A

 

[Poignard]

E. soon after slack water, I'm woken by the sound of people shouting.

 

[jfm]

Usually a, but b if very light conditions. If d happens, the anchor alarm (on your MFD or iPhone app) will wake you up to avoid the dying part

 

[Searush]

F. you won't be able to sleep all night for worrying about it
G. you wake in the morning after a skinfull, & sleeping like a corpse, to find yourself safely anchored miles away in another place.

As a novice, neither of these are impossible scenarios, but if you take bearings after setting the anchor & check them before going to bed you stand a good chance of sleeping fairly well & still being in the same place in the morning. Mostly, because I am in an area of BIG tides, I lay out a lot of chain & at the next low water you can see the sweep in the sand/ mud left by the chain & the anchor hasn't moved at all despite quite strong currents. Anchors are designed to flip over & dig back in again if necessary tho so it shouldn't be an issue.

In most locations, tides turn every 6 hours, so you stand a good chance of seeing her thro at least one turn before going to bed - use that to check your bearings & it should help you sleep. But once, many years ago, I woke up to notice that a nearby boat had left early. They returned at about lunch & I asked them where they went to so early. Rather sheepishly they admitted they had been fast asleep & had woken up on the other side of the sound. They had drifted into deep water with the anchor dangling, but it simply reset itself when they reached the shallower water on the other side. Quite a surprise, but no great danger really.