Swaying at anchor..

[wipe_out]

I find that when we anchor and there is even a bit of wind the boat has a tenancy to sway for side to side over and over, the more wind the more sway and it gets faster.. I have tried letting out more rode but that made no difference.. I figured some on here do a lot of anchoring so there must be some tricks to keep the boat more stable and stop the swaying..

So what do you suggest I try?

 

[omega2]

Throw a drogue off the stern, or even a bucket might hold you, make sure you tie it to the boat first!!

 

[wipe_out]

Throw a drogue off the stern, or even a bucket might hold you, make sure you tie it to the boat first!!

Haha..

I thought of trying something like that, and probably will give it a go next time, but last time we were anchored and swaying there was no real current that I noticed for the drogue/bucket to be pulled by..

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

I have heard that setting a small sail to one side biasses the sway so it dosent cross a centre dead zone. Also a spring tied to the chain a few metres in front of the bow roller and to midships one side will also give that same bias.

 

[Nick_H]

hmm, I hadn't thought of using a drogue. I wouldn't have thought it would have that much effect (unless there's a current from the same direction as the wind) because the stern is only moving maybe 10-20m in one direction, then 10-20m the other, but I'll give it a try this week if the wind picks up. Maybe with some weight at the narrow end it would hang vertically and then offer resistance as soon as the stern tries to move? Either way I guess it needs to be on a very short rope. I'll report back

Wipeout, it happens to every anchored boat, and mobos with light bows are affected more. AFAIK everyone just lives with it (except Omega2 ) Other than the drogue idea above you can reduce it slightly by fitting an anchor bridle with two longish ropes, one tied to each bow cleat, but it's only a marginal improvement and hardly worth the effort. A bridle will stop the chain snatching though, which is the main issue with yawing at anchor imho.

 

[BruceK]

A small drogue if there is current and it's in the direction of the swell too. Don't want to be beam on.

Failing that a small stern kedge is used to keep the bow into the swell. When there is a big tide difference though a stern kedge can be a lot of work continually tightening or loosening up.

In a tight anchorage when nobody else is using a kedge you cant use one or when the tide swings and you dont.... your neighbours crash into you ...
in those circumstances a snubber / warp with camel hitch to chain, that goes to a midship cleat and drawn tight to form a Y will hold the boat off bow centre and can be adjusted to the wind. I would not do this in anything but the mildest weather though.