The worst and funniest ways on how not to anchor!

[flaming]

Loud braying voice - "I say, you seem to be dragging!"
Me - "ok, but are you 100% sure it isn't you that's dragging?"
"I think I'd know if I was dragging thank you!"
"I see, so I'm dragging upwind and uptide then?"

I start the engine and power off to one side whilst he drags past, then shut if off once he's safely astern, where he continues towards another boat.

"I say, you seem to be dragging...."

 

[JumbleDuck]

Anchored at Carrick Castle (mouth of Loch Goil) with perhaps five other boats. Along comes another, with a bluff character at the helm. Powers through the anchored boats, shouting disparaging comments at everyone else as he goes. Drops anchor. Motors back, closer and closer to his floating dinghy painter. Nobody says a word. Closer and closer. Silence. Chug-chug-chug-chug-chunk.

He did redeem himself, though, because as soon as his engine stopped he stripped off his shirt, grabbed a knife and dived in. It was pretty impressive - he must have been in within ten seconds of getting snarled up.

 

[Tony Cross]

I've still not seen this personally (though no doubt others have) but in the Ionian this summer as a charter yacht reversed into their stern-to mooring we heard the plaintive cry from the young girl handling the anchor on the foredeck; "Dad, the anchor's in the dinghy!"

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

anchor in a busy anchorage, with not quite/only just enough space for another boat.... pick a spot near a 26 footer, thinking that they'll have a smaller swinging circle than the 45'ers elsewhere.... wait for the tide to change and wind to pick up.... discover that the 26' is a ferro and is still sitting to the new tide, and everyone else in their light boats is now sitting to the wind... get fenders out and cover red face while recovering anchor and going elsewhere.

 

[andymcp]

In the interests of not exclusively criticising others, I did arrive in Ardminish Bay in Gigha one time with a friend's boat. En route we had discovered that much of the boat's systems and toys had not fared well from lack of use, so many hours of DIY ensued to pass the time. We arrived at Gigha looking forward to dropping the hook (moorings were full) and pouring a large one, when we then discovered that the anchor roller had been bent well out of shape in a recent storm, and there was no way to get the pin out. Handing the helm to my brother with the rather vague description of 'don't hit anything', I jumped in the dinghy pulled it up to the bow and set about trying to find a way to free the anchor with my friend offering helpful comments from above. It was only when several comments were made in what appeared to be different voices that I looked around properly to see that my brother, while delivering on the request not to hit anything, had gently motored through the middle of the moorings, allowing everyone a close-up view of our work in progress which had by this point been reduced to trying to hammer the bl**dy pin out.

 

[Roberto]

I've only done it once, but it was this summer (so after 30+ years of sailing). Anchored perfectly in a small fjord, hoisted the black anchor ball, attached the snubber, dug in the anchor under engine etc. All done in silence and calm, text book style. Only after an hour or so did one of my boys say "Dad, are we going to drop the sails? ...." Funny thing was that the boat actually lay rather quieter than normal. Red face anyway.

+1, I once did that too

Just finished everything, snubbers bearings ball and all, aaahhh, open a beer in the cockpit, point the eyes upwards and there was the quietly flapping mainsail

 

[30boat]

I was trying to drop my anchor quite far from a German boat when owner and Frau start shouting at me saying that I was over their anchor which was a bit funny because we were side to side and pointing in the same direction.It turns out they had two anchors, widely splayed, with huge scope and I had no way of knowing that.Sure enough I lifted their starboard anchor while they watched with angry faces.I moved off as far away as I could.They had a for sale sign with a telephone number and I had a friend in search of a boat but did I tell him?Hell,no!

 

[dom]

I recall an event where every evening the Committee Boat would tie up pride of place beside its pristine Connecticut clubhouse. On the morning of the penultimate day of racing passersby were perplexed by its anchor chain, which trailed across the Commodore's lawn to a stainless steel Bruce buried in a rather attractive rose bed!

 

[Woodlouse]

I've only done it once, but it was this summer (so after 30+ years of sailing). Anchored perfectly in a small fjord, hoisted the black anchor ball, attached the snubber, dug in the anchor under engine etc. All done in silence and calm, text book style. Only after an hour or so did one of my boys say "Dad, are we going to drop the sails? ...." Funny thing was that the boat actually lay rather quieter than normal. Red face anyway.

Not anchoring but I did that after tying up to the pontoon at the end of my Yachtmaster exam. Lines were all ashore so engine off, I step onto the dock to adjust a spring, look up and "ah... Suppose we'd best take that down as well."

Fortunately I'd already been passed and the examiner was busy below debriefing another candidate.

 

[Corribee Boy]

Dropped anchor while on charter in the Ionian. The anchor seemed to hold so I decided to go for a snorkel, and thought I might as well check the anchor while I was at it.

There it was, sitting in a discarded bucket!

 

[JumbleDuck]

Dropped anchor while on charter in the Ionian. The anchor seemed to hold so I decided to go for a snorkel, and thought I might as well check the anchor while I was at it.

There it was, sitting in a discarded bucket!

I think this wins,

 

[GrahamD]

Dropped anchor while on charter in the Ionian. The anchor seemed to hold so I decided to go for a snorkel, and thought I might as well check the anchor while I was at it.

There it was, sitting in a discarded bucket!

That has reminded me of a time in the mid-seventies when I was working on passenger boats around the Poole area. I took a boat with about 50 passengers to watch the Cowes Torquay Cowes powerboat race. We dropped the Fisherman anchor near the Branksome Head turn mark, and it immediately held -however it was impossible to retrieve so we buoyed it and took the passengers back to shore.

Next morning we returned with diving gear. The anchor was still stuck so two of us dived the line. Visibility was good and all around the seabed was level sand, except a single rock about 20' across and 6' high . In the middle of this was a very deep, round hole, almost exactly the width of the Fishermans anchor, with our anchor chain coming out of it. It took the two of us about 5 mins to work the anchor out of the hole. I've often wondered what the odds were of such accuracy.

 

[Neil]

On my first (only!) charter, IPulled into the lee of a little island in the Saronic, about 8 metres from the shore, for lunch (with some either boats). Asked the first mate to let out the anchor chain. After a while I said that should be plenty! However, I noticed that we were drifting back, so wandered up to the bow to see the chain hanging down vertically, with the anchor hanging above the sea bed. Went back to check the depth to find that I was in 90-odd feet of water, not 9.odd meters. Let out the whole chain.

When it came time to leave, the electric windlass had just decided to stop working, so I had to pull up the entire length of chain by hand.

 

[nova_castria]

Simples .......CANNA ...on a Saturday night once the charters arrive always fun to watch ..hehehe

 

[Ardenfour]

good idea to check that, when chucking your anchor off the front end, that it's actually connected to the chain...

 

[phanakapan]

We arrived in Prickly Bay Grenada, and as it completed our circumnavigation, not only were we 'dressed overall' but we also announced our arrival on the VHF 'net' and blew the foghorn, popped champagne corks, danced about and made quite a hullabaloo as we strutted through the very busy anchorage.
Shame that it was just at that point that our steering cable gave way, causing a lot of swearing and frantic searching for the emergency tiller as we drifted towards the plastic fantastics in our trusty but rusty!
Luckily I knew where the emergency tiller was and we subsequently anchored quickly and efficiently without our usual faffing and fighting for once!

 

[lpdsn]

Finland. Come in with crew member on the bow, who quickly jumps onto the pontoon and neatly ties off both bowlines. Then remember you didn't drop the anchor over the stern as you approached. Open locker on bathing platform, retrieve anchor and hurl it as far as you can (about three feet). Haul tight on line. Ponder for five minutes and realise all the other boats have a longer scope. Retrieve anchor and try again, with no better success.

To be fair to him, he did then cast off and do it properly.

 

[Peroo]

Dropped anchor off Portsmouth in Dominica - reversed on anchor - everything good, and had an excellent evening ashore with friends.
Woke up in the night to attend to natures demands and found ourselves approaching the pushpit of a bennie only metres away - rapidly adjusted clothing, started engine and motored quietly(?) away and picked up a mooring at dawn - still not sure what went awry.........

Dropped anchor off Deshais - everything looked good, transits, depth, gps etc. and after a couple of hours and one or two beers went below. After midnight discovered depth had increased, gps was not what we had recorded and the island was disappearing.......went off to Antigua very early.......

Have changed anchor......

 

[JumbleDuck]

Simples .......CANNA ...on a Saturday night once the charters arrive always fun to watch ..hehehe

I had great fun once, short tacking singlehanded past about twenty yachts anchored in Puilladhobhran to anchor at the south end. My outboard was hors de combat (and indeed ashore) so I had no choice, but once it was clear I was doing it under sail I had an appreciative audience in almost every boat, their heads snapping round at each tack like meercats watching tennis. I did not hit any of them, by the way, or even come close.

 

[OldBawley]

We anchored with a stern anchor in some Turkish bay. Bowsprit over a low restaurant quay. Two landlines from bow to quay. In order to paint markings on the main anchor chain I dropped the main anchor under our bow in 5 feet of water, just 6 feet from the quay.

More yachts came in and imitated our way of mooring, including the main under the bow.
Beeeee.