Anchoring

[BenMP]

I am new to anchoring and was wondering about what the standard procedure is in terms of how long can you leave the boat?
Do you need to leave someone on board?
How do you find out the rules for anchoring in an area?

[Vasco]

How long you leave your boat unattended at anchor depends entirely on how comfortable you are with leaving the boat unattended.

[PCP]

Also on the quality and size of your anchor and chain, the amount of chain you have out, in proportion with the depth, the quality and holding of the bottom, the quality of the shelter, the weather forecast and so on

Regards

Paulo

[swadiver]

It also depends on where you anchor. In the guest anchorage in the turning basin at Newport Beach, Ca. you cannot leave. Of course if you start to drag you are going to hit something with many $$$$ signs attached. In this case you would call the harbor master and inquire about the rules relating to anchoring.

[centaursailor]

You might also need to concider your insurers views on leaving the boat unattended at anchor.
Regards,
Brian

[imagine2frolic]

Vasco answered the first question. You can leacve someon board if you want to be a prisoner to the boat. Every place will be different, and your best insurance is your groundtackle itself..........i2f

[BenMP]

Thanks for the info.

So if I anchor 1/4 off the SoCal coast and come ashore in the dinghy to visit relatives for several days, what are the chances of the boat getting towed?
are guest slips/moorings the way to go?

[HDChopper]

Boat getting towed!!??

What & why would a boat get towed if at anchor ? of course one wouldn't anchor in anywhere one shouldn't .

I would like to know an answer to this also as I plan to do a lot of anchoring up and down the west coast .

personally I don't have a lot of marina money , retired on fixed income.

[skipgundlach]

Methinks there are way too many variables to give any single answer. Personally, I'm uncomfortable leaving our home anchored anywhere overnight. Too many possibilities for mischief or misfortune.

However, we routinely leave it for a long day ashore (into the night, frequently, but rarely very late, more a product of the sort of folks we are than for concern). That said, we also monitor the weather very closely, and if we're the least bit worried, would cut whatever we're doing short and go back.

Another rule of thumb I use is that anchor chain does me no good in the locker. My personal minimum, other than for an on-board lunch-hook type situation, is 7-1 scope, IN THE WATER (we have markers on our chain to guide me), including allowing for tide range and the 5' our anchor rollers are above the water. Thus, here, in 10' at high tide (plus the bow roller height), I have 125' in the water in our protected location.

Given that our measure is ITW (see above) chain, even if it goes pretty tight in a big blow, we'll still have 7-1 due to the added 15-20' of chain between the roller and the water when it's stretched. If we're going to see 20 knots or better, I increase that to 10-1, and if it's REALLY expecting to blow (half-gale, say), if the holding, based on my prior experience, is excellent, I'll go to 15 or more to 1. If I'm the least suspicious of the holding, I'll put out our second anchor on a similar scope.

Our primary, for our 40,000# (fully provisioned, fueled and watered) boat is a Delta 55. Our secondary is a CQR 75. The Delta has been described as monstrous overkill by a very experienced mariner, but I'd much rather have too much than too little. "All chain" rode has a very salutary effect as well, as ours weighs just a smidgen over a pound a foot.

If things got really sticky, I'd tandem rig with our Danforths ahead of these. Both the Delta and CQR have holes at the shank tip for attaching either a buoy (for location, or if you had to, to free a foul) or a chain. Putting about 20' of chain out in front, with a Danforth, will assure a VERY deep pull, as the heavy primary anchor will act as a kellet for the Danforth. Even if the primary drags, the Danforth will still be on the ground. The catenary of the long chain, of course, serves the same purpose for the primary, but if you got a truly strong blow, even 300' of chain will straighten out, perhaps enough to get the shank off the bottom, enhancing the possibility for the anchor to dislodge.

HTH

L8R

Skip


Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at Web-Folio -- Your Portfolio on the Web !
Follow us at TheFlyingPigLog : Morgan 461 Hull #2, Flying Pig
and/or Flying Pig Log | Google Groups

"Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so
much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in
boats-or *with* boats.

In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's
the charm of it.

Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

[Craig Smith]

Skip there are a number of errors throughout your post. While I'm sure newbies appreciate the comprehensive response, it would help to deal with some of the inaccuracies.

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Given that our measure is ITW (see above) chain, even if it goes pretty tight in a big blow, we'll still have 7-1 due to the added 15-20' of chain between the roller and the water when it's stretched. If we're going to see 20 knots or better, I increase that to 10-1, and if it's REALLY expecting to blow (half-gale, say), if the holding, based on my prior experience, is excellent, I'll go to 15 or more to 1.

There is very little point in scopes much about 8:1. At this point the minimum angle of pull is 7 degrees, and it takes double the scope to halve the angle (i.e. a ridiculous length to gain a few degrees). You are well beyond the point where the weight of the extra rode deployed would be far better spent on the anchor - i.e. if you're anchor's not holding at 8:1 it ain't big enough. More scope becomes a ludicrous use of weight, in terms of a resource, and a good way to annoy any other boats around you.

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Our primary, for our 40,000# (fully provisioned, fueled and watered) boat is a Delta 55. Our secondary is a CQR 75. The Delta has been described as monstrous overkill by a very experienced mariner, but I'd much rather have too much than too little.

I don't think that's overkill. It depends on more than the boat's displacement of course. Any Delta can be replaced by a more efficient modern anchor of around 75% the size, and the CQR replaced by the same of around 50% the size, for equivalent holding performance. The latter particularly is a horribly outdated piece of 1930s legacy that has no place anywhere other than the lawn as an ornament.

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

If things got really sticky, I'd tandem rig with our Danforths ahead of these.

This is a good way to ensure things do get sticky.

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Both the Delta and CQR have holes at the shank tip for attaching either a buoy (for location, or if you had to, to free a foul) or a chain.

No, they don't. The attachment points on these anchors are for retrieval lines, one would think it somewhat obvious from the intent of "retrieval" that it would be very silly to go attaching a tandem to them. Tandem attachment points must be correctly located to avoid unbalancing the anchor; if you attach a tandem to the trip line attachment points of either a CQR or Delta you will trip it (funnily enough) when it comes under sufficient loading.

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Putting about 20' of chain out in front, with a Danforth, will assure a VERY deep pull, as the heavy primary anchor will act as a kellet for the Danforth.

I don't recommend using a Danforth as a tandem anchor. They do not set reliably enough.
The notion of the primary becoming a kellet is something of a circular argument. Forces requiring tandems will raise any 'kellet' to the line of the rode, kellets are conceptually useless in this scenario. The primary will either resist the vertical loading, or not, in which case the system will fail.

http://www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-an...-anchoring.php

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Even if the primary drags, the Danforth will still be on the ground. The catenary of the long chain, of course, serves the same purpose for the primary, but if you got a truly strong blow, even 300' of chain will straighten out, perhaps enough to get the shank off the bottom, enhancing the possibility for the anchor to dislodge.

This notion of "the shank getting off the bottom" is incorrect, a set anchor has no idea where the plane of the seabed is and whether it's parallel to it. The only issue is the amount of vertical loading in the rode at the anchor. The anchor will either hold, or not, depending on whether it is well set or can simply pull up and out. Catenary is effectively not present in severe conditions and the only way of reducing that lifting force is scope, see above.

www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-anchors/catenary.php