The Joy of Anchoring.

[tdw]

Ok...now lets fess up here....how many of you realise how important an anchor buoy is ? And how many of you use one on a regular basis ?

How many use an all chain rode ?

Me, I've read all the magazine articles and while we we do have an all chain (well at least the first 40 metres) rode, have I ever actually rigged an anchor buoy?

Nope !! Never. Not once.

Why ? Can't be bothered. Oh sure, if I was anchoring in a dodgey area for more than an overnighter I might do it but most anchorages in our cruising grounds are pretty benign when it comes to snags and in forty years of mucking about in boats not never have I ever snagged an anchor line.

Ah...sorry....make that once.....

Yesterday.

We'd spent the night in one of our favourite spots where we have anchored so many times without a snag despite the fact that supposedly the bottom is foul. This is due to the area once being used as a ship repair yard and apparantly the odd piece of old ship "accidentally' slipped overboard.

So Sunday morning, I'm sitting out in the cockpit enjoying an early morning cup of tea when a workboat came out of the naval yard nearby. This set up a wash in the anchorage and I realised that the bow was coming up then 'bang crash' it would pull up short, hell of a racket, nasty jarring.

When things quietened down I went forward to see what was up. We were anchored in only 4.5metres though the water is not clear enough to see the bottom. Chain went straight down. I pulled up some chain by hand and it came in for a couple of metres then bang...stopped short. Erkkk.

Started the engine and reversed her against the swing. We didn't come to a jarring halt but it was a bit of a labour. This time used the windlass to haul up the chain and although it laboured mightily eventually up came a bloody great huge lump of rusted metal into which the anchor chain was most solidly embedded. Managed to eventually free it with a crowbar and bolt cutters then reanchored further out in the bay.

All's well that ends well but had that lump of iron been twice the size there is no way we could have got it up to the surface and it would have been a case of slip the anchor chain, hoping that at a later date a diver might have been able to find it. Worse case scenario we could have been down one anchor and 40 odd metres of chain. With an anchor buoy we could have easily located the anchor for later retrieval.

So there you go. Will we use an anchor buoy in future ? Probably not but it does give one pause for thought.

Most importantly for me it justifies fully, having an all chain rode. Had that been line then in all probability it would have cut through during the night.

[Faster]

Around here we have plenty of so-called "foul anchorages" - mostly due to old logging operations with good odds that there are old cables, boom chains and even winches etc laying about. Naturally these areas are generally well protected and have become commonly used weekend and overnight spots.

One of these we avoided for years based on such tales, until a couple of years ago we joined a new club, some of the members of which enjoyed this bay on a regular basis... encouraged by the "been coming here for 10 years and never snagged anything" comments, we joined them.

And, of course, first time as I was lifting the anchor it got really heavy... NO windlass, thank you very much, and it was all I could do to pull a foot at a time over the roller, this in about 40 feet of water. Some time later, got to chain, and finally the anchor broke the surface bringing with it a rusty old wire rope cable draped across the flukes. Used a boat hook to unhook the thing and returned it to the deep, unfortunately, to possibly trap another victim.

We have returned since without incident... just the luck of the drop, I guess.

[klem]

I have never buoyed an anchor either. While I hate to admit it, you can always write off the primary anchor and use your "storm" anchor as your primary until you get a chance to get a new one. I really can't imagine some harbors full of anchored boats with buoys everywhere. It is bad enough with different types of boats swinging differently, different amounts of scope and different types of rodes (chain vs. line).

I worked on a 92' schooner with a large hydraulic windlass for 9 years and we hooked all sorts of stuff. The boat hangs to its anchor an average of 5 days a week, 5 months a year so there is lots of chances for hooking stuff. Things that I can remember picking up are a 10 ton mooring block(we couldn't get it off the bottom), part of an old sunken boat, some 1" anchor chain that seemed to be fastened on both ends, probably 50 wires and hundreds of pieces of pot warp. Somehow, we always got it all unwrapped but it wasn't always easy. We usually doubled a line around whatever we had fouled, slipped chain to get the anchor clear then released the doubled line. The thing that fouled the most was the anchor itself since it is a fisherman type and every circle you do in the night means another turn around the stock.

Isn't there a joke about a couple going bareboating and calling the charter company on the 3rd day saying that the company didn't give them enough anchors. I guess some people don't think they are reusable.

[MoonSailer]

I always use a anchor float and it has saved my anchor several times. Even routinely if the anchor is deeply set pulling it up by the float line is easier. also the float makes it easy to see if the anchor is dragging. The float also tells other boaters exactly where your anchor is located.

[CaptainForce]

I have had to cut away my anchor with about 30' of chain on two occassions within the last three years. Both were in areas with much current and turbid water, so I was reluctant to dive for a retrieval. One of the traps was seen as I hoisted part of it with my windlass and it appeared to be cement with rebar and the other was likely Jimmy Hoffa's car!. I've done well with buying used 45lb anchors,- Bruce & Plow, at consignment shops, but I do think the wise choice would be for me to deploy a float on a trip line. 'take care and joy, Aythya crew