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Our bareboat trip to Antigua was the first time anyone aboard had ever anchored a cruising catamaran. There was a bit of learning curve involved (the anchor dropped just forward of the mast so we had to keep the bows into the wind, the bridle needed to be set before any set checking could happen and more) but I think we got the hang of the catamaran nuances eventually.
We did have a lot of trouble getting the anchor to set the second time in Five Island Harbour. The first time we anchored we just did so as practice while waiting for our friends to pick their spot. Our helmsman had some trouble keeping the bows into the wind using the engines but the anchor set well once we were on the bridle and backing down both engines at 1800rpm gave us confidence in our set. 11' under the boat + 3' gave us 60 seconds of windlassing the chain out. (even at 1800rpm the bridle still kept it's attachment point to the chain below the waterline so I figured the bridle was enough to compensate for our freeboard.)
We went for a swim to cool off before our friends (in a monohull, more sensitive to depth and swell) chose the night's anchoring location.
We raised anchor and tried to reset where they and a few other boats were anchored on the north side of the harbor. This was a disaster. The anchor would not set. The depth was right around 15' every time we tried to set.
We tried:
Our friends on the monohull confirmed that we were dragging (I was worried it was in our heads but it didn't turn out to be). Every time the anchor came up clean (no weeds or clay).
Eventually, as sunset approached 2 hours later, we gave up and moved back near where we had originally anchored on the south side of the harbour. It set and held all night but we didn't have the courage to back down on it and possibly pull it out of the bottom. I tried to dive the anchor but the visibility was bad enough it was basically dark at the bottom (the sun was low in the sky as well). It was a restless night for me.
We anchored just west of Coco Point in Barbuda. We pulled the anchor out backing down on it at 1200rpm the first time, the second time it set and held though we only backed down on it with both engines in idle reverse. That held for two nights in about 15' of water. I was able to snorkel down to it and the set looked good.
In Mamora bay it set and held the first time. I dove on the anchor, it had dug completely into the bottom. Before leaving we backed down on the anchor at 1800rpm and it held.
I hardly have extensive experience anchoring but I've never been nervous about an anchor's set; especially not when using all chain. Needless to say this troubled me the whole trip.
One potential explanation I came up with is that, because we were actively using the throttle to control the boat's orientation while setting that we wound up dropping the chain on the anchor and the tangled mess wouldn't set. I watched for this (and quick jerks in the chain once it was straight up and down that would indicate a tangle un-tangling) while we brought up the anchor but didn't notice anything suspicious.
During the day of anchoring in Five Island Harbour I thought I noticed the anchor wasn't true but I dismissed it as an optical illusion due to the way it sat in the rollers. The 5th day of our trip on a mooring in Nonsuch Bay I examined the anchor more closely and confirmed it wasn't true, the plow was bent about 10° to port where it attached to the shank. (I really should have gotten a picture of the anchor but one of the other equipment failures of this trip was my waterproof camera proved to be less than waterproof.) I am starting to think this might have been the culprit.
In soft bottoms the anchor would have tended to rotate clockwise eventually orienting itself on it's side; hardly ideal for holding. This would explain why backing down hard resulted in pulling the anchor out instead of a good set. I wanted to snorkel down to the anchor while the boat was backing down on it to observe it's motion but with as little visibility as we had this seemed unwise (nobody aboard could see me and I'd have to be really close).
On harder bottoms I expect the anchor wouldn't have dug in if it landed on the bottom on it's right side because the center of the plow wouldn't have been a point of contact.
Or perhaps we were just terribly unlucky? Anyone else have experience with bent anchors not holding? Is there something else I missed here? I'd love to put this one to bed...
We did have a lot of trouble getting the anchor to set the second time in Five Island Harbour. The first time we anchored we just did so as practice while waiting for our friends to pick their spot. Our helmsman had some trouble keeping the bows into the wind using the engines but the anchor set well once we were on the bridle and backing down both engines at 1800rpm gave us confidence in our set. 11' under the boat + 3' gave us 60 seconds of windlassing the chain out. (even at 1800rpm the bridle still kept it's attachment point to the chain below the waterline so I figured the bridle was enough to compensate for our freeboard.)
We went for a swim to cool off before our friends (in a monohull, more sensitive to depth and swell) chose the night's anchoring location.
We raised anchor and tried to reset where they and a few other boats were anchored on the north side of the harbor. This was a disaster. The anchor would not set. The depth was right around 15' every time we tried to set.
We tried:
- Anchoring at least 5 times
- Letting out all our chain (about 120' according to our briefing)
- Backing down on the anchor
- Not backing down on the anchor
- Lastly: Going back to where we had set successfully and anchoring there
Our friends on the monohull confirmed that we were dragging (I was worried it was in our heads but it didn't turn out to be). Every time the anchor came up clean (no weeds or clay).
Eventually, as sunset approached 2 hours later, we gave up and moved back near where we had originally anchored on the south side of the harbour. It set and held all night but we didn't have the courage to back down on it and possibly pull it out of the bottom. I tried to dive the anchor but the visibility was bad enough it was basically dark at the bottom (the sun was low in the sky as well). It was a restless night for me.
We anchored just west of Coco Point in Barbuda. We pulled the anchor out backing down on it at 1200rpm the first time, the second time it set and held though we only backed down on it with both engines in idle reverse. That held for two nights in about 15' of water. I was able to snorkel down to it and the set looked good.
In Mamora bay it set and held the first time. I dove on the anchor, it had dug completely into the bottom. Before leaving we backed down on the anchor at 1800rpm and it held.
I hardly have extensive experience anchoring but I've never been nervous about an anchor's set; especially not when using all chain. Needless to say this troubled me the whole trip.
One potential explanation I came up with is that, because we were actively using the throttle to control the boat's orientation while setting that we wound up dropping the chain on the anchor and the tangled mess wouldn't set. I watched for this (and quick jerks in the chain once it was straight up and down that would indicate a tangle un-tangling) while we brought up the anchor but didn't notice anything suspicious.
During the day of anchoring in Five Island Harbour I thought I noticed the anchor wasn't true but I dismissed it as an optical illusion due to the way it sat in the rollers. The 5th day of our trip on a mooring in Nonsuch Bay I examined the anchor more closely and confirmed it wasn't true, the plow was bent about 10° to port where it attached to the shank. (I really should have gotten a picture of the anchor but one of the other equipment failures of this trip was my waterproof camera proved to be less than waterproof.) I am starting to think this might have been the culprit.
In soft bottoms the anchor would have tended to rotate clockwise eventually orienting itself on it's side; hardly ideal for holding. This would explain why backing down hard resulted in pulling the anchor out instead of a good set. I wanted to snorkel down to the anchor while the boat was backing down on it to observe it's motion but with as little visibility as we had this seemed unwise (nobody aboard could see me and I'd have to be really close).
On harder bottoms I expect the anchor wouldn't have dug in if it landed on the bottom on it's right side because the center of the plow wouldn't have been a point of contact.
Or perhaps we were just terribly unlucky? Anyone else have experience with bent anchors not holding? Is there something else I missed here? I'd love to put this one to bed...
