Anchoring observations

[Steve Alarcon]

Hello All,

We've just returned from 17 days of wandering around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe another boat during the act of "sailing" while at anchor. Since this has been discussed several times on this board, I thought I'd share what I saw.

The boat was about 36' LOA, and appeared to be riding on about a 5:1 scope. The wind was 12-16 KTs. Because the boat was outlined against the shore, I was able to observe that gusts would push the boat back, pulling the slack out of the caternary. Then, the weight of the (presumed) chain rode would pull the rope rode down, pulling the boat forward toward the anchor. As the slack would increase, the bow would blow off to one side or the other, and the boat would drift back and repeat the cycle.

By the way, since it was so gusty and we had limited swinging room with a 7' tide, I attached my second anchor to the primary rode with a shackle, and lowered it to just above the sea bottom. This had the effect of holding the initial 100' of rode horizontal on the bottom, and we did not "sail" on the anchor as the above mentioned boat did (plus I felt a lot more secure).

Steve Alarcon
CD36 Tenacity
Seattle



alarcon3@prodigy.net

[Richard Hill]

Hello All,

We've just returned from 17 days of wandering around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe another boat during the act of "sailing" while at anchor. Since this has been discussed several times on this board, I thought I'd share what I saw.

The boat was about 36' LOA, and appeared to be riding on about a 5:1 scope. The wind was 12-16 KTs. Because the boat was outlined against the shore, I was able to observe that gusts would push the boat back, pulling the slack out of the caternary. Then, the weight of the (presumed) chain rode would pull the rope rode down, pulling the boat forward toward the anchor. As the slack would increase, the bow would blow off to one side or the other, and the boat would drift back and repeat the cycle.

By the way, since it was so gusty and we had limited swinging room with a 7' tide, I attached my second anchor to the primary rode with a shackle, and lowered it to just above the sea bottom. This had the effect of holding the initial 100' of rode horizontal on the bottom, and we did not "sail" on the anchor as the above mentioned boat did (plus I felt a lot more secure).

Steve Alarcon
CD36 Tenacity
Seattle

That's really interesting! What kind of rode were you using? All chain or chain/rope? How heavy were the primary and secondary anchors? Depth and amount scope you used? Sorry to be a pest, but this sounds real promising. An anchor sentinal might be the answer to preventing this problem. Does anyone here have experience with these devices?



captrahill@comcast.net

[John R.]

Yes, I have a "Rode Rider" brand sentinel. They work quite well and there are various versions of a sentinel that people can use. The Rode Rider I mention is an actual commercially made sentinel and is not a home made adaptation so it has some advantages due to it's specialized design and being made of solid bronze. The use of a second anchor, a mushroom or any other weight you can get down on the rode scope will also work, you can attach those types of items to a couple of shackles along with a retreival line or you can purchase a ready made rider which seem to work better distributing the weight better. What a person uses determines how easy it is to deploy and retrieve and how effective it is. I wouldn't say it is the end all when it comes to sailing at anchor as that depends on prevailing conditions, scope, and chain amount. In my opinion they have a great effect at dampening pitching while at anchor and they are well noted for their advantages in increasing a anchors holding power. They slow down but don't eliminate potential sailing on the hook. If there was a way I would post a picture of the Rode Rider because it is an interesting design and piece of gear. It utilizes a gate to allow attachment to the rode and it rides down the rode on an integral sheave. It has a molded anti-chafe bottom on it to protect the deck from minor damages. ABI makes a bronze rider for a sentinel that you simply attach a weight to, it is realatively inexpensive and nicely made. I use one of those on the stern rode.

Sentinels are designed to be used on a nylon rode or combination rode, they do not ride over chain.

Hello All,

We've just returned from 17 days of wandering around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe another boat during the act of "sailing" while at anchor. Since this has been discussed several times on this board, I thought I'd share what I saw.

The boat was about 36' LOA, and appeared to be riding on about a 5:1 scope. The wind was 12-16 KTs. Because the boat was outlined against the shore, I was able to observe that gusts would push the boat back, pulling the slack out of the caternary. Then, the weight of the (presumed) chain rode would pull the rope rode down, pulling the boat forward toward the anchor. As the slack would increase, the bow would blow off to one side or the other, and the boat would drift back and repeat the cycle.

By the way, since it was so gusty and we had limited swinging room with a 7' tide, I attached my second anchor to the primary rode with a shackle, and lowered it to just above the sea bottom. This had the effect of holding the initial 100' of rode horizontal on the bottom, and we did not "sail" on the anchor as the above mentioned boat did (plus I felt a lot more secure).

Steve Alarcon
CD36 Tenacity
Seattle

That's really interesting! What kind of rode were you using? All chain or chain/rope? How heavy were the primary and secondary anchors? Depth and amount scope you used? Sorry to be a pest, but this sounds real promising. An anchor sentinal might be the answer to preventing this problem. Does anyone here have experience with these devices?

[Tom Keevil]

Last summer we sat through two days of 25-35 knot winds in a crowded anchorage in British Columbia. The boat had a combination chain/nylon rode with 40' of chain. We let out the most scope we could without bringing us too close to shore, and when we started to drag we brought out a second anchor, tied a bowline through the anchor shackle and around the primary rode, and lowered it down to the bottom. We still sailed back and forth quite a bit, but we didn't move. I would guess that half the boats saw the sunrise from a different position than they occupied when they went to bed (as if any of us got any sleep). Interstingly all of the motorboats but one left during the night, leaving only sailboats. The one remaining motorboat was a recreational tugboat which ended up rafted to another boat it had drifted down on in the night.



sharphat@mind.net

[ron legan]

Hello All,

We've just returned from 17 days of wandering around the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe another boat during the act of "sailing" while at anchor. Since this has been discussed several times on this board, I thought I'd share what I saw.

The boat was about 36' LOA, and appeared to be riding on about a 5:1 scope. The wind was 12-16 KTs. Because the boat was outlined against the shore, I was able to observe that gusts would push the boat back, pulling the slack out of the caternary. Then, the weight of the (presumed) chain rode would pull the rope rode down, pulling the boat forward toward the anchor. As the slack would increase, the bow would blow off to one side or the other, and the boat would drift back and repeat the cycle.

By the way, since it was so gusty and we had limited swinging room with a 7' tide, I attached my second anchor to the primary rode with a shackle, and lowered it to just above the sea bottom. This had the effect of holding the initial 100' of rode horizontal on the bottom, and we did not "sail" on the anchor as the above mentioned boat did (plus I felt a lot more secure).

Steve Alarcon
CD36 Tenacity
Seattle

Steve,

On two occasios I needed all the help I could get. Heavy winds and weather along with current. I decided to tandem two anchors as I call it a Galveston Moore. I took my secondary ancor with chain and linked it to my primary. Set them and let out as much rhode as I had. My primary was a 35lb CQR with a eye in front to that hook I linked a 25lb Bruce with 25 foot of chain. So I had Bruce with 25 foot of chain connected to a CQR and 40 foot of chain and 200 foot of nylon 3 strand. My boat sailed and swung quit a bit but no tangles and I did not drag. I had prior reinforced my two bow cleats with a top side bronze backing/deck plate. I had the means to rig a snubber or bridle but did not. I did not have a riding sail. I have read that sail at anchor helps keep the boat pointed.

Ron Legan
Andiamo
Seattle WA



ronald.legan@ssa.gov

[Steve Alarcon]

Richard,

We have 50' chain mated to 200' rope for the primary. The primary anchor is 35# CQR, and the secondary is a 30# plow. We were in 30', and had set the primary with 5:1 scope, but then pulled in 25' or so when we sent down the kellet. We basically had 80' horizontal on the bottom.

Steve Alarcon
CD36 Tenacity
Seattle



alarcon3@prodigy.net