Anchoring too close to other boats?

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

But if you are in a crowded anchorage without the extra room, for God's sakes be considerate to others and don't lay out excess scope. Set your anchor properly -- and it can't be done in less than 10 or 15 minutes -- and keep it to 4:1 or so, or 5:1 if that is what others are using.


And if you are using excessive scope because you have a crap anchor, then do something about that. There's a wealth of choices for good anchors available these days, and the world has moved on very far since the 1990's.

I agree completely.

Not only is the routine use of long scopes inconsiderate in busy anchorages it is also unduly restrictive on the individual who has developed these rules of thumb.

Where I am anchored at the moment there is no possibility of anchoring at anything much more than 3:1. With good ground tackle in reasonable conditions this is perfectly safe (especially in deeper water), but increasingly on internet forums I am seeing even experienced cruisers proclaiming they would never anchor overnight at less than 5:1. In this thread we have even seen 10:1 suggested as a routine.

These people are unnecessarily missing out on some wonderful anchorages. Modern anchors have become much better and the development of reliable electric anchor winches that mean even a small crew can manage large anchors with ease. I am not sure why more cruisers do not take advantage of these advancements.

[CatNewBee]

For us the standard is 5:1, in narror spaces and water deeper than 10m, with calm weather forecasts we go down to 4:1. We try to anchor between 5 and 10m depth if possible our draft is 1.2m.

We do set the anchor in the prevailing wind direction and also check the holding with the anchorPro app and snorchel to see it is set properly and the bottom is clear of obstacles.

I however disagree with the statement, that at 3:1 scope and forced set you are safe. Winds change often over night and the anchor will be torn out and needs to reset quickly. When the scope is too short, it is more likely to happen, while at 5:1 usually simply the chain holds the boat, also a reset is faster because of the weight of the chain and the smaller angle.

I am very comfortable with the oversized Mantus and 5:1 scope, it always sets almost at the point and holds great, resets fast and is easy to get up back on board.

At the beginning we had a anchor buoy with a trip line connected to the anchor to see where it lies, but after a night with several 360 wind shifts, the chain got wrapped around the buoy line several times resulting to sinking the buoy while she lifts the shank and fouls the anchor. So for safety reason we do not deploy the anchor buoy any more.

But we have it handy to mark the anchor if we need to cut it in an emergency situation.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

For us the standard is 5:1, in narror spaces and water deeper than 10m, with calm weather forecasts we go down to 4:1. We try to anchor between 5 and 10m depth if possible our draft is 1.2m.

We do set the anchor in the prevailing wind direction and also check the holding with the anchorPro app and snorchel to see it is set properly and the bottom is clear of obstacles.

I however disagree with the statement, that at 3:1 scope and forced set you are safe. Winds change often over night and the anchor will be torn out and needs to reset quickly. When the scope is too short, it is more likely to happen, while at 5:1 usually simply the chain holds the boat, also a reset is faster because of the weight of the chain and the smaller angle.

I am very comfortable with the oversized Mantus and 5:1 scope, it always sets almost at the point and holds great, resets fast and is easy to get up back on board.

At the beginning we had a anchor buoy with a trip line connected to the anchor to see where it lies, but after a night with several 360 wind shifts, the chain got wrapped around the buoy line several times resulting to sinking the buoy while she lifts the shank and fouls the anchor. So for safety reason we do not deploy the anchor buoy any more.

But we have it handy to mark the anchor if we need to cut it in an emergency situation.

I think you make a valid point about the anchor resetting.


It is true that more scope makes it more likely that the anchor will reset itself, if it gets pulled out due to a tide or wind shift.


If you set your anchor properly, though -- really back down hard and long and be really sure that it is well buried in the seabed -- the chances of it popping out are greatly reduced.