Bahamas Anchor Advice

[Larry]

Hi

I never had consistent luck with CQR or Bruce in the Bahamas. I have been pleased with the Delta, yours is too small, go larger than the manufacturer recommends. 50 feet of chain is more than enough as you are usually in 10 feet or less and you won't be hooking in coral. The two anchor Bahamian mooring technique is out of style but it can be necessary. Because of the single rode style it is important to get a reset on the swing and the delta is good for this. If the weather is good and some poor SOB has to anchor beside you I try and make them feel at ease by telling them I don't mind. We all get caught in this situation and it is a polite way to make friends. If there is bad weather coming or thunderstorms that is another thing. If you have to and can then move.

One caution - be very careful before jumping over the side and always swim up current when exploring around the boat until you have the current pegged. Currents can strengthen and you can find yourself unable to swim against it. Scary stuff.

The best anchorages are becoming quite crowded. Damn baby boomers. Better to stay away from the crowd. I would recommend a dingy that can plane. It will help to anchor farther out. The bigger the tubes the better. The anchor retentive crowd will drive you buggy in the popular spots. Good luck with that.

When you are crossing the banks you will have to go overnight. You can anchor out there without an island if the conditions are right or if they are a little rough just heave to for a break so that you can approach land with the right conditions.

It is almost impossible to get a good set in Grass so keep looking their always some sand somewhere. Around Hog Key in the Berries and Black Sound at Green Turtle if there is weather coming grab a mooring. Those are kinda the worst areas for lack of options due to grass.

Have a great time

Cheers
Larry

[rtbates]

Learn the Bahamian moor and get bigger anchors (those are very very close to my Cape Dory's 25D's anchors. A 22lb & 16lb Bruce

[Tia Bu]

Sooner or later you're gonna drag down there. Be ready for it. Searchlight. Reference landmarks. A backup plan. It's better if you can detect the dragging while it's still daylight.

[cfarrar]

Spent one winter in the Bahamas, and our 25 Kg Rocna never dragged. Our 100 ft of chain was more than enough, given the anchorage depths. Never did use a Bahamian moor.

[witchcraft]

We never used two anchors while down there. Our main anchor is a 45 pound cqr and our other anchors are each 35 pounds. We have 150 feet of chain and could add 250 of line if need be. The other anchors have 35 feet of chain. Diving the anchor is always a good idea except in high current or at certain times of the day. The dingy with a glass bottomed bucket is very useful as well.
Those reversing currents can be quite strong so one needs to be aware and prepared. We only dragged once, in a sudden violent squall. Having said that it was our fault we dragged, it was tight situation and we did not put enough chain out.
I often asked people I ran across about currents in an anchorage I was planning to go to. Good way to make new friends and get information at the same time.
There are as many opinions about anchor types as there are boaters. No one ever dragged because their anchor was bigger than specs call for.
Have a great time
Witchcraft

[Vasco]

Agree with Withchcraft re using only one anchor unless you're in a very tight anchorage and the other boats are using two. Nothing worse than someone using two when all others are on one. Really screws up the swinging.

As for Bahamian mooring, seldom see it done nowadays. We used to anchor in Nassau harbour this way back in the early nineties but they don't even do that in Nassau anymore. All chain and a good hooks are what you need. And there are quite a few good hooks out there these days.

[SAMPATICO]

I replaced my 50 Delta with a 72 Rochna and have not dragged since.

[Captain Bill]

I second Captforce's recommendation for seeking worm sand. It is by far the best substrate to anchor on. I also think your delta is a bit small. I've used Delta's with all chain rode and chain rope and have had no problems with them except in soft mud, which I've experienced at home but never in the Bahamas. Avoid bright white sand, it is usually a quite thin over hardpan and the anchor will not be truely set. Grass is difficult to get a good set in but preferable to white sand or hardpan. One must dive the anchor in grass or at least use a viewing bucket to make sure it's really set and not just caught in the roots and rizomes. I've been well stuck in grass while others anchored in bright white sand during a front passage. I had no problems while everyone else spent the day kedging off the bar. It did take me three tries to get it set properly though. When anchored on worm sand I've never had a problem with changing currents and the delta. It seems to bury itself deeper and deeper with every tide change. Quite often the only way to tell where the anchor is is to look for the chain coming out of the sand. I've got a 55Lb delta on all chain on my cat and my friend has a 22 Lb delta on his 30ft cat with 15 feet of chain. I would think something in between would work fine for your boat. Note that I have a windlass for my 55, while the 22 is hand retrieved. Good luck and enjoy the Bahamas.

[clifford sloan]

After 35 plus years in the Bahamas I have learned one anchor with ten to one chain (ten feet of depth = 100 feet of chain), and a double bridle rigged to be even with the keelson will hold as long as your anchor weighs at least 35 lbs.

[Captain Bill]

I forgot one thing, both of us use a kellet. On my chain rode I use a bridle and hang a loop of chain on the backside of the bridle just off of the bottom. My buddy uses one of these on his rope rode. Anchor weights /kellets marine anchoring security,reduces anchors dragging &boat swing This decreases the angle of pull on the anchor allowing you to get away with using much less rode than 10 to 1. In crowded anchorages it often not practical to use 10 to 1.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by clifford sloan

After 35 plus years in the Bahamas I have learned one anchor with ten to one chain (ten feet of depth = 100 feet of chain), and a double bridle rigged to be even with the keelson will hold as long as your anchor weighs at least 35 lbs.

All chain gives you a great advantage. Google catenary and depth to see how much less ratio you need the deeper it gets.

Don't forget to add for topsides height from the water, as well as tidal range in your ratio planning. 10-1 will hold in nearly anything shy of a storm, if your anchor is big enough.

Big enough isn't a function of length of boat, but of mass which can move, thus the displacement is more important. Our 461 weighs more than twice what some other same-length boats do, for example. A pound a thousand is a good starting point, but if you have all chain, you also have that weight advantage to help. Kellets help, too, but tandem anchoring (one ahead of the other) is even better, if a nuisance to rig, usually...

L8R

Skip

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

The Delta anchor is a great anchor. (On our 34' tri, We've used the 35lb for over 2,000 nights on the hook.) In plow type primary anchors, It is Perhaps second only to the Rocna. (lb for lb) However the 15 is entirely too small! You need the Delta 35lb to have sufficient holding for that 50 knot storm in the middle of the night, or the steady 45 MPH fronts that can come through a week apart in the Winter.

Avoid anchoring on coral, grass, or hard pan. When ever you can, dive on your anchor! Having used my "viewing bucket", I was sure I was anchored in deep sand once... (Middle Bite Andros) After diving on the anchor, I realized that it was buried in a super light weight material like Vermiculite or something! It almost floated, and was NOT good holding.
Enjoy, M

I'll second the 35# delta as great anchor and only have had problems in soft mud, when the plow anchor lives up to its name.
Tom

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Big enough isn't a function of length of boat, but of mass which can move, thus the displacement is more important. Our 461 weighs more than twice what some other same-length boats do, for example. A pound a thousand is a good starting point, but if you have all chain, you also have that weight advantage to help. Kellets help, too, but tandem anchoring (one ahead of the other) is even better, if a nuisance to rig, usually...

L8R

Skip

Mass doesn't matter, gravity only works downward, it's windage that counts, I would go with a pound/ft as the minimum, get the next largest size.
Tom

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by teejayevans

Mass doesn't matter, gravity only works downward, it's windage that counts, I would go with a pound/ft as the minimum, get the next largest size.
Tom

Tell that to your chain and anchor when you get a 180* shift and get up a nice head of steam before you hit the end of the road/rode :{)) Mo has a seat at the table (Mo Mentum, of course) at Ertia Harbor (when you're in Ertia, you can count on an object tending to remain in motion, unless countered by an equal opposing force).

Or when you're in roll/fetch conditions, tight, and you yank it tight on a big roller, adding "up" to "sideways" pull.

Windage helps, certainly - but it's mass which will do you in (unless, of course, you have a super-light, huge windage boat).

I can pretty much guarantee you that a pound a foot will work great on a boat which weighs less than a grand for that same foot - but if it's, say, double that, I sure don't want to be downwind from you :{))

All that said, it's never a bad idea (other than perhaps unbalancing the boat when they're stowed, or mounting/retrieval hardware being inadequate to the task, more on which below) to have overkill in anchors and chain. A very knowledgeable guy observed our bow and cringed at the size of our anchors as being WAAAY too big. Yet, exactly the scenario above of the shift, despite our being very well dug into worm sand with that same oversized Delta, the quintessential Bahamas anchor, caused us and many other boats in Georgetown a couple of winters ago to take flight, with some collisions resulting (not us - and deployment of a second anchor stopped us).

On the subject of Deltas, I've noted that, being narrow-shanked, at least on my rig which has the chain coming up at about an 85* angle from the pull, getting it over center results in its quickly destroying my very robust rollers.

Anybody know a source for 4", 5/8 spindle, bronze or SS bobbin rollers? I've concluded that to be the only long-term solution. FWIW, the boat came with lighter (45#, that magical 1#/foot) CQRs, and they NEVER destroyed a roller, and my 75# CQR secondary doesn't either, so it's got to be the narrow Delta shank... I've got several replacement rollers, so it's just a nuisance, but it won't go away without some metal replacement.

L8R

Skip, lying George Town, Exuma Bahamas

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

I can pretty much guarantee you that a pound a foot will work great on a boat which weighs less than a grand for that same foot - but if it's, say, double that, I sure don't want to be downwind from you :{))

So your 46 foot boat weighs more than 46000 lbs?

I can't think of any cruising boats that are more than 1000 pounds/ft that's under 50'. For example the Valiant 50 is 35000.

Yes, there can be some momentum, hence the reason for a snubber line, but whenever you are looking at anchors, the chart is always base on size/windage, not momentum, it's always a function of expected wind speed for the expected loads.
Tom