chain wrapping around anchor

[seandepagnier]

After dragging I found the chain wrapped around the anchor. I have a bruce style anchor but I have heard other types can do this.

This happens from anchoring in a tidal area or with variable winds, and it's relatively rare but has happened to me a few times.

Are there any types of anchors that are immune to this or any way to prevent it other than using multiple anchors?

[Sailmonkey]

Any anchor that isn’t pulled hard enough in the opposite direction is susceptible to this same sort of failure.

It’s one of the scenarios where a Bahamian moor makes sense (except for the twisted rode).

[Shrew]

I've had this happen with a Danforth anchor. I feel like the design of the Bruce could lend itself more easily to this condition, especially if it sets on its side.

I've had good luck with Rocna traditional, Manson Supreme and Rocna Vulcan. These tend to bury well without any parts to foul the chain on a reversing tide.

[Don C L]

I’m kinda surprised about the Bruce having that problem but Shrew’s right that if it’s on it side it can do it. I’m always anchored bow and stern with danforths but they will certainly do it if not buried. One of the things about getting the biggest anchor possible, as many folks do, is that they just don’t get set too deeply until you really lean on it, so they remain only partially submerged and available for fouling.

[gamayun]

One thing a friend told me when I drop my anchor in shallow water is to not drop the chain too quickly before the boat starts to drift back because the chain can pile up on the anchor. Maybe this is one way it could get itself wrapped before the anchor is set. Just a thought.

[thinwater]

Having tested a LOT of anchors, I bet lunch the Bruce was on its side. In theory they should roll up-right and bury, but if the anchor is conservatively sized or the bottom is challenging, they often stay on one side.

The other possibility is that scope was relatively short and the chain got under the shank. This can happen with most anchors that are not deeply set, though it is quite unusual.

And most anchors can foul if the chain is dumped on the anchor before setting.


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That said, I've never fouled an anchor (other than Claw) unless I did one of the above on purpose, during testing, and I've done a LOT of 360 spins with the tide. The best suggestion is to place and set the anchor carefully. I'm also not a Bruce/Claw fan for this reason.

[Greg Mason]

Castling an anchor is common when a load is dropped without backing down while letting it out. I have used Bruce, flakes and CQRs. My current anchor is a 45 lb CQR for a 37' boat and we back down until the drinks spill. Just kiddin about the drinks, but that's the rule.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by gamayun

One thing a friend told me when I drop my anchor in shallow water is to not drop the chain too quickly before the boat starts to drift back because the chain can pile up on the anchor. Maybe this is one way it could get itself wrapped before the anchor is set. Just a thought.

It's entirely possible, I've seen it happen.

The worst is if there is still some forward motion when the anchor is initially dropped. Then what happens is the anchor hits the seabed, the chain starts to get laid forward of the anchor, then the boat begins to reverse, so the rode reverses and gets laid on top of the anchor again. When the boat finally pulls the rode back, the loop of chain in front of the anchor sweeps the unset anchor with chain on top and the entire ball gets taken for a walk through the anchorage.

[seandepagnier]

I've been here a week and the wind was stronger before. It happened to me before when I was anchored more than a week in one spot, and both times happened when the wind picked up after a few days of light winds.

So although I probably should lower my anchor more carefully, I'm don't think this cause it.

The area is tidal with a 2 knot tidal current, so even if the anchor is set it has to reset with each tide. I also don't know what is down there but I've had my anchor hook other anchors that were not attached to anything in this anchorage twice before. There could be something the anchor was on top of preventing it from digging it very deep.

Would a swivel on the anchor make any difference at all? My chain was not kinked or anything.

It's true I didn't have a lot of scope, maybe 4:1 but 3/8th chain on my boat means there is still chain on the bottom in less than 30 knots. I'm not sure how short scope can cause this.


Has anyone ever fouled a delta or rocna style anchor this way? I have done with with danforth and now bruce a few times.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

After dragging I found the chain wrapped around the anchor. I have a bruce style anchor but I have heard other types can do this.

This happens from anchoring in a tidal area or with variable winds, and it's relatively rare but has happened to me a few times.

Are there any types of anchors that are immune to this or any way to prevent it other than using multiple anchors?

The Bruce is the absolute worse for this. I have seen them come up with chain around the very tip of the fluke in a manner where you wouldn't think it could even hold on. I have had to rescue the same boat multiple times that was dragging toward shore in the LaPaz Channel current shifts. Not to mention they drag fast through sand bottom requiring nearly a double size anchor compared with others. Great for rock though.

[TrentePieds]

Every answer so far is right in regard to the (sub)-problem it addresses. To a extent the problem you have encountered is one we all have if we get careless about anchoring technique.

The Bruce is a perfectly good anchor for the bottoms it was designed for, i.e. sand and mud. Like every other style of anchor it doesn't much like weeds, and, of course, on a clear rock bottom as we often have here, nothing will work short of a two-ton sinker.

Gamayun's answer stresses a very important point. You have to lay your rode out VERY deliberately in a straight line, STRAIGHT downwind from the position where your anchor is to where you want your boat to lie, but with no strain on it. When your scope is nearly ALL out, and lying perfectly straight, you begin to take the strain, and your Bruce anchor will bury upright because it is specifically shaped to roll upright as the strain comes on. As you then back down under increasing power till you come to a stop, the flukes will be buried an the stock will lie flat on the bottom. THEN you back down REALLY hard to verify that the hook has buried. With normal scope out, the anchor will realign itself with the new direction of pull after a swing due to wind or tide and while doing so it will stay buried so your rode cannot get under the stock and foul it.

Generally, while I back down, I hand the rode. The anchor will "telegraph" what it is doing, and if it doesn't "feel right", then just abandon that attempt and start over again. Better that inconvenience, than dragging in the night :-)!

But it should be borne in mind that the "baby-Bruce"s we use are very, very light. The originals weighed several tons and they were intended to be set in a string of three from each of the four corners of oil drilling rigs in the North Sea when those fields were first being exploited. So the fouling you've experienced could simply not occur under those conditions. Under our conditions, and with our baby anchors, the "Bahamian moor" mentioned by Sailmonkey will do the job.

Here, on the Canadian west coast, due to geological conditions and the great number of boats in popular anchorages we often set an anchor over the stern as well as the bower, or we take a line ashore from the stern. In fact, many boats are now fitted with fifty fathoms of line on a reel mounted on the pushpit to facilitate that technique.

In short: If you have trouble with your anchoring, look for a remedy in improved technique. Doing it "the way it's always done" may not be good enuff :-)

All the best

TrentePieds

[Moontide]

Didn't see a response to OP question about using a different anchoring technique where there are tidal flows. One way that seems to work well, and avoid the issues, is to use what is called a Bahamian moor. To do so just drop two anchors in line with the direction of the flows (more or less) and position the boat mid way between the two. The boat will then tend to hang on one anchor or the other as the tide changes. One problem with this in an anchorage with lots of boats that are on one anchor you will not swing as much as the other boats which could create some issues.


Another problem I've seen with this on monohulls is the sometimes the keep can catch the slack rode with obvious problems.


Bill

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Moontide

Didn't see a response to OP question about using a different anchoring technique where there are tidal flows. One way that seems to work well, and avoid the issues, is to use what is called a Bahamian moor.


Bill

You didn't? What about post #2?

[Shrew]

The problem with either a bow and a stern or a bahama moor set-up is you either need to be in the edge of the anchorage, or everyone has be doing it as well.

Setting either two-anchor system in the middle of an anchorage where everyone else is using a single bow anchor, is like parking sideways across the spaces of a parking lot.

[Stu Jackson]

The OP also doesn't have an engine to "back down hard" with. And he did say he anchored when there were light winds, so backing his sail(s) may not have been an option either.