Fjord anchoring techniques

[blinkerfluid]

Will someone please give me a run down of techniques used to anchor in fjords? My wife and I are hoping to take a trip into BC this spring and I know a lot of the anchoring has to be done in relatively deep water and close to cliffs.

From what I've gathered, the process involves dropping out a fair bit of anchor chain in deep water and then backing towards the shore until the anchor contacts the bottom. Then continue backing towards the shore to hold the boat in place with the engine and then tying the stern of the boat to whatever you can find on land.

Do people just use a single stern line? 2 lines? relatively straight back from the boat or off to the sides more? What about the bow? Does the anchor hold it in place or does the bow need to be tied to shore also? Am I missing any key points?

[DRussell]

The stern line is usually run to shore with the dinghy and it's just to keep the boat from swinging around in the narrow anchorage. There are many fine anchorages though where you can just drop the hook as per normal... Depends on what part of BC you plan to cruise in


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[blinkerfluid]

Hopefully we're going to have about 17 or 18 days, so we're wanting to try to make it up to Princess Louisa Inlet and maybe Desolation sound if we have time. I'm only just now starting to look at where all we can go.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by blinkerfluid

Will someone please give me a run down of techniques used to anchor in fjords? My wife and I are hoping to take a trip into BC this spring and I know a lot of the anchoring has to be done in relatively deep water and close to cliffs.

From what I've gathered, the process involves dropping out a fair bit of anchor chain in deep water and then backing towards the shore until the anchor contacts the bottom. Then continue backing towards the shore to hold the boat in place with the engine and then tying the stern of the boat to whatever you can find on land.

Do people just use a single stern line? 2 lines? relatively straight back from the boat or off to the sides more? What about the bow? Does the anchor hold it in place or does the bow need to be tied to shore also? Am I missing any key points?

Hi Blinkerfluid,

We brought our boat up from Seattle to SE Alaska last summer and visited most of the places you reference. We did not need to do a deep water anchor/shore line the whole way- just normal anchoring... That said, you should plan on 50-60ft water depth [given possible ~20ft tidal variations] so size your rode accordingly.

Regarding deep water anchoring technique, we are familiar with this from 20 years cruising in central Alaskan waters [e.g., Prince William Sound.] You pretty well described the technique we use. I would add making your shore line [600ft recommended...] removable without leaving the boat. We do this by running it around a tree, sacrificial climbing wedge set in some boulders, etc., and back to the boat.

Then we run one or both bitter ends of the shoreline to the primary winch(es) [we back toward shore...] so they can be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate tidal variations to keep the anchor well set.

I hope this is helpful.

Have a great trip!

[Boatyarddog]

Some areas require anchoring using a stern line, as letting out scope for normal anchorages can be difficult because of constriction with many boats in a tight anchorage, or no holding bottom, Ie: Rocky, or ell grass.
If you've got a lot of chain you can just pile it up and sit tight on it, if not then kedging may work if you've got some room, mainly because others may cross your anchor stern line.

I've also seen that some anchorages in Provincial park in BC have rings attached to the rock walls.
Sometimes it's deep water and a shelf extends a bit from shore, set the anchor over the self in the deep water and back up to attach your stern line to a ring, cleat it off to the stern of the boat and adjust the bow anchor to pull the boat into line.
You'll not "swing"on the hook should it get breezy that way .
Most of all enjoy your trip.😊


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[blinkerfluid]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Our trip is getting close now, starting to get pretty excited

[Jon Eisberg]

I'll just toss in a bit about the type of rope any might consider using for shore lines...

Ideally, you want a floating line, and one highly resistant to abrasion. This stuff from Cajun Ropes is some of the nicest I've seen. Yale used to sell the same stuff they called "Lugger Line", but it's been discontinued, at least in the smaller sizes. But Cajun has the same thing, and the price is right, way cheaper than stuff like Samson's floating rope, and other equivalents...

Far better than the 3 strand polypro often used for shorelines, stronger and it won't unlay, and is dead simple to splice... Highly recommended, and the folks at Cajun were a pleasure to do business with, and they shipped mine to the States immediately, for what I felt was a surprisingly low shipping charge...

Olectec - 12 - Cajunrope.com

Good luck, have fun, sounds like a wonderful trip...