Lowering anchor using windlass or free fall?

[jewt]

My wife always does the anchor work and she lets it freefall to the bottom then we back down, by wind or motor, for the proper scope.

Jewt
S/V Bifrost
Beaufort NC

[svinvictus2]

I love this one......we live aboard for six to nine months a year and anchor EVERY night. Our boat is forty-five foot long and i tend to anchor deep (50' or more).
For me choice of free drop or power drop is a mood thing. I'm always up front because my wife is great behind the wheel and if I need to pick up I can get the chain in the locker and she really can't.

If the wind is blowing hard I tend to free drop but the key is not to drop it all at one time. On free drop the windlass will slow down and just stop letting out chaain.....then you have a choice of either backing down an letting out more or use the electric switch to drop more.......
I don't believe it matters much as long as you back down on the anchor to set it properly.

[first wind]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

We have been free falling for 18 years.
Piling up chain is a technique error.
Powering down always makes you miss the spot, and sometimes the spot is small.

With our Bruce, it is in fact better to let it hit bottom while still carrying some way on. This allows the Bruce to "screw" in to the bottom, and is the preferred method with a Bruce. If you lay it straight while going astern, it takes longer to set, however if it lies with the shank 180 degrees out, ie pointing ahead, and then you back down, it rotates and screws down. I have observed this many times while diving, or in shallow clear waters.

As for the wives doing the anchoring, this is one of my pet hates. Its got to be some male testosterone power play, where the "Capt" has to stand there behind his array of instruments, shouting orders at his dear long-suffering wife who has to go up on the foredeck, and battle with a couple of hundred pounds of stinky stuff, while he totally cocks-up the maneuver and then barks at her like some junkyard dog, laying all the blame on her.

My wife drives the boat, she does it better, a soft touch and accurate. I go up, spot the exact place, loose the already cocked anchor, after signalling her to idle. She immediately lets the head off the wind, and starts reversing slowly. I let out the chain in small bursts, finally locking the chain stopper, and placing the claw, by now the aft momentum has pulled the chain, and I signal to go harder astern, and we lift the chain to the angle it would be in a 70 knot blow, and were set.

If we anchor downwind, the procedure is similar, but the helm is put hard to a side as the anchor hits bottom, chain is let out freely all the way to final amount, locked off, and the boat will set it with forward momentum, and swing around smartly as the chain snubs up. No reversing required.

Put up anchor ball, rinse deck, and head for the beer that is waiting...

Freefall is better.

i knew, as soon as he rant started, that this was a guy's post and not a woman's post.

it's ironic that the ones that yell the loudest and longest about gender inequality are men; not women. i think that's about as silly as the fact that one of the top guys in black lives matter is a crazy looking white dude all fired up about how evil white people are.

[first wind]

Originally Posted by jewt

My wife always does the anchor work and she lets it freefall to the bottom then we back down, by wind or motor, for the proper scope.

Jewt
S/V Bifrost
Beaufort NC

you, sir, must be a sexist pig! i feel for your dear, long suffering wife

[exMaggieDrum]

There is free fall and then there is controlled free fall. My wife has always done the controlled free fall method with our Tigres windlass with an occasional issue but really mostly OK. As long as you do it properly is it safe. I would never do an uncontrolled free fall under any circumstances short of an emergency and I would be reluctant to do that.

Dropping anchor with the windlass motor is fine too and I wouldn't think poorly of anyone who chose to do that. But I would if someone used an uncontrolled free fall at the speed of gravity.

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

We have been free falling for 18 years.
Piling up chain is a technique error.
Powering down always makes you miss the spot, and sometimes the spot is small.

With our Bruce, it is in fact better to let it hit bottom while still carrying some way on. This allows the Bruce to "screw" in to the bottom, and is the preferred method with a Bruce. If you lay it straight while going astern, it takes longer to set, however if it lies with the shank 180 degrees out, ie pointing ahead, and then you back down, it rotates and screws down. I have observed this many times while diving, or in shallow clear waters.

As for the wives doing the anchoring, this is one of my pet hates. Its got to be some male testosterone power play, where the "Capt" has to stand there behind his array of instruments, shouting orders at his dear long-suffering wife who has to go up on the foredeck, and battle with a couple of hundred pounds of stinky stuff, while he totally cocks-up the maneuver and then barks at her like some junkyard dog, laying all the blame on her.

My wife drives the boat, she does it better, a soft touch and accurate. I go up, spot the exact place, loose the already cocked anchor, after signalling her to idle. She immediately lets the head off the wind, and starts reversing slowly. I let out the chain in small bursts, finally locking the chain stopper, and placing the claw, by now the aft momentum has pulled the chain, and I signal to go harder astern, and we lift the chain to the angle it would be in a 70 knot blow, and were set.

If we anchor downwind, the procedure is similar, but the helm is put hard to a side as the anchor hits bottom, chain is let out freely all the way to final amount, locked off, and the boat will set it with forward momentum, and swing around smartly as the chain snubs up. No reversing required.

Put up anchor ball, rinse deck, and head for the beer that is waiting...

Freefall is better.

You, sir, have no basis for calling out men just because a woman drops the anchor. I have tried for years to get my wife to drive the boat in to the slip or to anchor and she has steadfastly refused. I don't hold it against her and I certainly don't appreciate your rant about how sexist I may be because of it. She isn't called the Admiral for nothing. We are partners on our boat and each of us take responsibility for the care of the boat and ourselves. Even if we split up duties. She wants me to change the oil too and I don't think she is sexist because of it. Just smart.

[Cheechako]

"..Piling up chain is a technique error...."
Yep, it's as simple as that....

[zeehag]

ha ha ha ha ha ha
i play my anchor out by hand for about 50 feet-- set while having some way, and allow the boat to walkback on the chain. then
i pile a lil on top of it at that 50 ft mark to mush the chain into the soft silt of my favorite lagoon and continue back. in lagoon i lay out 150-160 ft depending on seasonal winds.
i prefer the wind to set the hook--mebbe because i learned anchoring 101a in early single digit years on an engineless boat.
other places i freefall it to a degree, using hand over hand technique with chain, with some way on, and enjoy the feeling of being well stuck. the chain is never rapidly bouncing on the deck or in the hawse. is always controlled drop.
ka lunk is a good sound,when made by tackle interacting with rocks below. love it. especially kalunk and spin. whoot.
dayumm i havent anyone to bitch about anchoring.. guess that just makes me better. ha ha ha ha ha

[double u]

"motoring" the chain down seems bad practice to me:
the process is so slow that invariably the anchor gets dragged around some before there is enough scope out for it to dig in, & in the process of being dragged around it can collect all sorts of rubbish that will keep it from setting properly (tyres, plasticbags, ...).
also it's a needless use of batterypower (if one is sailing in with no engine running)
If the brake is not opened until the boat is starting to drift back the chance of the anchor being fouled by chain piling up on top of it is minimal to nonexistent.

[Mirage Gecko]

Originally Posted by double u

"motoring" the chain down seems bad practice to me:
the process is so slow that invariably the anchor gets dragged around some before there is enough scope out for it to dig in, & in the process of being dragged around it can collect all sorts of rubbish that will keep it from setting properly (tyres, plasticbags, ...).
also it's a needless use of batterypower (if one is sailing in with no engine running)
If the brake is not opened until the boat is starting to drift back the chance of the anchor being fouled by chain piling up on top of it is minimal to nonexistent.

The process is not slow at all.By controlling the boat correctly our anchor is usually set by the time we have let out the appropriate scope then fit the bridle and checking again the set.
What I do think is bad practice is what I have seen a few times in the last month
is those who are not running engines simply dump chain with free fall without paying attention to scope or set and then disappear below.

[double u]

"...controlling the boat correctly..." - in anything of a breeze you can have the boat move downwind at the speed the chain gets paid out electrically? I doubt it

[MarkJ]

I motor it down. But i will let it freefall to see what its like.

[TheThunderbird]

I find remarks of SY_GILANA always accurate and appropriate.

This time too.

His picturesque and iconic description of the many shouting from helm is, unfortunately, not is fault as much as being well widespread practice.

And if any of you feels touched, whatever his/her position when anchoring, well.. this is his/her own problem.

Kudos sy_Gilana

[boatman61]

I use the controlled free fall method with some forward way still on.. windlass or manual depending on the size of boat.. and wind/current effects.. works for me 99 times out off 100..
Never power drag to bed it in.

[stillbuilding]

Free fall really requires a length-marked chain and some idea of depth so you don't pile the chain up and know how much chain out in the process of setting.

I have 13 mm chain which can get away on a run fairly easily when manually handled, especially if the boat has much movement.

Apart from being a good advertisement for good gloves and a strong back, a quickly moving chain is a great advertisement for a chain stopper or a well- designed bollard.😆

I prefer to have a measured length of chain on deck so I can free- fall until on the bottom and then control the flow by a turn around the bollard.

I don't like using the windlass to drop cos there is less precision in placement and run-out.


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