Photos of Anchors Setting

[noelex 77]

This was after the moderate wind.

The wind was about 20° to the setting direction. The Mantus has shuffled around. The depth of bury is only slightly greater than before, but it is a bit difficult to get a uniform level for the seabed. There is some pushing around of sand by the shank as it has rotated. You can still see the setting mark and the anchor has not moved noticeably, other than the rotation.

[noelex 77]

We went diving the next day and the roll bar had developed a tumour . It was a tiny octopus. Beautifully disguised, he/she? had perfectly taken on the colour of the galvanised anchor.

What a cutie

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

We went diving the next day and the roll bar had developed a tumour . It was a tiny octopus. Beautifully disguised, he/she? had perfectly taken on the colour of the galvanised anchor.

What a cutie

See how smart they are? Very good taste in anchors. Let's see some more of "anchors preferred by octopi!"

[noelex 77]

This was another Mantus. 6m @ 4:1

Unfortunately, they simply dropped the anchor and in the light wind there was no force applied. There is no setting mark other than a scrape made by the roll bar extending about a foot where the the anchor has rotated slightly.

It was dropped by a private boat quite close to our anchor, but you can see the terrain is very different. The substrate was rock with a fine layer of sand and sparse weed. The Mantus has landed in a sand filled depression in the rock.

[nigel1]

And another example of a poorly rigged swivel.

[noelex 77]

Autumn with its fickle weather has arrived in the Med.

We arrived at this anchorage just after dusk. Unfortunately, a rather violent thunderstorm also decided it was also a good time to march down on us . There was torrential rain and continuous lightning and very limited visibility both visually and even via radar. With 40 knot winds dragging yachts whizzing by as we entered the anchorage.

This was followed in the early hours of the morning by the wind swinging 180° and then another 90° and strengthening. This was even more fun, as we now had a lee shore and the bay had little protection from these wind directions. Fortunately, the swell never had a chance to significantly build up.

We deliberately anchored a long way out. This was a rather unprotected spot but gave us some distance from the other yachts. Despite what the anchor manufacturers would have us believe, a high percentage of yachts drag in these conditions.

The bottom was listed as mud, although often these reports are accurate. This is generally a much easier substrate for anchors than the hard sand often seen in this area. Of the four yachts from what I could see, which was not much, several dragged and one one yacht was washed up on the beach and badly damaged. So sad.

Unfortunately, we could not photograph the anchor. The next day the wind dropped, the sun came out. Frustratingly there was nice clear blue water just beyond our anchor, but in the brown soup the visibility was reduced to only a few inches. We can only report the Mantus had held us snugly.




We left before the water cleared. The forecast was for strong SE or SW wind with perhaps even more intense thunderstorms to arrive shortly. The anchorage had no protection from the SE and poor protection from the SW so we made our escape and headed for the closest suitable protection, which was 70 nm away.

[double u]

Methoni, eh?
(wouldn't Sapienza closeby have provided protection? )

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by double u

wouldn't Sapienza closeby have provided protection?

A good thought, and one we considered.

Our original destination was the north end of Sapienza island rather than Methoni. We had never been there before, but it looked to provide good shelter on the maps, although less promising on Google earth. Unfortunately, the maps were very wrong with 40m depth where 8 m was shown and overall very deep close to shore. With a bit more searching we might have found a suitable patch , but it was just on dusk and the thunderstorm was about hit so we made the decision to head the short distance to Methoni. It was very fortunate decision. The strong wind for the first five or six hours was from the NW (the forecast was from the SE). The north end of Sapienza would have been very unpleasant in those conditions.

The wind direction from these thunderstorms creates such local winds that it is very difficult for the meteorologists to predict so and it not unusual for the forecast to be totally wrong.

There is also an anchorage on the south east side of Sapienza. It is a difficult anchorage to enter at night because there are numerous fish farms with unlit buoys securing the structures. With the added reduced visibility in the thunderstorms I don't think it would have been prudent to enter at night even with our radar. The last time we were there was six years ago and the south arm was clogged by fish farms and un anchorable . The north arm is exposed to SE winds.

With the forecast of another bout of strong SE winds we made the decision to sail further to get better protection. I think it was the right one.

[double u]

...tempora mutantur...no fishfarms in 87...

[noelex 77]

We arrived at our new destination after a great sail, but with a careful eye on the thunderstorms that were approaching from behind.

We chose one the few anchorages in this area that has protection from the south and east, the predicted wind direction. Fortunately, we managed to anchor about 15 minutes before the lightening and hail hit. 5m @ 11:1. The wind was from the unprotected north west rather than the south . In thunderstorms this is less of a problem than you might imagine because the wave action doesn't get a chance to build significantly, but it was a pity to sail all this way and still have a lee shore.

Conditions were rather horrible with 45-50 knots, continuous lightening and large hail. These thunderstorms are not as vicious as the true winter storms, but are still unpleasant and a test for ground tackle. It is always difficult to photograph conditions like this, indeed it was not safe to be outside at the height of the thunderstorm.




This was the Mantus the next morning. It had set quickly and managed to penetrate the thick weed into the substrate below and never moved.

Weed is one of the most challenging substrates. In thick weed the holding in light or moderate winds can actually be quite reliable. The mesh work of weed is strong enough to hold the boat providing the wind does not get up too much. In strong wind everything changes and the anchor must be able to penetrate the weed and even weed roots to grip the substrate below. Very few general purpose anchors can do this well. The long thin fluke of the Mantus seems particularly good at cutting through weed roots.

The water visibility was poor when we arrived so we had no idea of the substrate. I would have guessed soft mud. One advantage of using a good oversized general purpose anchor instead of multiple small anchors suited to different substrates, as some advocate, is that there is no chance we end up picking a totally unsuitable anchor model. If we had incorrectly used a specialist mud anchor like a Danforth or Fortress I don't think it would have penetrated this weed.

The Mantus did a great job, but I do think weed performance is an area where heavy anchors have an advantage. For most of our underwater photos, a smaller anchor would bury deeper for the same setting force and look better, however, the proportion of weed root to anchor size improves as anchor size increases and so I think a heavier anchor has an advantage in weed.

[noelex 77]

We always anchor. In bad weather some seek the shelter of marinas or ports. We are sometimes asked why we don't follow this same tactic. There are three main reasons:

1. I am not convinced that marinas, and especially ports, are safer than anchoring. It is impossible to get reliable statistics, but we have frequently been anchored safely when nearby there has been widespread damage to boats tied up. It does depend on the quality of the marina/port, but a common problem seems to be boats trying to enter and dock at the height of the storm and damaging boats that came in with time to spare.

2. Weather forecasts are still not accurate enough. Our worse storm at anchor was in Italy when there was only a Force 6 predicted. On the other hand, our last winter at anchor was plagued with frequent forecasts of 50 knots, where in reality we only experienced 35 knots or so. If you escaped to marina every time there was a forecast above force 6 within the following week, you would spend all winter in a marina, which is indeed what almost all boats do in this part of the world. I think they are missing some great cruising opportunities that can be enjoyed safely with care.

3. Modern anchors are much more reliable than predecessors. In addition, the widespread use of powerful electric anchor winches has enabled large anchors to be easily managed by a small crew.

Anyway, here is a blog of a cruising boat similar to ours that experienced the same thunderstorm system, but was tied up at a quay, just north of us. The boat is tied to a quay but is also relying on its own anchor. Safer is a lazy line, although sometimes these drag, and safer again is a full marina with finger berths, but these are very rare in this part of the world.

Their blog is scary reading. Don't let your partner read the link if you're trying to convince them of the joys of the cruising lifestyle :

Tinker and Scrappy go Travelling

.
.

[kas_1611]

After reading that blog I think I'll take my chances on the hook!

Problem you have in a town harbour or in some marinas is other boats. When on lazy lines we always use the engine to help us get them tight so that there is minimal movement to shore. So many people get in, tie up the stern lines and almost forget about securing the bowlines. You see them all the time surging back and forth, passarelles banging and slapping on the shore or transom. Get any kind of blow and they'll be all over the place.

Add in the nightmare scenario of a massive super yacht breaking free and ending up beam on you and you have the situation from hell. Even if you are secure there's little you can do to protect yourself from something that size bearing down on your bowroller.

Now I'm going home to the boat from offshore tomorrow and I'll be thinking about tertiary anchors, dragging 3 ton concrete blocks and superyachts on my bow all the time.

Keiron

[Jim Cate]

Conditions were rather horrible with 45-50 knots, continuous lightening and large hail. These thunderstorms are not as vicious as the true winter storms, but are still unpleasant and a test for ground tackle. It is always difficult to photograph conditions like this, indeed it was not safe to be outside at the height of the thunderstorm.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2.

Nolex, your photo of 45-50 knots actually looks like what I have experienced at such wind speeds. This in contrast to photos posted by other CFers who said they were taken in similar conditions. How refreshing!

And your tale is great support for the "have your storm anchor as your bower anchor" contingent. Well done!

Jim

Hmm... the photo didn't seem to come through with the quote, but it was the one showing the storm sea conditions/

[a64pilot]

I will leave the Marina whenever possible. Reason is all those boats that we complain about on all those other threads, you know the ones nobody has been to visit in recent memory, the ones with rotten lines, they will break loose and become bumper boats.
If I can get to good holding in a protected area, I feel safer than I would in any Marina.

Oh, and if anyone is curious, both the 55 lb Rocna and the 88 lb nest nicely on the bow.



Sent from my iPad Pro using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

If we had incorrectly used a specialist mud anchor like a Danforth or Fortress I don't think it would have penetrated this weed.

Why do you think that two sharp and thinner flukes, which are likely to take up a comparable amount of surface area as a single narrow fluke (at least initially), would have a disadvantage in weeds, particularly if there was some serious weight (from a larger model) behind those two sharp and thinner flukes?

Additionally, the resistance from penetrating the weeds comes much sooner from the shank of your anchor, which is bolted on only a matter of a few centimeters from the tip of the fluke.