Possibly Original Thought About Chain Catenary - or - The Myth of the Bar Tight Chain

[Juho]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Maybe. I just don't understand it.


ALL of the experts comment on less scope being required in deep water, and I (who anchor a lot in deep water, last summer hardly ever in less than 30 meters) have noticed it concretely and practically.


As I've spent a lot of time over the last 6 years in rocky places with steep-to shores, I've ended up anchoring more and more in deep places -- as that is often where you find a bit of flat bottom with good sediment. Anchoring in the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos is very challenging; a challenge thank God moderated by the almost completely absence of really bad weather in the summer, and an abundance of great shelter because of all of the islands. Iceland and Greenland, on the other hand, were the hardest -- little shelter, and the shores are so steep in many places that you have to get within a few boatlengths of the actual shore, to find a depth where your anchor will even reach the bottom. :shudder:

That's another possible explanation (for some of the mentioned places). If "deep" means "middle of the bay", then you may well have good sediments where it is deep.

On more (rather weak) explanation. If "shallow" means "close to the shore", then you can use only limited scope there (because of the nearby rocks), and better scope in deeper water. I have however often anchored in very shallow water, less than 3m, right next to the reeds, since nothing could harm me there.