Rafting at Anchor

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by ilya t

.....I'm wondering if there is a way to make a safe raft with the three boats. Obviously, this would be more fun as well would take up less room...

You need to conform to the method of anchoring of the other boats if you are not the first. That does not stop you rafting up. However remember that

1. There will be 3 times the strain on your anchor system so make sure it is man enough for the job, and recovering it may be interesting if there has been a good breeze (well dug in!).

2. Get lots of fenders between the boats and use crossing fore and aft springs to eradicate fore and aft movement, as well as the head and stern ropes.

3. Secure the boats as near parrallel to each other as possible, but with a very slight toe-in from the outer boats to the one in the middle.

4. Watch the alignment of the masts, so that rolling boats do not crash their masts into each oter, or into your rigging.

5. Make sure the boat with the largest cockpit is in the centre!!

6. tow a fender astern on a long peice of rope, then if anyone falls overboard, they can hang on to the fender while you sort out recovery.


Of course, if you are the first one there, there is nothing to stop you anchoring fore and aft.

[Mike OReilly]

I generally detest raft ups. It is fundamentally unstable and unsafe, and leads to terrible tangles. Besides that, I really don't like living cheek to jowl with semi-strangers. If I wanted to do that I'd get a multi-hull .

Our approach, when we do raft, is only to do so with completely benign forecasts and very secure anchorages. We position the largest vessel with the largest tackle in the middle. We let the first boat get a good set with lots of rode out (7:1 at least). The other boats join slowly, being sure to stagger the masts and try and match freeboard heights. Tie together with plenty of fenders and spring lines, but make sure you can break apart quickly and easily.

I prefer to have everyone hang off just one anchor/rode. My approach is that if you need to set multiple anchors, then you shouldn't be rafting. More than one rode will lead to lovely twisted messes.

[Steve W]

If this is a bare-boat charter, confirm that the charter company allows rafting up. The two companies we used in the BVI's told us they did not allow rafting up and insurance would not cover any damage.

[valhalla360]

Rafting is fun during the day (assuming you aren't anti-social) but don't care for it at night.

A calm protected anchorage with no significant weather forcast is a must. I'd probably avoid tidal currents.

Typically get the first boat anchored (preferably the largest with solid ground tackle), then simply pull alongside and tie off. Once tied off, you can swim or use the dingy to set the anchor (usually the point is to hang out swiming and playing). That way you avoid tangles.

Break up is usually the outside first, preferably downwind but with a little thought, it's not hard untie and have a middel boat pull forward (remember, this is on a calm day). For smaller boats, in shallow water, we will sometimes walk them away from the raft and hold them by the anchor. Once the engine is started, drop the anchor and move away from the boat. Since the anchor is not dug in, it's nothing to retrive it and you are on your way.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by ilya t

Here in California most people tend to use bow and stern anchoring. I believe that it is due to general lack of space at anchorages…

Perhaps you can tell us where in California you have experienced this technique.

I live and sail on San Francisco Bay and this is NOT the norm here, from Monterey to Half Moon Bay to SF Bay to the Delta to Drakes Bay. Just doesn't happen.

[ilya t]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Perhaps you can tell us where in California you have experienced this technique.

I live and sail on San Francisco Bay and this is NOT the norm here, from Monterey to Half Moon Bay to SF Bay to the Delta to Drakes Bay. Just doesn't happen.

Stu,

I admit that my anchoring experience in California is limited, as I usually pick up mooring here… The few times I anchored in Catalina or Santa Cruz island I noticed that the boats were using both bow and stern and followed the same method. I was told that it's a commonly used method here. When sailing in the med or in Thailand, i only saw people using a single anchor…
I also noticed that while in California they tend to use more rode. 6 or even 7 to 1 is suggested as the minimum. In Europe or Asia they seem happy with 5 to 1… just personal observations

[noelex 77]

Rafting up is very easy to do.

However it does require very good skills. The skills are not in the rafting up, but knowing when weather conditions, holding ground and boat equipment is suitable to make this a safe proposition overnight.

This judgment is difficult to acquire as charterer, with limited time in the country and lack of familiarity of the boat.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by ilya t

Stu,

I admit that my anchoring experience in California is limited, as I usually pick up mooring here… The few times I anchored in Catalina or Santa Cruz island I noticed that the boats were using both bow and stern and followed the same method. I was told that it's a commonly used method here. When sailing in the med or in Thailand, i only saw people using a single anchor…
I also noticed that while in California they tend to use more rode. 6 or even 7 to 1 is suggested as the minimum. In Europe or Asia they seem happy with 5 to 1… just personal observations

Thanks for getting back. In Catalina were you anchored or on the pickup moorings? They HAVE to arrange the boats on the mooring pickups that way because of both space and ocean/wind conditions to have them face outwards. I don't know about Santa Cruz. Was that anchoring or mooring? Two completely different things.

[ilya t]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Thanks for getting back. In Catalina were you anchored or on the pickup moorings? They HAVE to arrange the boats on the mooring pickups that way because of both space and ocean/wind conditions to have them face outwards. I don't know about Santa Cruz. Was that anchoring or mooring? Two completely different things.

In Catalina in the main part of two main harbors you have to moor… that's what i've been doing most of the time. I am not talking about it here…
As far as anchoring… all the other harbors you have to anchor and in my experience they were using 2 anchors.
Same thing in Santa Cruz. No mooring there..
I did see two anchored method in Croatia once - that is when the stern side was actually tied to a tree…

So this leads to another question… If we are the first ones to arrive to a harbor and can pretty much choose any anchoring method. Is it better to do bow only - as this way you can swing with the wind and get less rocking and - perhaps hold this one anchor better… or use both as this way you get extra hold…

i guess in the calm conditions with plenty of swing room there is no reason to do 2 anchors at all… :-/

[DefinitelyMe]

I regularly raft up in very long strings of boats and stay there for months at a time. I've tried a lot of different things and this is my advice based on those experiences: For just 3 of you, put the biggest boat in the middle and set the biggest anchor off that boat with plenty of scope.

1) Unless the wind really picks up and you start to drag, leave it like that. Setting multiple anchors rarely increases holding power since unless the wind is hitting all three boats exactly bow-on, one or other of the anchors will be under tension while the others are not. If you will be there for a long time, i would sooner set two anchors in tandem than separate anchors from each boat. Don't worry about a stern anchor unless your space is limited. I have had occasion to set a stern anchor a couple of times and it always ends up being marginally useful and ultimately more trouble than it's worth.

2) If the wind really picks up and you start to drag, there is nothing stopping you from moving the whole raft-up as one under power. Get the two outermost boats to turn on their engines and coordinate between the two of them. Don't worry about steering, just use the engine power to maneuver. You can then have someone deal with the single anchor (or two anchors in tandem) without too much trouble and in perfect control. If you absolutely must, in an emergency you can set multiple anchors from the bows of several boats but be very wary of wind shift. If the wind shifts , all the pressure will be on one of the outside anchors with the breeze hitting the bows and putting a lot of strai on it. If that anchor then drags there is a high chance it will break out the other anchors and you will then find yourself drifting downwind rapidly with a tangle of anchors off your bows.

3) Even with a decent amount of swell and/or wake from other boats you should be fine. Just spend a bit of time tying everyone up properly with at least a bowline, sternline and both forward-leading and aft-leading springs. Plenty of big fenders and you should be fine.

Last summer we sat through several 50-knot squalls in a raft up of 5 boats (one 37-foot cabin cruiser, one 42-foot ketch, two 36-foot sloops and a 28-foot sloop) in this manner with just a single anchor (25kg rocna) while other raft-ups with multiple anchors set dragged all over the place around us. A 50-foot ketch on her own started to drag, so we took a line from her bow to the stern of the central boat in our raft-up, pulled up her anchor and she sat out the rest of that night hanging off our stern like that!

Hope this is useful.

p.s. we were on a mooring when this picture was taken but the principle is the same.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by ilya t

Here in California most people tend to use bow and stern anchoring. I believe that it is due to general lack of space at anchorages… I noticed that in the Med mostly everyone does bow only. Makes it better for shifting winds, but takes up more space.

Boats tend to swing together reasonably well, so the extra room taken up is not much.
People coming from countries with deserted anchorages are often horrified how close boats anchor in some parts of Europe. In practice there are few problems.

You do need to get over the desire to having your swing circle free of boats over 360 degrees which is sentiment expressed by some sailors more used to quieter parts of the world.

Keep in mind if you raft together your swing will be different to other boats which requires a bit more room than a single boat, room you won't always get.

[Tayana42]

Rafted in San Diego behind Shelter Island once for a Tayana Rendezvous in a very protected harbor in settled weather. Joined the boats as described above. Had no problems but I was unease all night. By the way, anchoring fore and aft is common in some California areas such as some small coves at Catalina Island, King Harbor, Dana Point in the East anchorage among others.


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[ilya t]

Thanks again everyone!
Very very helpful…

So it seems that the best way to do this is

1 - avoid rafting in poor weather or harbors that are not very well sheltered.
2 - if conditions are good - use a single bow anchor off the biggest middle boat with maximum scope.
3 - make sure there are no other boats downwind from us
4 - tie in the side boats as tight as possible with plenty of bumpers, bow, stern, and spring line. with an offset so the spreaders do not come into contact
4 - use an anchor buoy
5 - keep a night anchor watch if not 100% sure
6 - if we start to drag, use the single engine of he middle boat to motor away from trouble and then break apart the raft…

sound good?

[DefinitelyMe]

Sounds good, except for point 6 which i don't agree with at all. Motoring with just the central boat will work fine for cats because you have the twin engines that are sufficiently far apart, but you said you have 3 monohulls...................... I've tried it both ways and motoring into any kind of breeze with just one screw in the middle and three big bows all trying to fall off the wind didn't work at all. If you want to break the raft up it will take a while (one minute would be a while!), and you need stability and maneuverability in the interim. Each to his own though!

[valhalla360]

While I still don't like rafting up over night, think about this:

What is the difference between rafting up in a protected bay and med mooring? There really isn't much difference.