What to do if anchor drags?

[Don C L]

Yes, in this case the OP was lucky to be in what appeared to be soft sand and with no exposure to swells with the wind coming off the land as it was. The yawing is bad but pitching (and being thrown back by waves) also puts huge strains on the system, though how much I'll let the experts tell me. That was the situation when I dragged a CQR... I shoulda had more scope out though.

[boatman61]

I agree one needs the windage aft.. and if memory serves the OP had his bimini up and could not get it down as it held his solar.
I find with the boom up the wind has a long horizontal surface to work on which accentuates the yawing by providing resistance and sailing effect which exaggerates the pendulum, dropping the boom removes this effect and allowed his bimini to play a greater part.
If I remember correctly he did say it lessened the yawing.
Its something I have been doing for yonks and will continue to do.. as the song goes.. My resistance is low.

[wingless]

The Haulover Inlet in Miami permits hours of entertainment watching the multitude of anchoring techniques.

My favorite is the anchor toss, standing on the bow and giving it a hurl. We rate those for distance and style.

[Jim Cate]

RE the argument about not being able to properly set an oversized anchor:

Folks report backing down on the anchor to the extent possible with their engine, and the n finding the anchor not fully buried, and believing that it could then drag.

I believe that if the wind rises to the point where the anchor load is higher than that provided by the engine the anchor will bury more, just as if one had had a more powerful engine to set it initially. Why would it not be so?

And for what it's worth, we've used the method described by Boatie, idling backwards slowly. snubbing off the chain every 25 feet or so, enough to stop the boat, until the full scope is reached. Then we apply increasing load with the engine, monitoring with ranges and the gps (Vesper anchor alarm display is very good for this) to be sure that we're hooked in. We've used this technique with our recommended size Manson Supreme for about 15 years now, anchoring literally several thousand times, and have never experienced the dread "choking" with mud or grass. As i have reported various times, we've dragged three times, all in soupy mud under severe stress. Perhaps an oversized anchor would have done better those times... who knows?

Jim

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by thinwater

I know this is a serious thread with good information exchanged, but the title has given me this...


... image of a guy standing on the foredeck running around in small circles with his hands in the air.


Not the OP, just some guy. OK, back to serious and useful discussion!

Well, I’m similar conditions, that’s me.
Except I’m usually down below staring at the Vesper.

[a64pilot]

I’ve never had an issue setting mine and we only back down at 1800 or so.
I have sat out two near miss hurricanes and to prepare for those I was backing down at full throttle and holding it. Then moving forward and backing down full throttle 30 degrees or so to the side, then repeating it to the other side.
Never saw winds maybe in excess of 40 kts or so, no hurricane winds by any means.
The next day I did have trouble getting the anchor up, took probably I’d guess a half hour. This was a mix of sand / mud and really, really good holding.
I thought I was going to have to dive it and drag it out backwards, but it finally came up.
What was successful was holding max tension the windlass could do, locking the chain down and rocking the boat forward and letting it spring back, it eventually worked it loose.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

...And for what it's worth, we've used the method described by Boatie, idling backwards slowly. snubbing off the chain every 25 feet or so, enough to stop the boat, until the full scope is reached. Then we apply increasing load with the engine, monitoring with ranges and the gps (Vesper anchor alarm display is very good for this) to be sure that we're hooked in. We've used this technique with our recommended size Manson Supreme for about 15 years now, anchoring literally several thousand times, and have never experienced the dread "choking" with mud or grass. As i have reported various times, we've dragged three times, all in soupy mud under severe stress. Perhaps an oversized anchor would have done better those times... who knows?

Exactly our process as well. Anchor is lowered with boat moving back slowly with wind/tide. Get some speed on, bow falls off a bit, then I snub. I usually do this with my foot on the chain. Repeat a few times, depending on depth and scope. Once I can tell we’re stretched out and holding, only then do we start reversing slowly on the engine. We slowly ramp up to full cruising RPMs, which for us is around 1800-2000. We hold this for some time, monitoring transits, and watching and feeling the rode. This digs the anchor in well.

There are times when wind is sufficient that we haven’t used the engine. And a few times we’ve practiced setting with sail only (backwinding the main). But most of the time we use the engine. I like knowing the anchor is well set, and will hold to full cruising throttle.

I’m sure an increasing wind/current does dig an anchor in further. My only issue with not doing it purposely is when you get a wind/current shift. If the anchor is dug in it will usually crab around and remain dug in. If it’s not dug in, it could pop out, and then may or may not reset.

[JPA Cate]

Our present boat yaws a lot at anchor. She has little hull depth forward, and two roller furlers worth of windage, and the bow blows around. Making the "V" using the 20 lb HT Danforth kedge for the second anchor in the setup considerably diminishes the yawing. The OP was right to be concerned about the yawing, and either another anchor, or a drogue off the bow can really help that problem.

Ann