The Anchor(ed) Dance....

[markpj23]

First night on the hook, 12ft depth and we had about 70ft of chain out. Used a bridle - each leg is ~20ft long.

My concerns are:

- the bridle never seemd to take a strain at all. I know it was in the mud with the chain at this depth, but I really expected to see strain on the bridle legs

- we danced around all night, swinging back & forth whilst the monos anchored nearby stayed fairly well bow into the wind / swell running through the anchorage.

First time at anchor on our new to us multi. So what gives? Is the bridle too long for that depth?

[GordMay]

How much slack in the bridled chain?

[Ancora Latina]

Originally Posted by markpj23

- the bridle never seemd to take a strain at all.

-Strange! including with light winds as the bridle should at least take the strain of the weight of the chain

I will also ask the same question than GordMay: How much slack in the bridled chain?

João

[Dave852]

Hi Mark,

I am a former Manta owner not that that this is boat specific. Sounds to be like perhaps you did not have a lot of wind. That along with 20' bridles in 12' of water caused you to be swinging to the chain which was attached to the center of the bow. The bridles would have been just hanging slack while you would have been moored only by the weight of the chain. In deeper water the pull would have been on the bridles or if the wind would have picked up.

Cheers, Dave
Former owner hull #67

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by Dave852

Hi Mark,

I am a former Manta owner not that that this is boat specific. Sounds to be like perhaps you did not have a lot of wind. That along with 20' bridles in 12' of water caused you to be swinging to the chain which was attached to the center of the bow. The bridles would have been just hanging slack while you would have been moored only by the weight of the chain. In deeper water the pull would have been on the bridles or if the wind would have picked up.

Cheers, Dave
Former owner hull #67

I'm inclined to agree that we were swinging to the chain. But there was still 10kts + wind and I would think that sufficient to take up the slack. It was sure enough to swing us back & forth.

Gord - I let out at least 20ft of chain after I attached the bridle. I have a counter (and it actually works ). Maybe I had a clump of chain inside the 'Y' and we were swinging to that.... too much chain would also cause this problem.

Next time I'll either shorten the bridle or keep a hand on one bridle leg as I veer out the chain so I can feel the point where it takes a strain.

[Intentional Drifter]

Mark --

On our cat (a St. Francis), I've found that the length of the bridle legs greatly influences how much swinging takes place, in relation to the wind. Less wind = shorter legs, more wind = longer legs. I know some folks advocate a constant bridle length, but I just haven't found that to be true for ours.

I've also found that too much scope can also contribute to it. In several respects, the mantra of 7:1 is too much in light wind/shallow anchorage, as you never get any tension on the chain/rode/bridle and thusly it is easier to just get a pile of chain (or bights) on the bottom.

I just keep experimenting as I get into different situations.

ID

[thinwater]

The wind, tide, and swell effect the boat differently. As long as the dance is not too much, think of it as they that are swinging oddly!

That said, I try to keep away from boats I feel will swing differently. I pick a shallow corner. That way no one will drag into me, either.

[markpj23]

Makes sense - thanks guys.