Anchoring in Coves, etc.

[AirBoyzT]

When traveling on long cruises (lets say the atlantic ocean or down the chesapeake bay), it it ok to pull into a cove or a "lake/linlet" for the night and drop anchor to sleep, even if there are houses around with boats, etc. Just wondering if this is frowned upon, illegal, etc....I mean I know you still need to have your anchor light.

Thanks,
-Aaron

[motion30]

It is legal and perfectly acceptable

[skipmac]

Yes, legal and acceptable. Just use a little common sense and courtesy.

If you find a private cove with a single house and dock, don't drop anchor 20' from their dock. Pick a spot a little further away to respect their privacy.

Same thing if you see a boat anchored in a harbor. Unless that's the only place to anchor pick a spot far enough from them to give them privacy and good swinging room.

[colemj]

It is unlikely that you will be pulling into coves for the night if sailing the Atlantic, and the Chesapeake is not a long cruise. Usually, it will not be a matter of "pulling over", but one of planning the next stop and heading toward it when daysailing.

Parts of the ICW and parts of the Chesapeake are about the only places I can remember where one can just travel unplanned and simply pull over into a cove when the sun sets.

Mark

[Hud3]

Having lived on and cruised around the Chesapeake Bay since I was a kid, I can tell you that one of the beauties of the Bay is that you will never in a lifetime be able to see all of it from the water.

The Bay itself is only about 200 miles from it's headwaters to the Atlantic, but it's shoreline length, including tributaries, is over 11,000 miles. Cruising around the Bay and dropping the hook in the nearest creek or cove at the end of the day is called "gunkholing". Great fun!

[AirBoyzT]

Originally Posted by colemj

It is unlikely that you will be pulling into coves for the night if sailing the Atlantic, and the Chesapeake is not a long cruise. Usually, it will not be a matter of "pulling over", but one of planning the next stop and heading toward it when daysailing.

Parts of the ICW and parts of the Chesapeake are about the only places I can remember where one can just travel unplanned and simply pull over into a cove when the sun sets.

Mark

Well when in the atlantic I am speaking of pulling into Inlets and anchoring somewhere in there.

[Zanshin]

When sailing in the Atlantic you will be "offshore" which means that you will be too far from land to be able to approach the shore and find anywhere to anchor. Remember that sailboats are slow - getting up to 10 knots is possible for only the largest boats out there.

When sailing the major danger comes from hitting the ground - while at sea you want to be as far from land as the situation allows. One of the biggest dangers in a storm is having a coastline downwind of you (in a storm even a soft sandy beach can be deadly), this is called a "lee shore". If your sails and/or engine aren't powerful enough to keep the sailboat heading to shore you are lost, as hundreds, if not thousands, of other ships in the past have been. Distance between your boat and the nearest lee shore is called "sea room" and you want a lot of that in a storm.

Anchoring at sea is also not usually possible, since the depths are in the hundreds to thousands of feet and no boat or ship has enough anchor chain to touch bottom (to say nothing of the recommend scope).

Once offshore you stay there - sailing night and day as conditions permit. There aren't laws at sea but such internationally accepted regulations as UNCLOS and COLREGS; the latter talks about matters pertaining to avoiding collisions and close to the top of the list is the requirement to use any and all means to keep a watch... which means you are breaking the rules if you nap at sea when alone on long voyages.

[chuckr]

i guess by your posting you mean coming down the east coast of the usa in the atlantic -- the cheaspeake has a lot of places to stop and rest so just take your pick, keep your head valves closed if in someones backyard and be courtsey
as for the atlantic - from beaufort down we sometimes will run into coves along the coast and spend the night - have done it many places but you must be careful as most do not a markers leading in to them - we have done it down to fla border then just go off shore and direct to miami as we do not need the hassel of the bridges or the water way police in various locations along the icw -

just out thoughts and what we have done
chuck patty and svsoulmates
in trinidad for hurricane season

[AirBoyzT]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

When sailing in the Atlantic you will be "offshore" which means that you will be too far from land to be able to approach the shore and find anywhere to anchor. Remember that sailboats are slow - getting up to 10 knots is possible for only the largest boats out there.

When sailing the major danger comes from hitting the ground - while at sea you want to be as far from land as the situation allows. One of the biggest dangers in a storm is having a coastline downwind of you (in a storm even a soft sandy beach can be deadly), this is called a "lee shore". If your sails and/or engine aren't powerful enough to keep the sailboat heading to shore you are lost, as hundreds, if not thousands, of other ships in the past have been. Distance between your boat and the nearest lee shore is called "sea room" and you want a lot of that in a storm.

Anchoring at sea is also not usually possible, since the depths are in the hundreds to thousands of feet and no boat or ship has enough anchor chain to touch bottom (to say nothing of the recommend scope).

Once offshore you stay there - sailing night and day as conditions permit. There aren't laws at sea but such internationally accepted regulations as UNCLOS and COLREGS; the latter talks about matters pertaining to avoiding collisions and close to the top of the list is the requirement to use any and all means to keep a watch... which means you are breaking the rules if you nap at sea when alone on long voyages.

Forgive my ignorance, but I know people solo sail the atlantic coast line all the time. How do they sleep?

[Zanshin]

They do sleep (I singlehand, so should say that I sleep) - just that anyone doing so is breaking the rules and in the case of an incident or accident are either completely or at least partially at fault. If the accident is a collision with a cargo vessel, one is probably not only partially at fault but completely dead.
There are several threads about singlehanding here - this shouldn't turn into one.

[jackdale]

Check the chart for any issues with the bottom.

Avoid









I almost anchored on one the last show in St. Kitts. It was not charted.