Anchoring in crowded places

[sailingabe41ds]

Hi...
I think it all depends where you live and type of bottom. I am in the Channel Islands, So Ca. I have done well with delta type anchor. I have 400feet chain bow, stern 20ft chain, 300ft rode. Here 20 feet is shallow water.
Usually first boats sets the tone of single or double anchor. If close to shore like, first row/second row....double anchor. Further out in 35+ ft of water usually we all swing together in single hook.
Since I have all chain bow 1:5 scope...I just have to be careful that if the winds shift I have enough rode for by stern.
If it is really crowded, I try to find another place or anchor further out in 45ft water.

Abe

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

and if you see a wonderfully open spot in the middle of a crowded anchorage... there is probably a reason nobody is anchored there. Proceed with caution.

Ahh, how well I remember spending an entire tide cycle on "Uncle Bernie's sandbar." That lesson was well learned.

We try not to anchor in crowded places, but on the last boat with small anchors and mostly rope rode we frequently put out two anchor in a quasi Bahamian moor so that our overall swing circle matched the all-chain boats with 3:1 or 4:1. Allowed us to put out more comfortable scope with each anchor and still swing in largely the same circle as everyone else (and the extra work of two anchors was good reason to avoid anchoring in places that crowded).

[donradcliffe]

The federal anchorage in Newport north of Goat Island has 20 ft of moderate holding. I have used it often, and have 0ccaisinally dealt with boats dragging. Remember to add the height of your bow roller and the top of the tide to your scope calculations--that's more like 30 ft and 150 of rode. If a blow from the S or SW is predicted, I will move up to Potters Cove on the north end of Prudence Island. I would advise NOT using a Delta, Bruce, or CQR.

[Auklet]

Originally Posted by sailingabe41ds

Hi...
I think it all depends where you live and type of bottom. I am in the Channel Islands, So Ca. I have done well with delta type anchor. I have 400feet chain bow, stern 20ft chain, 300ft rode. Here 20 feet is shallow water.
Usually first boats sets the tone of single or double anchor. If close to shore like, first row/second row....double anchor. Further out in 35+ ft of water usually we all swing together in single hook.
Since I have all chain bow 1:5 scope...I just have to be careful that if the winds shift I have enough rode for by stern.
If it is really crowded, I try to find another place or anchor further out in 45ft water.

Abe

If I may elaborate on the “swing together …” comment. If the wind shifts as in during the night, the boats on single hooks will all swing to the new wind direction, and so forth. But there is also the swinging, some say yawing, or sailing at anchor, of the boats. This is an oscillation with each boat having its own tempo. Here, they do not “swing together” as in keeping a uniform distance apart. It can get chaotic if the boats are anchored such that they close each other closely at the apex of an oscillation. The area swept in the oscillation is a function of the wind speed, the “effective” scope which itself is related to the type of rode (nylon or chain), and to the type of boat. Beamy sailboats with high freeboard and fin keels have a wider oscillation than than those of narrow beam with low freeboard and longer keels, such as full or cutaway. Also, ketches or yawls might hoist the mizzen sail which dramatically dampens such oscillation. Anchoring by the bow and stern effectively prevents oscillation, of course.

So, there you are. In a crowded anchorage one is likely to find an assortment of the combinations above. Many variables. You may have few options if you enter. But, if there are boats anchored bow and stern and there is enough room to lay between any two, that would be one possibility as most of the variables above would not apply.

IMHO, boats that anchor a lot should carry three sets of ground tackle and develop a procedure for anchoring by the bow and stern on minimum scope. The two anchors should be equally able to hold boat. That is, adequate (relative) scopes and similar anchor holding power. If the bow requires 3:1 scope of chain, the stern might need 5:1 of chain (20 ft) plus nylon, if using that.

The above is a deviation from what many do on bow and stern anchoring. The stern anchor is a lesser one, usually on shorter scope. It is often deployed to keep the boat from yawing in the wind or to keep the bow facing the incoming swell, if any; not to hold the boat in a shift of strong wind through 180 deg.

All of this takes practice and a working appreciation of the many variables of secure anchoring around other boats and in tight places. But one basic idea if using a single hook on chain, anchor among other boats on chain of similar design. If you anchor near a tradition design: narrow, low freeboard, full keel, give him room b/c he likely will not swing (oscillate) with you, and you will eventually have to re-anchor.

[zboss]

The problem (we also experienced) is that many of these New England anchorages are not only extremely packed with boats but they are also deep (20 to 40 feet) AND the bottom varies greatly in contour over a very short length (40 feet to 20 feet back to 30 feet and then up to the shore). Its very odd.

Take Block Island. Packed full of boats - within "3 boat neighbors" you can have one guy on 5:1 in 40 feet of water, one guy on 7:1 in 20 feet of water with his anchor hanging on weeds, and another guy with 5:1 in 15 feet of water with his anchor on top of a mound. All in 9 foot tidal swings WITH strong currents. It's a mess with boats swinging in all different directions. The areas that would be perfect for anchoring are filled with private mooring balls that sit empty all season (why didn't they put them in the deep areas?)

Long Island was more hospitable to anchoring in the normal fashion.

I found that we ended up taking more moorings than we expected and my usual tactic of finding a corner up close to the beach to put our 4 foot draft just didn't work well. In the future I may deploy the tactic I use in the ICW which is to drop an additional stern anchor near the beach and lock myself in there away from other boats swing radius.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Auklet

IMHO, boats that anchor a lot should carry three sets of ground tackle and develop a procedure for anchoring by the bow and stern on minimum scope. The two anchors should be equally able to hold boat. That is, adequate (relative) scopes and similar anchor holding power. If the bow requires 3:1 scope of chain, the stern might need 5:1 of chain (20 ft) plus nylon, if using that.

The above is a deviation from what many do on bow and stern anchoring. The stern anchor is a lesser one, usually on shorter scope. It is often deployed to keep the boat from yawing in the wind or to keep the bow facing the incoming swell, if any; not to hold the boat in a shift of strong wind through 180 deg.
.

Yeah I agree. In general, the stern anchor MAY not take much of a load, but any anchor out there should be able to IMO, or don't set it. Not many folks want to keep a full sized anchor, with adequate chain, ready to go on the stern, but at least in my area, it's the best way to go. There are times at night when the wind will shift 180 and blow pretty hard if only for an hour or so. The stern anchor has to be ready to take the load.

[Nicholson58]

Oh how you guys rail on about 20-40. Anybody try Jost Van Dyke, BVI?

The surrounding shallow is shallow reef or stone. The dark is 70 feet. The ideal places are all taken by locals private moorings.

[noelex 77]

Be aware that setting multiple anchors in an anchorage filled with boats using a single anchor can, and often does, create chaos.

[tamicatana]

As several extremely salty pundits have said, ‘don’t.’ Always be prepared to leave. Really.

[Don C L]

Just to resurrect this for a moment, in our neighborhood the tight coves lend themselves to bow/stern anchoring not just for saving space but when currents and breezes come in, the boats often do not all swing together. In fact I have seen two boats anchored side by side get drawn in opposite directions by a tidal current.