Anchoring sea in high wind

[team karst]

My Cayman clutch is pretty crappy. It takes a mallet to adjust or release. Basically, only two states. Free/or near locked. Chrome bronze on both friction surfaces. OTOH, a simpson Lawrence vertical shaft model i had was smooth as a fishing reel drag. Used a winch handle to adjust.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by team karst

My Cayman clutch is pretty crappy. It takes a mallet to adjust or release. Basically, only two states. Free/or near locked. Chrome bronze on both friction surfaces. OTOH, a simpson Lawrence vertical shaft model i had was smooth as a fishing reel drag. Used a winch handle to adjust.

Polish the clutch. Mine were frozen with green corrosion when I got Jedi… says enough about the use of the clutch with the first owner

I also spray it with Boeshield T9. With the anchor on the roller, you can loosen the clutch a bit then push the up button to test the clutch.

[team karst]

Yeah. I will try some things. Had already soaked in vinegar to remove green stuff. Nothing like actually designing friction material into the product tho.

[rslifkin]

The clutch on my Maxwell windlass adjusts nicely as well. And even if I haven't released it to deploy recently, I know it won't get stuck as I keep it loose enough that it'll slip when pulling the chain vertical for anchor break out and when the anchor docks in the roller.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by team karst

Yeah. I will try some things. Had already soaked in vinegar to remove green stuff. Nothing like actually designing friction material into the product tho.

At the time, I used the highest density Scotchbrite bits for the Dremel to clean my clutch. It was a slow and tedious process.

Today I would pickup my Milwaukee M12 right angle die grinder with 3M Roloc disc and it’s Scotchbrite attachments. I just cleaned my propeller with it and it’s amazing

The attached picture shows the tool with a 30 grit sanding pad to strip the impossible to strip louvered aluminium vent

[team karst]

Zinc chromate in ur future?

[BobMc]

Agree, 17-20 knots is just "normal" for anchoring in some areas - nothing special. BUT . . . .

Left unsaid in most of the responses is that you need to let out sufficient scope, quickly. The anchor should hit the bottom as you start to drift backwards (driven by the wind, or current) and you should continue to let out scope as you drift. THEN, slow down the rate of scope deployment until the rode starts to become taut, then stop. Let the wind/current back down on the anchor. You want to deploy slowly toward the end as you don't want the movement of the boat to suddenly pull on the anchor - you want the pull to be gradual. The anchor might drag a bit until it sets. If not satisfied with your position, do it all over again after raising the anchor (use the boat's engine to motor forward to crawl up the rode).

Originally Posted by Chotu

In 17 to 20 kn? You don’t even need to do anything. Don’t worry about all that engine work.

Just make an estimate of where you want the boat to end up, then go up wind by the amount of rode you will be letting out.

in 17 to 20 kn of wind, everything will take care of itself.

Let nature do the work for you. You’re fighting nature. go with the natural forces that are being applied to the boat. They will set your anchor just fine. Better than the engine in fact because you’ll be facing in the correct direction when you pull on it with the wind force.

depending on your anchor set up if it is chain or what the situation is, you can also let a little bit of it out kind of fast at the end before you stop letting it out if you want a powerful set. The slight shock load of doing that will put more force on the anchor than any engine work would ever do.

just use the forces of nature that are already there for you. And that much wind, You are either anchoring nicely, or you are dragging across the bay instantly. There’s not going to be a questionable hold

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by team karst

Zinc chromate in ur future?

I tried a new product: Awlgrip Wash Primer CF simply brushed on, followed by good old Awlgrip topcoat which I sprayed with a Chinese knockoff gun that works surprisingly well :-)

It’s too early to tell how that new primer works.

[Scubaseas]

Originally Posted by Papawads

I've been struggling to set my spade anchor today in 17-20kts. So I Googled some advice, but it's not clear. They seem to say go upwind by 50-100 feet (15-30m) past your indented spot, drop 'some' anchor and drift back over you chosen anchor spot, then play out the chain.

Am I reading that right? What is 'some?

When I do stop, to start the reverse, the bow is blown 90° off to one-side ... I then struggle badly get near chosen spot.

The Admiral is kicking off big time so need to sort this....

Views welcome

Lots of good advice and very active (just whisper "anchor" and everyone has a strong opinion) post. I would add my experience with a Spade is for some bottoms like mud it prefers a fairly long scope to set. Like 3:1. Greece maybe more along the lines of sand and coral and weeds but I would still lay out, not dump at least 2:l scope before gently setting the anchor. At 2:1 start to tighten the clutch a bit, then let out 10' then tighten it for a couple of seconds then let out more rode. At 3:1 tighten the clutch and snubbers and observe if you are moving by looking at the bottom if you can see it or use a range to something on shore, preferably as close to abeam of you as possible. If you're not moving and there is no vibration on the rode then back down with the engine for a brief bit. Like 2 to 5 seconds. Try backing down again after 5 minutes or so at 3/4 throttle for maybe 5 to 10 seconds. You should be well dug in. If it's crowded, you can shorten scope but I would set a Spade at 3:1 even if I knew I had to shorten the scope after setting.

[SV__Grace]

One time in 25 knot winds it took 6 tries to set our Rocna Vulcan in a familiar anchorage with good mud bottom, which was perplexing enough for me to actually read the owners manual afterwards.

I'm glad I did because I learned two lessons the hard way that was clearly spelled out in the owners manual:

1. Deploy the minimum scope needed BEFORE attempting to set for your particular anchor. Rocna specifies 5:1 minimum scope for setting the Vulcan.

2. Do not "drag" the anchor before minimum scope is deployed.

#2 above was my big mistake. With the new gen anchors I got spoiled- just drop anchor and it sets every time, easy peasy, until it doesn't.

In fresh winds and/or strong current your boat can move backwards too fast and instead of biting and setting even the best designed anchor can drag across the bottom on it's side as you are moving faster than the rode is being deployed.

The fix is to control your boat speed while deploying rode and snub at or after minimum setting scope. Expecting your anchor to bite and set while the boat is moving more than 2 knots, especially before minimum setting scope is deployed, is expecting a lot from any anchor.

Once set at minimum scope needed, you can shorten up in a crowded anchorage if necessary.

[Nautes]

Would heaving to also apply in this situation?

[IanTrail]

Lots of sound advice there. The spade is a good anchor and with a half-decent bottom and plenty of scope it should set OK. The only reason I could think why it shouldn't is: if you have a very light displacement boat with high windage maybe you are blowing off down-wind so fast that the anchor is skipping rather than biting.

[Bluechart]

I have a spade anchor, it’s a Rocna. 49’ boat, 34,000 lbs, 83lb anchor.

What are you using for your boat?

We pick a spot, and drop all of our intended scope (medium speed windless) as the boat continues to move, back/sideways,,if it’s windy I’ll use the engine/bow thruster to slow the boats movement away from the anchoring spot. (If too little scope is payed out too slowly, especially if the boat is moving quickly, you’ll just drag the anchor with you.)

(We use the “range rings” on our radar [340’, 170’, 80’, etc], so we can ‘see’ how far away other boats are, and then set an appropriate distance for the circumstances. Then once we’re set, we see if our “circle of trust” is still good.)

Too much speed away from the anchoring spot and the anchor is likely to “pull out” before it’s properly set. If there is wind, we let nature work the anchor into the bottom. If the wind is light, I’ll put the boat into reverse, just idle at first, then after a few minutes I’ll bump it to 1,000 rpm, then after a few maybe 1,500 rpm, and slowly work up to 2,000. (I don’t like setting the anchor multiple times, so we go at it slowly.). We’ve only had to re-anchor twice in the last 8 years.

I do see people drop the anchor and drive around the anchorage in reverse waiting for the anchor to set……not for me!

[JusNow]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

A couple of thoughts:

* You have a great anchor. It should set and stick every time. That's a good start!
* You don't get to pick where the boat will be. You only get to pick where the anchor is. Once the anchor is down, it is pointless to worry about how to get where you want to be. If you don't like where you are, lift the anchor and try again.
* Some people believe there is value in setting the anchor with about 1/2 the intended scope. I have never understood this. An anchor always sets better with more scope than less scope. Why you would try and set it with three to one, and then go to 621 makes no sense at all. Put out the full amount you intend to use before you set the anchor.
* If there is any wind, the bow will most certainly fall off, 90° is not uncommon. You can control this a little bit by letting the anchor chain out slowly, but the risk is that you will drag the anchor trying to do this.
* You may not be putting the anchor as far from your intended boat location as you think you are. I for one find it very difficult to gauge distances. It can help to put a waypoint some distance upwind from your desired location. As you cross over your desired location, note the distance to the waypoint. Then reduce that distance bye 100 or 150 ft. Then drop the anchor.

Hope these thoughts help a little.

If you are using a Fortress it will not set unless you get it to dig in with about a 3/1 scope.

[smj]

A must have for the windlass, high dollar Chinese wireless remote.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0865KDMJH...92S92HM2SAYGAM