[Public-List] Anchoring

[John Riley]

Roger L. Kingsland wrote:
> PS (to anchoring question below) - has anyone actually tried anchoring stern
> to the wind?
>   

No, and won't try it...intentionally.  See below for additional comment.

> Relative to anchoring, has anyone tried paying out sufficient scope on the
> deck (with the last 30' outside the stays and stanchions) and dropping the
> anchor and chain form the stern?  The anchor could then be set w/ boat going
> forward rather than in reverse.  Those preferring a bow to the wind attitude
> could then let the last 30' go and switch the rhode from the stern to the
> bow.  Might work well when short handed or alone.  
>
> Roger 148
>
>   

Yes, this is an excellent technique.  Charles Brennen, a long time
regular on the Trailer Sailor Bulletin Board (tsbb), who sails his
Windrose 18 out of Miami (offshore quite a bit), has been an advocate of
this for years.  I've tried it, and it does work, and is nice for
letting go while singlehanding.

Charles adds a line with a snatch block to the rode that is led aft to a
quarter cleat...he can adjust how she lies to the wind/waves
(conventional wisdom is that a boat best take waves on the shoulder, or
lie about 40-50 degrees to the dominate wave train...Don Jordan now
disagrees), but also, he can use this line to also haul in the anchor
from the cockpit.

The only thing in your description that I (personally) don't like is the
idea of going forward, dropping the hook and letting it set with
significant way-on.  Yes, a lot of folks do this, and I suppose in the
face of that experience, I cannot argue against it.  But for my money,
my preferred technique is to lower the hook, under control (NEVER, EVER
thrown off the boat) while the boat is not moving in the water...

Again, due to the number of times I have anchored under sail and wind
drift alone, I reject outright the notion that one needs boat speed to
"set" the anchor.  It just goes against my intuition (and everything I
have  been taught by older, seasoned seaman, and just about everything
I've read in authoritative 'how-to' literature) to anchor with
significant way on the boat....forward or reverse.

Sorry to be a stick in the much (so to speak) on this issue and keep
harping on the same point, but these kinds of things...proper
techniques...have evolved over millennial of sailing. Sure, some
advancement occurs and we must adapt, but so far, there has been nothing
in my own experience to suggest that (a) anchoring from the stern is
more beneficial and does not bring a whole host of problems and (b)
anchoring with the boat moving helps anything.

Finally, I close with another anecdote, but this did not happen to me
(it was a friend)...anchored in the Gulf of Mexico in a big blow, the
boat was lying stern-to and the ONLY way to save the boat (she was
taking significant water over the stern) was to cut the anchor line. 
Even that story on Don Jordan's site shows this experience, and for some
reason, he rationalizes it away.  Sorry again, but anchoring stern-to
just seems to be asking for trouble.

-- 
John S. Riley
S/V Gaelic Sea
1972 Alberg 30 #521


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