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Dragging/Anchor unset etiquette


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BTW how many people use an anchor alarm on the GPS?

Well I would have: But still working out how to set it :(

However going to be using opencpn on the boat this weekend and I do know how use that one.

So yes we do.

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As an indication of the holding ability of a heavy chain on a muddy bottom.... we had 20kts+ come thru one night while anchored at Rotoroa over new years.  We were happily sitting on around 6:1 scope and I slept like a log and so did the kids (woohoo!). In the morning I woke up to find that there had been a 90 degree wind shift and a launch was sitting about 25-30m off the bow i.e roughly where I expected our anchor to be. When we were ready to lift the anchor I got a fender out cos I thought we might get close to the launch  but half way there the anchor chain did a 90 degree turn and headed off in line with the direction we were originally sitting at ie. the 20kt blow hadn't even straightened out the anchor chain!

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Does anyone else use the "drop your anchor between two boats transoms" rule?

 

It's what I was taught many moons ago and then, no matter how crowded the bay, no boat should be over your anchor when retrieving it (not you over theirs). Probably even in the situation just described by pacifier. In which case nobody has any idea where another boat's anchor is.

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As an indication of the holding ability of a heavy chain on a muddy bottom..

 

Yep, the chain and the Anchor work as one. For every doubling of the length of chain you lay out, the holding power increases by a factor of 4. It's one issue to consider if you are thinking going to Rope/Chain rode. While that is good for smaller boats that need to save on weight, those that are going to anchor over night regularly for extended periods, it maybe more important to factor in that greater holding power by having all chain.

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Rocna seems to be somewhat a victim of their own success.  I might not know much but I have done a little bit of boating over the last 30 years  with various 'old generation anchors' and know their limitations. I also know that when I changed to rocna about 8  years ago , one made in NZ, it  fixed the fault of the old cqr/ manson plow type which was that they need to be set properly and you often need a bit of extra room to do that. 

 The rocna , like most of the new gen anchors sets much faster and easier, and across many different bottom types. My anchor is also at the lower end of the weight threshold in the boat size  guidelines, but it does fit with that old maxim of a pound a foot.

 

The only time it hasn't held for me is when there's an issue not of its making. A papa bed say, or a scallop shell on the tip, or a large plastic bag buried in the mud in Kairara bay one year.( for example)

 Apart from that ( and actually including that ... the bag) its held us in many summer gales and generally been a great and reliable performer in some quite marginal conditions. In fact its totally satisfactory and I wouldn't change it.

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Does anyone else use the "drop your anchor between two boats transoms" rule?

 

It's what I was taught many moons ago and then, no matter how crowded the bay, no boat should be over your anchor when retrieving it (not you over theirs). Probably even in the situation just described by pacifier. In which case nobody has any idea where another boat's anchor is.

 

 

Pretty much what I learned through watching my father. But in this case your anchor can easily end up under one or other of the boats depending how they are laying at the time you anchor.

 

And more commonly the issue arises as more boats come in and start filling the gaps.

 

But I've never personally seen or experienced two boats coming together at anchor - except when one of them is dragging.

 

I jumped aboard a dragging launch to hold it off on one occasion, and had a launch drag back and collide with my anchor rode on another.

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ironically boats are more likely to come into contact with each other when there is no wind, and during slack water if there has been a tide running. I have seen several stern too stern meetings, generally with one boat on chain and the other on rope and chain. Though occasionally bot on chain.

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ironically boats are more likely to come into contact with each other when there is no wind, and during slack water if there has been a tide running. I have seen several stern too stern meetings, generally with one boat on chain and the other on rope and chain. Though occasionally bot on chain.

You are absolutely correct.. I have had one of those in a dead calm situation at 4 in the morning..

 

He was on chain and I was on chain/rope so it was probably us drifting..

It was amazing the amount of noise and vibration it caused..

 

Fortunately for me we hit him bow into his broadside... However when they anchored earlier that evening I did mention to them there didn't seem to be enough clearance between us.. They were happy so I went to bed..consequently it wasn't me pulling up the anchor at 4 in the morning :)

 

The real stupid thing with this one is that there was only the two of us in a whole great big bay!!!

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I've seen two boats pull directly towards each other, and once I've been one of them. Weird, but it does happen occasionally.

I'm still not comfortable with how close Auckland boaties are happy to anchor to each other ( and to me!)...

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I used one (Anchor buddy) this summer cruise, it is hard to say how good it was but with the windy conditions we have had it really seemed to reduce shock and I slept better with it deployed, we had heaps of breeze out there but not the extremes of New Year 2016 at the Barrier. So I'm a fan!

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I use an anchor buddy mainly when it is light as I feel it reduces the swing arc in exactly this times when the rwidual current pushes the boats in different directions. I'm on rope/chain.

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Another anchoring anomaly... Fineline would sometimes generate enough lift off the keel and rudder that she would sail up the anchor rode when there was a bit of current and not a whole life wind. It was sometimes confusing for the people around us when we casually moved forward until the rode was heading straight back under the boat. Normally you could flick the rudder across and the boat would settle back to where it was but once it went far enough that the rode got hooked on the keel bulb.

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Dropping your anchor between two boats and hanging back is a a good rule in tight anchorages

I prefer to cockpit the boat in front, effectively drop your anchor about a boat length from the boat you wish to hang behind, but something else we always try to do is anchor with similar boats eg yachts with yachts etc as launches will often hang to a light breeze but yachts will hang to the tide in these conditions

Another thing is not just type but size, we are 52' so try to anchor out with the larger yachts not right in close but then often just on dark you will get a 30ish ft launch arrive and anchor out between two yachts in 15m of water or more, then they give you dirty looks as we swing in a bigger arc than then,wtf

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The biggest challenge with anchoring these days is making sure you don't park next to one of those generatorwankers who start up 2 hours before sunset and run the bastard for 4 hours.

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God had one of those in Whangamumu, Big motor boat Espada come in with 12ish people on board, did some diving then ran the dive compressor from 5pm to 11:30pm - It got bad enough I dug out the MMSI and used RSM to find out who owned it and found their home phone number in White pages, If it had gone on past midnight i was going to call and give them an earful. 

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I've seen two boats pull directly towards each other, and once I've been one of them. Weird, but it does happen occasionally.

I'm still not comfortable with how close Auckland boaties are happy to anchor to each other ( and to me!)...

 

Maybe once people have had the odd bump while racing they figure a light tap in the night isn't going to be a big deal?

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Hey KM, well took the opportunity on Friday afternoon to check the chain counter.  Found it was set at 50cm per rotation, my rough measure had it at closer to 30cm!  So ran 20m of chain out onto the marina and measured it in 5m segments and went back to my old cable tie method.  Reset the chain counter and now have it running a bit conservatively so will tweak it a bit more.

 

Had the opportunity to use the new anchor and it definitely sets fast!  It got to have a 180 degree windshift test yesterday including the wind changing up to 20knot gusts and an ugly little chop smacking the boat.  I am pleased to say that apart from the boat changing directions it did not appear to move.  I am even happier as we were not on board when it happened.

 

Thanks for the anchor :)

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After arriving in to North Harbout(Ponui) around 10.30pm snuck in to clear area,dropped the pick and yes clear of the launch(small ship thing),on with dinner,everyone laying the same way but the thing astern talk about sail around.So picked up anchor moved to be last boat,reset,great sleep till 5.00am,the thing must of sailed more than i thought as there was shouting etc from the thing and a vessel who was astern.Can only presume the thing must of payed out a lot rode/warp,great arces.

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