Anchor Aweigh!

A necessary skill for all sailors is the ability to safely anchor. I've been reading all I can find on the subject of anchoring. However, as with most things sailing, there is only so much you can learn from books. Real sailing skill comes from experience.

So, this past weekend marked the first time this sailor would drop anchor. Three of us, Terry, Ryan, and I set out to anchor off Island White. White Island is within Long Beach Harbor. Yeah, I know as safe an anchorage as you can find...as it should be the first time.

Here's a link to our anchoring site:


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We anchored in ~50 feet of water with a sea floor of mud. We dropped 360 feet of rode of which 210 feet was chain. The 40lb Danforth anchor set firm and we held tight all night.

Lessons Learned

1. With this much chain make sure it isn't twisted prior to leaving port. Twist chain skips on the windlass.
2. Make sure the entire rode is marked for length. In our case the chain rode was well marked but the nylon line was not. Estimating length is not recommended as accuracy in determining scope is very important to safely anchoring.
3. Drop anchor slowly to a scope of ~3:1 before motoring in reverse to set anchor.
4. Tie off the anchor line to a cleat and then to looped dock line cleated to each side of the bow. This will divide the anchor line stress between two cleats, eliminate stress at the bowsprit, reduce heat at chafe points, and allow the boat to move freely in current and wind.
5. Once a suitable anchor location is located, determine appropriate scope hence rode necessary. If only deploying a bow anchor circle the sweep zone with the boat to determine depth in the anchor zone. it should be consistent to avoid fouling your line or worse grounding your boat in low tide.
6. When lowering your anchor mark this location on your electronic chart. This will help you tell others where your anchor is if needed as well as help you verify your rode lenght/scope.
7. Use your electronic chart and radar to determine the true distance from objects. This will help prevent you swinging into other boats, rocks, or shore.
8. Use gloves when handling chain/rope rode.
9. When weighing anchor don't use the windlass to pull the boat. Draw the boat forward under power as another brings in the rode. Once directly over the anchor pull in slack rode. Then pull forward slowly until rode tigthens and then power forward to break anchor free.
10. If the anchor comes up muddy you can run the boat in reverse to clean it.

All in all it was a successful learning experience. I still need several more in different conditions and situations to feel confident in anchoring.