[Rhodes22-list] Anchoring

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Rick,

For those of us that actually stay overnight at anchor, there are two major issues we worry about:
1: Is my anchor going to drag?
2: If the wind or current shifts, is my swing circle going to interfere with the boats anchored around me?

With a given anchor type and anchor rode configuration, the best way to reduce the chance of dragging anchor is to increase the scope ratio.  With a small boat, like a Rhodes 22, an all chain anchor rode is simply too heavy to be a practical option.  I use a boat length of chain connected to 150 ft of 3/8 inch diameter three strand nylon rode.

The best way to assure your swing circle isn’t going to interfere with other boats is to make your swing radius as small as possible, with an acceptable scope ratio.  Why would I want to make my swing radius bigger?  The reality of small sailboat cruising is that we tend to arrive at an anchorage late in the day.  By this time, the power boats have already dropped their hooks for the evening.  We often have to find a place among the boats that are already in place and the newcomer always has to yield right of way.  Having a small swing radius lets us squeeze in where most boats could not.

My suggested anchoring technique enables one or the other of these issues to be optimized.  All other anchoring scenarios put together make up a very small % of the total use of your anchor.  I’m glad you were able to keep your boat off the rocks by emergency anchoring.  But, this scenario has very little to do with normal cruising.  Good seamanship would dictate that you inspect your rigging and pay attention to your fuel level so you don’t have to emergency anchor.  But, those are entirely separate issues.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 27, 2023, at 12:15 PM, Rick Lange <sloopblueheron at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Roger,
>
> Practicing 50 times how to drop your anchor quickly and safely when not in
> a panic means you're more likely to do it right when in a panic.
>
> If you need more swing room, use a longer rode.  A 20' chain will keep your
> anchor lying down for a 2 ton boat.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rick Lange
>
>
>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 5:53 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>>
>> Rick,
>>
>> Just because you use a carabiner and the bow trailer eye for routine
>> anchoring doesn’t preclude going directly to the bow chock and cleat in an
>> emergency.  For every emergency situation I can cite you 50 routine
>> situations wherein a smaller swing radius or better anchor holding helps us
>> get a better night’s sleep.  I offer my anchoring technique for those of us
>> that are confident in our ability to use a boat hook and don’t have a panic
>> attack when they go to the bow.
>>
>> Roger Pihlaja
>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Oct 26, 2023, at 5:26 PM, Rick Lange <sloopblueheron at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> The worst experience was 150 yd out from a breakwall protecting the
>> marina
>>> entrance I was headed toward in 20 Kt wind. When my windward upper shroud
>>> chainplate let go, I KISS anchored because I was also out of gas..  I
>>> managed to call for a tow anchored only 25 yd from the rocks.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Rick Lange
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 4:34 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> OK Rick,
>>>>
>>>> I’ve given the reasons why it’s desirable to anchor using a carabiner
>> and
>>>> the bow eye.  These are based upon sound physics and they will improve
>> the
>>>> anchor holding or shrink the swing radius EVERY SINGLE TIME!  If you
>> want
>>>> to reject it because you might trip and fall overboard, that’s your
>>>> prerogative.  How often do you have to set the anchor in heavy weather?
>>>> Don’t you think these are the very conditions wherein better anchor
>> holding
>>>> is highly desirable?  Good luck
>>>>
>>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>>> On Oct 26, 2023, at 4:08 PM, Rick Lange <sloopblueheron at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Roger,
>>>>>
>>>>> The boat hook and carabiner are unnecessary complications.  And
>>>>> complications threaten safety.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Rick Lange
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 3:14 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Rick,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Assuming you have a boat hook on board, you only need to thread the
>>>> anchor
>>>>>> rode thru the carabiner once.  After that, you use the boat hook to
>>>> handle
>>>>>> the anchor rode.  It’s no worse than any other time you need to be on
>>>> the
>>>>>> bow handling the anchor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>>>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Oct 26, 2023, at 2:36 PM, Rick Lange <sloopblueheron at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Roger,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The problem with running or tying the anchor rode to the bow eye is
>>>> that
>>>>>>> you can't safely sit in the bow pulpit and do that during heavy
>>>> weather.
>>>>>>> The best thing is to first run the rode through a bow chock, tie the
>>>> rode
>>>>>>> to the bow cleat, then drop the anchor from the bow rail.  You can do
>>>> all
>>>>>>> that sitting securely in the pulpit with your legs hanging over the
>>>> edge
>>>>>> of
>>>>>>> the deck.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Rick Lange
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 12:26 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <
>> roger_pihlaja at msn.com
>>>>>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Although I can't open the attachment, my R-22 has the same single
>> bow
>>>>>>>> cleat you describe on your boat.  There are many factors that affect
>>>>>> how a
>>>>>>>> boat lies to its anchor.  Factors which have a much larger effect on
>>>> the
>>>>>>>> boat than the slight off-center position of the anchor rode include
>>>> wind
>>>>>>>> and current direction and strength, distribution and amount of
>>>> windage (
>>>>>>>> i.e.  Do you have your pop top enclosure &/or boom room up? ), and
>>>>>>>> underwater configuration ( i.e. Do you have the centerboard &/or
>>>> rudder
>>>>>> up
>>>>>>>> or down? ).   There should be a pair of line chocks mounted port and
>>>>>>>> starboard on the toe rails up on the bow.  On my boat, these line
>>>> chocks
>>>>>>>> are mounted on top of the toe rail about halfway in-between the
>>>>>> stanchions
>>>>>>>> on the bow pulpit.  You should run the anchor rode from the cleat
>> thru
>>>>>> one
>>>>>>>> or the other of these line chocks.  Routing the anchor rode thru
>> these
>>>>>> line
>>>>>>>> chocks will not only bring the effective point of attachment closer
>> to
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> boat's centerline on the bow, it will also help to eliminate chafing
>>>> on
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> anchor rode and the boat.  If your boat doesn't have these bow line
>>>>>> chocks;
>>>>>>>> then you should add them ASAP.  they also help eliminate chafe from
>>>> dock
>>>>>>>> lines.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> One thing you should also consider doing is routing the anchor rode
>>>>>> thru a
>>>>>>>> locking rock-climbing carabineer.  Then, attach the carabineer to
>> the
>>>>>>>> trailering bow eye and run the anchor rode thru one of the bow line
>>>>>> chocks,
>>>>>>>> and the bow cleat.  Now, the effective anchor rode attachment point
>> is
>>>>>>>> about 2 ft closer to the water.  This does good things for your
>> anchor
>>>>>>>> scope ratio.  An example will serve to illustrate my point:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Suppose you want to anchor in 10 ft of water depth.  If you route
>> your
>>>>>>>> anchor rode thru the bow chock, which is about 3 ft above the water,
>>>> you
>>>>>>>> have to add 10 + 3 = 13 ft.  To achieve a 7:1 scope ratio you would
>>>>>> have to
>>>>>>>> let out 13 X 7 = 91 ft of anchor rode.  If you route your anchor
>> rode
>>>>>> thru
>>>>>>>> the bow eye with a carabineer, you will have reduced the attachment
>>>>>> point's
>>>>>>>> height above the water to about 1 ft and 10 + 1 = 11 ft.  Now, to
>>>>>> achieve
>>>>>>>> the same 7:1 scope ratio, you only have to let out 11 X 7 = 77 ft of
>>>>>> anchor
>>>>>>>> rode.  This is a significant reduction in your swing radius.  In a
>>>>>> crowded
>>>>>>>> anchorage, this is a useful trick, with no reduction in safety.  Or,
>>>> you
>>>>>>>> can let out the original 91 ft of anchor rode and achieve 91 / 11 =
>>>> 8.27
>>>>>>>> scope ratio.  With the same 91 ft swing radius, this larger scope
>>>> ratio
>>>>>>>> makes your anchor less likely to drag.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This is SOP anchoring technique aboard S/V Dynamic Equilibrium.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>>>>>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>>>> From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> on behalf
>> of
>>>>>>>> Mitch Mitchell <mitchpadl at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2023 10:37 AM
>>>>>>>> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>>>>>>>> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Anchoring
>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>> URL: <
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>>>>> <
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>> http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20231026/8ba83f88/attachment.bin
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -------------- next part --------------
>>>>>>>> Hoping to get some suggestions for anchoring. My boat just has a
>>>> single
>>>>>>>> cleat centered on the bow and I’m trying to figure out the best way
>> to
>>>>>> run
>>>>>>>> the anchor line. Should I go between the two center pulpit
>> stanchions?
>>>>>> If I
>>>>>>>> do that it would be rubbing against the forestay which doesn’t seem
>>>>>> good.
>>>>>>>> Should I run it around the second set of pulpit stanchions? That
>> puts
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> pull to the side which would make the boat go from side to side.
>> I’ve
>>>>>> read
>>>>>>>> where other people have added all kinds of anchor rollers, chocks
>> etc.
>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>> I am not interested in doing that. Thanks! I’ve included an image of
>>>> the
>>>>>>>> bow.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>