Anchor away

[Hardscrabble]

It looks like the Cinch is just a modified version of a figure 8 descender (rappelling device). A standard one is rated high enough to lift the boat. They cost in the range of $10.00. Available at most good outdoors stores and on the Internet.

I have one in a bag from a more terrain challenged life I will be trying out.

Ron

[trumpetguy]

Must be contagious. I maintain a Bruce, and a Danforth and have the appropriate securing mechanism on the bow rail for both. I switch back and forth depending on bottom. Yesterday we were anchored in a grassy area so I used the danforth. Upped anchor, placed it back in the bracket, re-attached the shackle to the Bruce, which hangs out over the roller and away we go. About a mile underway my wife says "something fell off the boat and made a splash". Somehow the Danforth had slipped through the bracket and with nothing to hold it...well you know the rest. I grumbled a bit before my wife said "well, you will never lose another anchor...will you?". Cost of a new anchor...maybe $100.00...Lesson learned afloat...priceless.

[argonaut]

No exact measurements but I'd say my bow cleat to bridle line was on the order of 12 feet and the stern cleat to bridle line was about 20 feet...
Anchor was a Guardian 11 danforth type in 4 feet of water.

A bit of a nuisance to tie off but man what a difference at anchor.
Another benefit is the two cleats distribute the forces.

Anchor was dug in well too.

[Frank C]

... A bit of a nuisance to tie off but man what a difference at anchor.
Another benefit is the two cleats distribute the forces.

Thanks Argo ... sounds like my original bridle rig. Good point about cleat loads, too. Rigging my original bridle was a hassle too.

I hoped that the "easy bridle" would eliminate the rigging hassle, but it still needs some testing since it didn't work for Pete. I'll post more info later. Basically ... I believe that allowing the anchor rode taut to the bow is a bad tactic. Sounds as if your bridle must have avoided that.

[eric3a]

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[RichardB]

I'm wondering how the bridle would work with the bahamanian moor I often use in the ICW just off Phil Foster park in West Palm Beach. Here the boat is subject to both wind and current alternating with tides. The current is usually off the wind and strong enough to change the angle of the boat so that she doesn't dance, but the dance resumes when the current slacks enough for the boat to point to wind.

now have a use for the two figure 8's I still have from my climbing days.

[Frank C]

Frank C

I tried the bridle that you showed in the sketch and it didn't work for me. I still sailed at anchor just like before. The winds were about 10 mph...

FWIW, I anchored last week for several hours, and tested the standard bow tether vs. my bridle to the winch vs. tying the rode at the aft pulpit stanchion.

• In light wind (5 to 8 mph, with standard bow cleat) we found the hull wandering aimlessly 150 to 180 degrees.
• I rigged the winch bridle, making sure to have slack rode to the bow cleat, and still found the boat wandering aimlessly in similar arcs ... hence, the bridle provided little or no advantage.
• So I unhooked the bridle and just tied-off rode to the pulpit's aft stanchion, again found aimless wandering.
• Note that a Hunter 46 on our port quarter was also swinging nearly as much as we were.
• Then, as afternoon winds picked up (12 to 15 mph), the aft tether took over.

When winds are very light the rode was not pulled taut and the hull just wandered in the wind. But once the wind was strong enough to hold steady rode tension down to the anchor, the hull's hunting arc was reduced to about 45 degrees. I didn't have time to test the bridle again, but now I'm pretty sure it would have worked as well or better than the aft pulpit stanchion.

[Catigale]

Frank - in light wind a lunch mushroom dropped off the stern works perfectly to hold you still. Also doubles as a mooring for the dink if you want to daysail out of a harbor and 'reserve your anchor spot'

I carry mine in the motor well - 50 HP motor still tips up.

On anchoring - I have 15 feet of oversize chain on my Bullwaga and at Cuttyhunk I anchored right near the girls sailing school in 4 feet of water with only 20 feet of rode out, mud and weeds bottom, and hung there for three hours in 15 knots wind. I watched the boat lift the chain and even the gusts could only lift half the chain off the bottom - the holding force must have been enormous.

[Frank C]

Yep, perfectly logical, though it didn't occur to me.

On the other topic, I was using the Bulwagga, too. As I chose my spot, I asked helm to 'just idle' in reverse as I lowered the anchor and felt it touch bottom. Then I allowed rode to feed out according with our aft speed. After a short a time (maybe 5:1) I took a quick wrap on a bow cleat, and the boat stopped abruptly, surprising my guest (a stinkpotter, only 2nd time aboard). I had him rev to 2,500 rpms in reverse and the boat remained stationary.

A couple hours (and six-packs) later, the wind piped up and it was time to head back. We slowly motored forward as I reeled in the rode ... to the point that the rode was vertical. But I couldn't pull the anchor free, even with a vertical rode, about 20' depth. So I cleated the rode and had him motor right across it. The anchor came up showing just a skimcoat of mud, but I simply could not muscle it free from that set.
D&mn, I sure do love that Bulwagga!

FWIW, I use a 6-ft leader of 3/8" chain weighing ~9 lbs, which is about the same weight as double that length of 1/4" chain. There is one school of thought that a chain leader should match the anchor's weight ... 16 lbs of chain means 11 feet of 3/8" chain, or 22 feet of 1/4" chain. So I'm thinking of buying 11' of 3/8" chain, and using the 6-footer on my Guardian G-11 (= a 6-pounder).

[Sleepy]

Dumb question, Still dreaming of a M26.
How bad does it swing when the anchor line is dogged off at the bow eye instead of the deck?

[Catigale]

I dont think it makes much difference on cleat or eye, Sleepy. In a 15 kts on Cuttyhunk, I was swinging through 75 degrees - the motion is complex, with a 60 degree swing of the boat CG, a pause of a few seconds then a 5 degree pivot of the boat around the CG as the rode tightens up, then a 60 degree swing back, pause, 5 more degrees ...then back again.

Eric - this is indeed toddler to teacher but Ive found A great way to bust a mud anchor out on the Mac is pull up my rode until I hit chain, cleat off a chain link on the bow, then walk back to the cockpit and bounce a bit. The relatively light boat pivots on the CG and gives you a huge lever arm to lift the anchor and bust it out...a Bull will reset well enough to lightly hold the boat so you dont even have to rush back forward if you are singlehanded......

On edit - fixed typos

[eric3a]

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[Don T]

Hello,
I just got back from 2 weeks in the San Juans. I tried multiple anchoring techniques in a veriety of winds from 2 kts to 30+kts. Here is what I discovered. Success or failure of the bridle depends on the amount of energy stored in the rode. If the wind is strong enough and the rode is long enough, when the boat is turned by the rode it will run up on the anchor and slack the rode. When this happens it doesn't matter where the bridle is hooked. The bow will swing across the wind. If you are moored to a bouy, very little energy can be stored in the chain so the bridle works. I used it successfully on a bouy in winds up to 20kts and had only 30~40* of slow swing. When the wind hit 30kts the boat began a slow sail in a 360* circle around the bouy. On the other hand with 100' of anchor rode out in 24' to 16' of water, just 6kts of wind would cause the rode to slack and the bow to cross the wind. In the latter conditions I had the best result with a 5' bridle one one the left bow chock and one on the right. This small V help slow the boat down considerably. I experimented with the board & rudders down or up in all combinations. All boards down gave the best ride. The weight distribution makes a huge difference in light winds. For example. I would make and adjustment to the bridle and it seemed to be working but as soon as I walked back to the cockpit it would start to swing again. When I walked back the the fore deck it would slow or stop.

Anyways, that's what I think is going on and why results are so varied.

Don T

[pokerrick1]

A great way to bust a mud anchor out on the Mac is pull up my rode until I hit chain, cleat off a chain link on the bow, then walk back to the cockpit and bounce a bit. The relatively light boat pivots on the CG and gives you a huge lever arm to lift the anchor and bust it out...a Bull will reset well enough to lightly hold the boat so you dont even have to rush back forward if you are singlehanded......

Cat - - - what a GREAT idea - - -even though I HATE anchoring (probably because after 40 years of boating, I still don't know what I'm doing when anchoring) - - - I think I'll go out and practice anchoring my Mac this week. Thanks!

Rick

[tangentair]

This small V help slow the boat down considerably

I was out on Michigan yesterday with a slight chop and winds maybe 5-10 out of the some part of the south, anyway, I needed to anchor for a few minutes so after tossing the typical danforth into 6 ft of water with about 30 feet and cleating off at the bow, I pulled back about 4 feet and made a small overhand loop, ran a moring line through it and pulled it back to about where the cabin starts to rise, still drifted around but it was slow and stable even with other boats wakes adding to the chop. When not anchored, the boat drifted at 1.6 K perpendicular to the wind and waves, made a convienent fishing platform if you didn't mind the wild rocking every now and then.