Second anchor usage

The following was written for another venue, but might be of interest.

Hi all,

I agree with a prior comment on the usefulness of stern anchors.*

The following starts with some comments on the use of more than one anchor and follows  (later post) with a related argument that one should use their best anchor as their everyday anchor. This got longer than expected: it started a while back with some thoughts for another venue and seems to have grown from there.

I think, in most anchoring challenges, that anchoring with 2 anchors is unwise: at best, it is twice the work or more: setting and retrieving. At worst, dealing with two anchors can contribute to the likelihood of damage to the boat or injury to crew, especially if things have become boisterous. I would suggest that, with a bit of planning ahead, anchoring with 2 anchors is likely not necessary. And that anchoring with one anchor is generally safer for boat and crew.

Two anchor usage often takes the forms of Bahamian Moor (two anchors off the bow set 180 degrees from each other), bow and stern/fore and aft (self-explanatory), tandem deployment (connecting a spare anchor to the forward bale of the primary anchor, usually with a short piece of chain making for two anchors in line on one rode). At one time or another, I have used all three methods, and the descriptions alone will, with a little imagination, reveal the considerable effort necessary for setting and retrieving, especially if conditions get more boisterous.**

Anchoring with 2 anchors is often considered in un-settled weather or unusual conditions.*** In settled weather, handling 2 anchors is no big deal, but it can be a big deal when the un-settled weather takes a turn into the rare, but occasional, fire drill (say, a middle of the night squall). I think it wise (and possible) to always anchor using your bower with the idea of sitting out a squall (or the like) with little more effort than perhaps veering some additional rode (see a post on using one’s best anchor as bower). Perhaps more important is the ability to quickly, safely and easily retrieve the anchor and move. It is this latter scenario that most powerfully argues against the use of 2 anchors, to my mind.

I believe that any anchored boat should be able to quickly, easily and safely get underway even, perhaps most importantly, in most any conditions. Even in an unexpected heavy air situation, retrieving one’s anchor and moving should be quite safe and easy: doing so with two anchors is often more than twice the work, especially in a fire drill of some sort. The dangers of dealing with 2 anchors in a fire drill take several forms. Not necessarily in order of importance: working the foredeck raising the anchor in a rainy nighttime fire drill while the bow, in the increasing waves, is trying to bounce you into the water and when visibility is diminished, is a recipe for injury. Then there is the real danger of getting a propellor wrap, especially with a stern anchor where the rode is likely of nylon: the last thing a skipper wants at this time is to get a prop wrap. And then, when 2 anchors off the bow and the boat swirling around, it is likely that the anchor rodes will have twisted around each other: a nightmare if quick action is called for.

The often-preferred solution to wanting more anchoring holding power has been 2 different style anchors on the bow (different designs ostensibly to cover a wider range of seabeds). For years I carried both a CQR and a Bruce on our bow. And I did use them together on a few occasions. The idea is that, when positioned forward into the wind, they will share the burden of keeping the boat in place. And this does occur if the wind and gusts stay steady from the same direction. However, far more likely, observation reveals that in unsettled/stormy conditions the wind/gusts come from varying directions and veers/clocks around as the front moves overhead. This translates into the V’d-out anchors no longer sharing the load, but rather the load ends up being on only one anchor at a time. So, the sharing of load is largely illusory although it could be argued that you have a back-up anchor already deployed when the loaded one drags or pulls out.

But when the new generation anchors emerged (Spade, Rocna, Manson, Excel, etc.), it became clear that it was possible for one’s bower to have equivalent, even greater, holding power than the storm anchor many (including me) carried unused in their bilge for many years. One anchor could also have greater holding power of any of the 2 anchor situations discussed.

This post is already long, I will post my ground tackle suggestions to achieve the ends in the paragraph above in a following post.

Come back with questions/comments/thoughts.

My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

*The one time I remember using a stern anchor was in a lovely protected anchorage we wished to stay at for a while, but large swell out in open water bounced its way in along the channel making our boat roll from gunnel to gunnel. We used our stern anchor to pull our stern around so the bow faced the incoming swell which was far more comfortable. For a similar situation a few years later, I more easily accomplished the same result by using a bridle on the main anchor (to the stern) that cocked us into the swell.

**Bahamian moor was used in strong tidal currents where every 6 hours there is a current direction change that dominates the boat regardless of wind direction: off Nassau is an example. I used tandem anchors in the very thin/mud/silt over clay of the Chesapeake when faced with a forecast hurricane that turned out to be a tropical storm. Bow and stern anchoring can be useful in very narrow anchorages. And then, there is wisdom in following what others in the anchorage are doing: no sense in free anchoring if you might swing into a boat that is anchored fore and aft and basically fixed in place.

***Hurricanes can be considered unusual conditions: Every time you deploy an extra anchor to keep your boat in place you are approaching no longer “anchoring” the boat, but rather “mooring” the boat. This became clear to me when faced with Hurricane Bob in 1991: a storm which took aim at us when out cruising with my wife and 3 children. We were far from our home port and our home mooring: designed to handle hurricanes. We ended up anchored in Onset, MA, and had a couple days to prepare. 3 boats shared an ample anchorage and I put down my 2 substantial anchors in a “V” in the anticipated direction of the strongest wind. A third, borrowed, but substantial, anchor was put out in the direction of the wind shift as the storm was forecast to go right overhead.

This, to my mind, was more akin to cobbling together a mooring than it was anchoring. It was a mooring as the boat was kept largely in place and swung little and it was not easily undone. An anchoring situation is one that gives flexibility in responding to changing and challenging conditions. A mooring is a more permanent solution to keeping the boat in place.

For the hurricane, we went to a motel for, as my wife said to me that I was not staying aboard: “That was why we have insurance.” It was good advice.

The “mooring” held. Our boat at the time, Early Riser, was fine. The other 2 anchored boats, both of whom had their skippers stay on board, were fine, but one skipper had been severely injured and needed a CG evacuation. 75% of the mooring field was on shore or sunk. The marina was destroyed with 90% of their boats deposited in the parking lot on the 20+ foot surge. It took a solid 4 hours the next day to retrieve our anchors and sort out our ground tackle.