Anchoring Hand Signals

[Greene]

This subject was mentioned in another thread and Brenda has been wanting to develop our hand signals.  It seems that every boat has their own hand signals (some not appropriate for public viewing) when anchoring.  So who has a good set of signals to share? 

What signals do you think are needed? 
  Depth of water
  Anchor away
  Anchor has bit - back down now
  Dragging
  Circle around and try again
  Anchor up
  Etc..

Mike and B

[Bob23]

   Since I sail solo, I rarely signal to myself. Although I've been know to talk to myself occasionally...sometimes the only way to have an intelligent conversation.
I wonder: Are there universally recognized hand signals or is it a matter of personal interpretation. There was a good article in Good Old Boat a year or so ago by Karen Sullivan about the unique set of grunts,  noises and hand signals used by her and her sailing partner Jim. It was funny and informative...if you can find it, it's worth a look.
   I'm gonna be watching this thread...should be interesting!
Bob23

[Salty19]

I use mostly 4 and 5 letter words to assist the Admiral with anchoring.

Also phrases like:

Do it like you did last time.

No, pull the pin first!

You have to push the little button in the pin to get it out.

Wait, don't throw it!!!

You're caught on the cleat.

You were supposed to tell me when the anchor hits bottom.

No, no..pull the anchor line slowly and feel for it to bite.

We needed to know how deep it is.

Whoa, wait for us to stop before tying off.

I said wait for us to stop!!

That's not how you wrap the line around the cleat!

We need to practice this more honey.

You need to have Brenda show you at CLR how to anchor.

Just forget it, I'll just use the lunch anchor.  

I do love you honey, just sometimes...

Oddly, I can't think of a single hand signal for any of these instructions??
OK, I can think of one, but it would be an instruction from the bow to stern only.

[crazycarl]

Mike,




Carl

[Greene]

Well Salty, I can't say I'll use any of those ideas.  I'm pretty sure I would be sleeping in the cockpit rather than the comfy v-berth if I did.  Brenda still loves to work the bow.  She actually likes setting the anchor and has still just barely forgiven me for buying a boat with a roller furler.  She misses hanking on the headsails.  Strange woman, but a keeper none the less.  

Brenda would much rather work the bow than operate the outboard.  She is learning though since we agree that each of us needs to be able to do all the jobs on the boat.  Yes Bob - I do the dishes too!

So Becky, let's hear what you are saying to Mike when you are anchoring! Please keep it PG as this is a family site.

Mike and Brenda

[Salty19]

Of course I am only kidding, I too would be sleeping in the dinghy (which we don't have so, use your imagintion) or worse--the bottom of the lake if such language was used aboard!

However, if Becky was here, she would probably say the following:

You never told me to....

I'm trying the best I can.

This thing is heavy

OK, go, I got it.

Why do you have so much chain on here?

I feel like a pirate.

I wish I was a pirate.

Someday, I'll be a pirate.

What is a fathom again?

There is a lot of muck on the anchor.

Eww, now my hands are all mucky.

Ow!  Ropeburn!

Look at the pretty fish!

I think it's OK, I'm not sure.

I *AM* feeding it down slowly.

Didn't we have a different anchor last year?

See?  No problem!


And finally...If Brenda can do this, so can I.

[brackish]

Hand Signals!! We don't need no stinkin hand signals!

Hey we tried that hand signal thing but because of the nature of this forum as a family friendly place I'm unable to either describe or diagram the specific hand signals we used nor the various commands and responses that accompanied them as the anchoring process rapidly deteriorated on those rare occasions we attempted to anchor as a team.  Let's just say I found it better to slow to a crawl, put it in neutral hand her the tiller and request that it not be moved an inch, go forward drop the anchor then return to the helm to back a set in if needed.

After 44 years of sailing together I can safely say that, unlike Brenda, Sheri has no interest in learning any boat stuff.  She can be quite useful though....

[Salty19]

Becky is actually pretty good at, and likes to participate in "First Mate" duties.  

Freeing a lines, tending docklines,  adjusting boom vang,  Galley runs, fenders, Whisker Pole-no problem.  Even taking the helm while I'm, ahem, doing my business in the cabin. She does great.

Taking the helm when docking, or in windy conditions is another matter. Operating the outboard?  Not so much.

Anchoring, we do OK.  We don't anchor much, and without practice the complex sequence of steps do get forgotten.We do talk through it when needed.

Yes, occasionally she'll perform an operation incorrectly.  No big deal, we're not going to sink the boat.

This year I will be randomly stepping into the cabin, throwing a floaty in the water and yelling man overboard after I show her the figure 8 retrieval method a couple of times, and let her practice a bit.  And making her work the outboard mount and motor.  She'll do fine.

[curtisv]

We have probably anchored a hundred times or more (or at least I have since I often singlehand).  The best thing to do when anchoring is pick a spot, furl the headsail (or drop it and secure it if hanked on), then sail toward your spot, drop the main and head straight into the wind and say only one thing.

Just say "Honey, you wait here in the cockpit and I'll take care of the anchor".  It is not worth the bother of yelling back and forth between the cockpit and the bow and ending up "flipping hand signals".

Then go back and tidy up the mainsail.

I have 80' of 3/8 chain (well over 1 lb per foot) and a 27 lb anchor, so sending The Admiral forward for that task would not go over well.  I don't want to discourage The Admiral from sailing with me.  When sailing, instructions to The Admiral must be clear and free of boat jargon such as "Honey, our guests' wine glasses might need to be filled".

We always anchor strictly under sail (no motor, but we would anchor under sail anyway).  Without the need for someone in the cockpit operating a motor, anchoring is a one person task so no need to communicate between cockpit and bow.

With a reasonable amount of wind letting out a lot more rode slowly enough to lay straight on the bottom, but fast enough to gain inertia.  Then just snub the rode to dig in the anchor.  Then shorten the rode so as to have a reasonable swing radius for the depth.  If the wind is light you may not get much back down inertia, so haul in the rode fast until it goes tight and give a good last tug to set the anchor.  There is no need to use a motor to back down when you have 3,000 lbs of inertia to work with (CP23).

We have dragged a few times, but only when anchoring for a swim and not backing down hard.  Once the anchor picked up a sponge and had to be raised and cleared.  If I am anchoring overnight or for long enough that I would not be in the cockpit to notice the anchor drag, then if in doubt I'll repeat the back down using inertia exercise.  If the wind picks up later, then I'll redo the back down if initially set in a too light wind.

Curtis