How do you use your anchor? (besides anchoring the boat)

[mrtwiddlecups]

     So I've anchored up my 16, to prepare a snack usually, three or so times now and it always seems a little awkward. I store the anchor and 100 feet of rope in ,what I assume is where most people would keep their anchor, the foward (bow?) most bit of the cabin area. Anchoring up has consists of a frantic act of dropping the sails, ducking down to grab the danforth, running to the bow, throwing? the anchor into the water, rummaging around the dropped head sail to cleat off the rope around the cleat at the bow. I've watches videos on you tube of big fancy sailboats effortlessly dropping the anchor off the front of the boat which makes everybody look smart. Is that hood thingy at the front of the boat just an air vent or is it for the anchor rope? Is it both?

[Jim in TC]

My Sailor's Dictionary defines anchoring as a process during which the anchor is lowered, and rancor is heightened.

[Salty19]

It's a lot easier with crew.

I store my Bruce style anchor on the bowsprit on our 19.  A small pin with pushbutton release holds it in place through the metal tang where the headsail attaches so it's ready to be lowered.  I leave it there all season rigged up so it's ready to go.

Your 16 does not have this part (or does it?).  But a lot of sailors use a bracket to mount the anchor on the bow pulpit.  Line / chain rigged down the hawse pipe and ready to go.

I ask the admiral to go up on deck, she readies the anchor and chain by unpinning the anchor and checking the shackle tightness.  When I stop forward movement I give the signal to lower the anchor.   She uses a hand over hand technique with the chain and rope--we do not throw the anchor!  That's a good way for it to hit your hull or wrap the chain/line around your ankle if anything snags.   

Once the anchor has hit bottom--and she'll feel less weight being lowered when it does, she tells me so and I'll put the motor in reverse.  She will then yank on the line to set the anchor if I remember to tell her to do so. Otherwise we'll argue and I may raise my voice! It requires a strong marriage, that's for sure.   I will then ask her about how deep the anchor is.  She wont' be able to tell me accurately how deep it is because she can't judge it too well and won't remember to keep track, and I have yet to mark the line (need to do that!).  So I guess at the depth.  I'll continue to reverse slowly while she feeds the line out on the set anchor.   I'll reverse enough for adequate scope and put in neutral well before I need to.  This helps to keep the anchor set-otherwise we would cleat off a moving 2,000lb boat that will upset the anchor.  Usually I anchor in coves or calm-ish conditions for short periods, so I use a 3 or 4:1 scope.   Longer times or rougher conditions I would use more, but I haven't done so yet. 7 or 8:1 would be best.  I can't really do that in my lake as the banks are steep and the bottom is at least 80'--more in other places.  I'm not feeding out 500; of rope to grab a sandwich!

Once the scope is reached, I'll signal (yell) to cleat off the line.  Once cleated, she'll pour a glass of wine to celebrate the occasion.

I've anchored solo about 10 times and the key is to control boat movement while up on the bow.  Keeping the windward direction is all but impossible but that's OK...I can still lower it and bring the anchor line back to the cockpit to reverse.  Just keep tabs on forward and backward movement.  Once there is enough scope, I can get up on deck and cleat it off.    I try to not rush during this process.  That's when you get hurt.

I also carry a "lunch" anchor in a cat litter bucket.  It's really the same setup as the main anchor, just smaller rope, less chain and a lighter anchor.  It can be cleated off the stern. 

Most of the time when I need to stop for a few moments (nature calls or grabbing lunch), I'll just heave to for a little while.  That's pretty much the SOP for quick stops--say 15 minutes or less.  This is because it's a pain to anchor and if I'm over deep water, it's not trivial to deal with all the scope.   If you are not familiar with how to heave-to---learn this and avoid anchoring altogether for quick "snack" breaks.

P.S.  Do not settle for those little 5-6 foot pre cut chains you'll see in marine stores.  They are inadequate and you'll be dragging anchor even in good conditions. Use at least a boat length of chain, 1/4" type should be fine.  I use about 21' of 5/16" chain and 200' of 3/8" double braid  with an 11lb Bruce on our 19.   Also the anchor type makes a big difference. Make sure the suggested anchor bottom type matches your body of water (for example if it's rocky, use a rocky specific anchor).

[mrtwiddlecups]

You mention a hawse pipe... I googled this and I don't think there's one on my 16? I have no bowsprit but I'll look into rigging it up on the bow pulpit!

[Salty19]

An anchor setup with something like this is fairly common, although they look to be for Danforths only.
http://www.catalina22experiment.com/home/projects/anchor-hanger

The bowsprit can help performance a little bit and be a platform for an anchor.  If I ever have a 16 again I would build a nice shippy sprit for it.  Then run bigger headsails.

I don't think Hutchins installed the pipes on 16's until later in the production run by default, but they would install anything the owner asked for, and they tend to get added later so a lot of boats in 2018 have them.

[captronr]

I haven't implemented this yet, but plan to.  Also understand that I will most likely never anchor out other than a raft up, or to drift back to the shore.   Also pls  understand that neither the admiral nor I have the dexterity to safely race to the bow, deploy the anchor, and return to the cockpit in an emergency situation. 

Side note:  heading into our slip a few years ago in a Macgregor 26X, we lost the outboard shift linkage.  Fortunately, it was stuck in reverse, so we were able to safely motor out of the slip channel, killed the motor, and I raced to the bow opened the anchor locker, and deployed the anchor.  That gave us some time, instead of drifting into very shallow wooded shores, to figure out what to do.

Fast forward to our Eclipse: 

I cut a little off each end of the shaft of our danforth clone anchor, so it would fit in the fuel locker, along with its chain and rode.    In this configuration, I figure I can deploy it quickly, and if needed, secure it at the aft, or walk it forward to cleat it off.

Longer term, especially if I plan to use it, before leaving the slip, I will  run a line from one aft cleat to a bow cleat, and back, tying the two ends together.  I will also install a block in the line.   For more planned anchorings, I will secure the anchor rode in the block while it is near the cockpit. 

Then when I need to anchor, I will remove the anchor, secure the anchor rode in the block, deploy the anchor and secure it.  Then rotate the line so that the block moves closer to the bow.  Then set the anchor.

When retrieving, reverse the process:  slack the line, rotate that bow/stern line to move the anchor rode near the cockpt, retrieve the anchor, and store everything.

To me, this sounds complex to describe, but think it will work for us, and be safer.  Also plan to have a 2nd larger anchor/chain below if conditions warrant.

Thanks.
Ron

[Jim in TC]

Our SunCat came with the anchor option, hanging off the bow (just like those bigger boats), but we have had no occasion to use it yet. The mention in another post of learning how to heave to ("the whole crew was sick and the captain had to heave too") is good. Unless there is a need to go ashore, or "rest" for quite a while, being hove to can serve well. It is a good skill to learn in any event, as there can be situations under way that may require attention. The cats are particularly easily hove to but I am sure you can learn it on your boat as well. For our part, we have learned little about anchoring and that is a valuable skill that we will tackle next season.

[Pacman]

My anchor drill s made much easier because I keep the anchor in the cockpit in a plastic bucket with the line led forward outside the shroud, around the upright on the bow pulpit and then back inside the shroud to the cockpit where it is flaked into the bucket.

When its time to anchor I head to wind to stall the boat.  Next I lower the anchor over the side in from the comfort of my seat.

As the boat is moving backward, I set the anchor and cleat it on a stern cleat.

Then I stand in the companionway to take down the jib using the jib downhaul and cleat it on a cabin side cleat to keep the jib securely fastened down on the foredeck.

Lastly, I drop the main and all that is left to do is tidy up lines and mainsail.

That last step will be simplified once I make a set on lazyjacks.

Hope this helps.

[Pacman]

In my post above I forgot to mention the retrieval line that lets me hoist anchor without leaving the cockpit.

Before dropping anchor, I clip a carbine attached to a 18 ft. of light line to the anchor line. 

After the anchor is set, the working end of retrieval line is cleated within easy reach from my seat in the cockpit.

When it is time to retrieve the anchor, just tug on the retrieval line and pull the anchor line back along the side of the boat until you reach the anchor line.

Then you unclip the retrieval line and pull up the anchor without leaving your seat in the cockpit.

I am doing everything I can to make my little Com Pac 16 easier for an old guy to sail.

[Mas]

Well having a bowsprit, roller, and hause pipe make it a no brainer. Go up, uncleat the anchor (we use a small line to secure the anchor when underway)  and drop it! Half the time in shallow enough water we simply walk it to where we want it after it is deployed. Gotta luv those 18 inches!

Now when involved in pirate activities, it make a good grappling hook when boarding!   

Meanwhile one picture is worth a thousand words.