Laying an anchor


There’s more to laying an anchor successfully than heaving it over the side on the end of a length of chain or warp. Here’s how to make sure it holds: • Take all way off. • Foredeck crew lowers the anchor steadily over the bow if possible, or lets go if it’s too heavy.


• Crew signals when it hits the bottom and makes sure the cable stops running out.


• Helm motors away slowly astern in the direction the boat will end up lying.


• Crew lets the agreed scope of cable run out under control so that it lies in a straight line between the boat and the anchor.


• When the cable is nearly all run, the engine is shoved out of gear. The boat will carry her way until her weight gives the anchor an initial bite on the seabed.


• As her head starts to swing to the cable, put her slow astern once more. The crew now monitors the cable as it rises from the water. Expect it to dip at least once as the anchor takes a secure hold.


• When the boat stops moving again so that she is ‘hanging’ on the hook, increase power to ‘half astern’. The crew watches the cable to see if it falters while the helm notes a transit abeam. If this stays still and the foredeck reports no movement on the cable, you are well and truly anchored.


• It only remains to throttle back somewhat to let the


boat creep ahead under the weight of the cable if it’s chain, or the spring of a nylon rode. Wait until the situation stabilises before putting the engine into neutral and shutting it down, otherwise the boat will surge ahead over her anchor and leave an untidy mess on the bottom which won’t be so conducive to good holding as a straight line.


The snubber


Many serious cruising boats attach a short length of nylon line to the cable, then lower it away over the stem head until the join is near the water. The inboard end of this ‘snubber’ is made fast and the anchor cable slacked away again. Lying to the snubber removes noise when anchoring on chain and protects the main rode against chafe if it is rope. Either way, it is sound practice.


The anchor weight


The holding power of a given scope can be maximised by lowering a weight down the cable. This serves to increase the catenary and delivers a more horizontal pull to the anchor. The technique is useful in crowded anchorages where laying a long scope may be impracticable. Sometimes called a ‘chum’ or an ‘angel’, suitable shackles for running down a chain or rope can be purchased from specialist chandlers. Without one of these, care must be taken lest any make-shift arrangement chafes the cable.


Using an anchor weight


80 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172