Bowsprit and bull rope A further aggravation caused by wind-against-tide anchoring is that the cable crunches along the topsides as the boat sails over the hook. This is a particular nuisance for plumb-stemmed traditional yachts, but fortunately these generally have bowsprits. They can save their day by rigging a bull rope through a block on the bowsprit end and securing it to the bight of the cable a few feet below the stem. Hauling the cable forward with this miraculously quietens matters down. In less demanding circumstances, a bull rope is worth rigging just to take the place of a snubber.


Fore-and-aft anchoring Where swinging room is seriously limited or a wind-against-tide situation becomes intolerable, the vessel’s position can be pinned down tightly by lying between two anchors. To achieve this state, there is no law against simply hanging well back from the bower which will be set from the bow, and dropping the kedge over the stern. The bower is then shortened up as the kedge cable is paid out, until you can even up between the two. The trouble with this is that the boat will lie stern to the tide for at least some of the time. A more seamanlike solution is to lay the kedge well astern by using the dinghy and dig it in by pulling hard. The kedge warp is then taken forward ‘outside everything’ and bent to the main bower cable with a rolling hitch. A few extra metres of bower cable are surged out so that the rolling hitch is well below the surface. The boat is now effectively moored fore and aft but is still able to swing head to the stream. The main drawback with this ‘Bahamian Moor’ method is that if the boat swings through too many tides and goes the same way each time, she can wrap herself up in a pretty mess of twisted cables. The classical solution to this dilemma is to join the cables with a swivel, but the practicalities of this lie far beyond most yachts and small motor craft. The realistic answer is to use the rolling hitch, but keep an eye on it.


Lying moored between two anchors


Rolling hitch


82 | 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