Unfortunately, Santa Monica Bay, and the California Coast in general does not have many anchor friendly coves or harbors. The ones that do exist are either very remote out in the northern channel Islands or open to wind and swell (Santa Monica Bay) making anchoring rather unpleasant and strenuous work. Doing it single handed ups the ante.

Oh well, I guessif I can stand anchoring out in a 5 foot swell with a 2 foot wind chop on top in 35 feet of water open to15 to 18 knot sea breeezes and get a good nights sleep without vomiting or dragging, I should be good to go almost anywhere, right?

With this is mind, I have started anchoring out for brief periods to learn how the boat and ground tackle behave. I have already learned a lot -

1) Nomad likes to SAIL AROUND HER ANCHOR. back and forth, back and forth. It sucks. I'm going to experiment with a few strategies to calm her down. I'll keep you all posted.

2) My ground tackle sucked the way it was set-up whith the boat. shackles didn't clear the hawspipe or bow roller, making anchor deployment impossible. When I tried to remedy this with a new bow roller, it was better, but I still had trouble retrieving the anchor in the bad conditions just outside of the surf line:

That's a 14lb Delta on a winchard bow roller. I mounted it at the end of the platform so that the rode clears the bobstay and the anchor launches and retrieves without fouling.

Sort-of:

As you can see here, the 2 1/4" shackles I used to attach the chain leader had a tendency to jam in the roller on both launch and retrieval. Note also that the zipties I used to sieze the pins have broken.

Not good.

So I broke down and purchased the enormous oversized "Kong" Stanless steel swivel below:

Yes, it was expensive - about $100 - but it's also rated to a safe working load of around 4000 lbs. More than my chain leader and a LOT more than my nylon rode. The anchor spins around quickly and slides right up on it's roller with no drama now. Note the original puny anchor roller on the port side of the platform in the background. It's a joke

Next problem:

The above nightmare of rusted shackles and thimbled eyespices REALLY wanted to foul on both the roller and the hawspipe. Whoever owned this boat previously obviously rarely or never anchored. The set-up was a dangerous joke. The unsiezed shackle was actually loose - a recipe for a lost anchor - or worse.

Well, it's nothing a cordless Dremel tool:

and a chain to rope splice won't fix:

I taped and numbered the unlaid strands so I could keep track of them as I put in the splice:

I simply followed the instuctions in a book I have on anchoring:

http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?cat=132&isbn=0071475087

As a finishing touch, I used whipping twine, even though instructions do not call for it.

Now the anchor launches and retrieves easily, and so does the rode. I do not have a windlass, so it's critical that the retrieval be a easy as possible. The current configuration will adapt to to an electric or manual windlass easily if I ultimately decide to go that route.

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Casting off the docklines: Nomad and her skipper prepare to head south =)

17 comment(s) so far...

Re: Anchoring

Hmm.. you could try changing those shackles for ones flush bolt one that open with Allen keys. But I guess you might want to sieze them if you're paranoid. Although I think there are Allen key ones that lock or have holes in the shaft so you can seize them.

I've never bothered myself at anchor although I always do on a mooring. Personally I really dislike being on board at anchor when it's foul and if possible I run for port or move. If the wind is off shore then i get up as close as possible where the waves are small and there is shelter from the land.

I wasn't comfortable with the idea of putting the roller at the end of the sprit as she hobby horses about a lot and I thought that might make it worse. I'd be interested to hear how you get on. Also if the waves are short and steep you will find she jerks horribly and the rig will shudder. Not much fun when you're trying to sleep.

If it gets nasty on the hook I'm usually up all night.

Unfortunalty Flickas do sail about at anchor. It's worse if you have a cutter rig and sails on furlers. I've often thought a riding sail would be good but never got around to it.
A chum weight really helps as does a lot of heavy chain but I prefer using rope with a short length of chain.

Generally its anchor in fair weather, run to port in foul for me if possible!

By Web Captain on 6/8/2010 8:27 PM

Re: Anchoring

Yes - you can see I DON'T TRUST SHACKLES, one was loose. The way they join, friction on the pin will cause it to back out. I read a while back about a Santa Ana (dry desert wind) gale that hit the channel Islands back in the 70ies with the loss of many boats. The investigation concluded that almost all of the boats were lost because of unsiezed shackles or siezing that failed, grounding the boats in the 80 knot winds and 6 foot waves.

Splicing is the way to go, but it requires a bit of work. The Kong swivel uses an allen bolt, but the bold is very stout, and not subject to friction as the anchor hardware moves around.

Agree about heavy weather or swell anchoring, but in an emergency, I want to know the boat will stay put in even the worst conditions, and that I'll be able to launch and retrieve the gear without drama. Here in So Cal, anchoring is actually illegal in most harbors, and hevily restricted in others...

=(

So Cal is not cruiser friendly at all.

The book I have describes several tactics for quieting a boat at anchor:

1) Riding Sail

2) Float "Shock absorber" attached to a long chain leader that gets submerged when the rode comes tight.

3) A second anchor set with a 2:1 scope that the boat must drag around in order to sail back and forth.

4) A bridle set with a rolling hitch or chain hook, led to the stern, and used to align the boat at a comfortable angle to wind and swell.

5) A stern anchor

I'm going to experiment with all of them in the rotten conditions around here until I find the best combination or tactic.

I hadn't considered the issue of hobby horsing due to the fairlead off the platform end. It's about 2 additional feet of leverage. I have anchored off of bow chocks in the past, and the pitching was still pretty severe in the short 4 foot chop I was anchored in off Malibu. One solution would be a rolling hitch or double chainhook and a a bridal snubbed through both rail fairleads to deck cleats.

But from what I've learned so far, the real problem is the angle of the bow to the swell. at 45 to 60 or 70 degrees off, the ride is smooth - just like when hove to. The trick will be getting the boat to assume this attitude - by making her unstable at all the other attitudes. Wind and swell generally come from the same direction here, but not always. The worst are the mixed south and west swells, generally between 3 to 7 feet. They REALLY tosses the little boat around, even while underway.

Fortunately she rides much more smoothly in the bigger suff - while larger boats get hammered.

What would you rather have your boat pound in: a steep 5 to 8 foot chop, or 10 to 20 footers?

lol.... Nomad rides over that big stuff like a duck...Granted she less comfortable under the prevailing conditions than the bigger boats, but when the going gets rough, she settles down. That inspires confidence rather than dread.

By Bill on 6/8/2010 8:57 PM

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