Ready, Set, Stay
Anchoring securely is essential seamanship, yet many boaters have only a vague idea of how to do it. I’ve seen guys zoom into a harbor, heave a spaghetti pile of line off the foredeck with a tiny anchor attached by a granny knot, and consider the job done. One guy I’ll never forget then immediately loaded his crew into the dinghy and headed ashore, not even glancing back to see his boat drifting through the harbor and out to sea, dragging that tangled mess along with it.
Even seemingly set anchors sometimes pull free of the bottom in squalls and storms, and occasionally in settled conditions, too. Like everything else that goes wrong on a boat, bad anchoring is the captain’s fault, always. It’s his or her responsibility to ensure that the anchors are well set, meaning they’ll hold the boat in any and all conditions possible at that time and place. Anchoring poorly not only endangers your own vessel, but others in the harbor, as well. That’s a serious responsibility and a lot of liability.
Do yourself and the boating community a favor: Even if your anchor usually does hold, take a few minutes to review these anchoring techniques, and then practice them. You’ll be rewarded with a boat that stays where you put her—every time—and with a degree of seamanship and confidence worthy of the title captain.
GROUND TACKLE
Anchors, chain, line and shackles need to be sized for the vessel. As a rough guideline for yachts of moderate displacement, your primary bow anchor ought to weigh about 1 pound per foot of boat length. If in doubt, err on the larger side. One additional bow anchor of equal or greater weight (and preferably of a different
