On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 14:19:48 +0000, Paul wrote:

So we anchored this weekend for the first time (for those of you just tuning
in we're 1 month new to boating).

My anchor is a danforth knockoff and seems to weigh about 1 ounce, it's
really light.

Yeah, the Danforth (and clones) are great anchors for "reasonable" bottoms
like mud, which is what you find in 90% of anchorages. But there's nothing
like a good, heavy anchor for piece of mind...


We anchored twice more on the weekend and dragged once. Here are the things
I learned:

-- you really, really need to mark your rode so you know how much line you
have out. If you lose track you can't just eyeball it because most of your
rode is now underwater.

I just use the "old" method: if you're more-or-less 6 ft tall, your arms
outstretched is about 1 fathom (6ft). Pull the line out that way and
count. OTOH, markers ARE nice - even electrical tape every 20 ft or so.

-- a washdown on the bow would be a great thing.

Amen! Headmistress Peggy reminds us that anchor-lockers are often the
worst source of odours (except she spells it "odors" )

-- it's really easy to get disoriented as to where you are in relation to
... well, everything. Everything moves on the water including the water,
there's nothing to use as a solid reference point.

To see if you're really "hooked" while backing, look at the trees beside
you. If they appear to be moving forwards, you're still moving backwards.
Line up a couple, and when they don't move wrt each other, you're stopped.

-- even though the full light on the holding tank is on, you can squeeze one
more pee in there
-- having a 1/2 and a 3/4 full light on the holding tank would be a great
thing

Again, Peggy's recommendation: http://www.snake-river.org/ Accugage tank
sensors, the cheapy one shows empty, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full for 4 tanks.
Seems to work great!

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36