Single Handed Anchoring off the bow
 

In article ,
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote:

I do get your point about letting the waves and the movements of the
boat do a lot of the work, but my experience is, that it can still be
pretty hard work, before the chain is back in the "anchor room" (sorry
don't know the correct maritime term in English) and the anchor is
safely secured at the bow ... because, as soon the anchor slips the
bottom, the boat starts drifting backwards ... and at that point, I
still have some 8 meters of chain and an anchor to take care of (often
accompanied by a lot of unwanted "stuff"), and at the same time, I don't
have an awful lot of time to fix it all, before I have to be back at the
helm to move the boat away from the other fellows at the anchorage ...
That's why I'm looking into the possibility to install an electric
windlass with a remote controller ... I'm sure my back would appreciate
this investment ... some day ... and - in that case - I will feel much
more comfortable leaving before the fellows anchoring behind me ...

BTW, I wasn't saying not to get and use a windlass if your circumstances
warrant it. I'm just offering some techniques I use to protect my bad
back.

But, in blowy conditions, the wave action will pull the anchor
effectively if you're up close enough to the anchor. Give the waves time
to do the work.

Walking back to the cockpit will add about double your weight in hauling
effort. (Useful when hauling a deeply-set anchor even when it's not
blowy.)

If you haven't hauled enough rode, the wave action will slack the chain
up so you can haul in some more every once in a while. No need to rush
as long as the anchor's still set; you're not going anywhere.

Once it breaks free, haul in a few feet, cleat, then tend to the boat
until in open water. Again, no rush; just enough speed for steerage.

Notice how often "no rush" has come up in this thread?

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Single Handed Anchoring off the bow
 

In article ,
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote:

"Jere Lull" skrev i en meddelelse
...

Lead the free rode back to the aft fairlead and winch, release the
rode at the bow & haul.

SNIP

Due to language problems on my part, I'm sure I fully understand your
first procedure, because, I don't know, what a fairled is ... Sorry.
Is it some kind of wheel og "thing", that keeps the rode/chain and
the anchor free of the side/stern? What I find pretty difficult is
not to scratch the glass fibre side (called freeboard?), when i use
the winch for the spinaker/genua. Hauling from the bow, the rode and
the anchor goes (almost) free of the sides of the boat.

In this case, the fairlead is an open-top "C"-shaped piece of metal that
serves much the same purpose of the anchor roller up front. The rode and
chain hit that instead of the fiberglass.

It doesn't protect the fiberglass very well once the anchor is free and
being hauled straight up, but since we now need to avoid hitting other
boats, cleat it off, motor forward until you're in safe water, then haul
what you can forward to the bow, cleat off, release everything at the
stern and haul normally from the bow.

As I said, this is a messy and slow method. The more I remember, the
less I'm likely to use it.


--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Single Handed Anchoring off the bow
 

"Jere Lull" skrev i en meddelelse
...
In article ,
"Flemming Torp" fletopkanelbolle2rp.danmark wrote:

I do get your point about letting the waves and the movements of the
boat do a lot of the work, but my experience is, that it can still be
pretty hard work,
SNIP

BTW, I wasn't saying not to get and use a windlass if your
circumstances
warrant it. I'm just offering some techniques I use to protect my bad
back.

I think I was talking to my wife and to myself ... ;o) ...

But, in blowy conditions, the wave action will pull the anchor
effectively if you're up close enough to the anchor. Give the waves
time
to do the work.

Walking back to the cockpit will add about double your weight in
hauling
effort. (Useful when hauling a deeply-set anchor even when it's not
blowy.)

This is very, very true, as I'm in no way a "light weight" guy ...

If you haven't hauled enough rode, the wave action will slack the
chain
up so you can haul in some more every once in a while. No need to rush
as long as the anchor's still set; you're not going anywhere.

Once it breaks free, haul in a few feet, cleat, then tend to the boat
until in open water. Again, no rush; just enough speed for steerage.

What I normally try to do is - if (and only then) I'm under some
"pressure" - to draw so much of the rode into the boat, that I have the
anchor hanging from the bow so I can see it, i.e. a little less down,
than the bottom of the keel - in my case about two meters (6½ - 7 feet)
in total and as fast as possible - but slowly/carefully, yes! - turn 180
degrees, i.e. going "downwind" - and then - without the engine in gear
(or if it is blowing a lot even in reverese, but not more RPMs than the
boat will still go very slowly forward and with the tiller controlled by
the auto pilot) - take care of the rode/chain and the anchor on the deck
and the "mess" ... provided there are no obstacles in front of you, on
the course of course ...

But i still admit, I'm not too comfortable about it ... as KLC
indicates: "Murphy" may have placed something just in front of you ...
but my reasoning is, that if the anchor is above the bottom of the keel,
the problem may not be that serious - unless of course the anchor grabs
a cable/line or the like, makes "injuries" on the front of the boat or
simply "disappears"(!) ... I have in fact seen that once on a pretty
large motor sailor ... suddenly, the guy at the bow was just starring at
the chain ... no anchor ... I don't know what actually happend, but they
were sailing forward with the anchor hanging from the bow ...

Notice how often "no rush" has come up in this thread?

Yes, and I fully agree ... you must try to be in full controll all the
time ... that is why, I would normally wait until the boats behind me
has left, and then there is room for a "no rush" procedure, as you will
normally have the wind from the front ... but as single sailor anchoring
in 20 knots wind or more, I would still like to have an electric
windlass in the front of the boat ... with a remote control ... so the
chain and anchor without problems finds their proper places when I push
the "up-bottom" ... I like the concept ... the brochures are
attractive - don't know if it works in the real world ...

--
Flemming Torp
Gimle/DEN-61