Want to Sleep Soundly at Anchor? Try This!!!

Anchoring is a great way to get away with your friends and family and explore uninhabited locations. Plus it’s a lot cheaper than staying at marinas.

But lots of people are nervous about anchoring, and wonder how exactly that chunk of steel hanging from the bow keeps your boat in one place? Many people find it to be a bit of a mystery, and that doesn’t help with their nervousness.

You really want to be confident in your anchoring in order to get a good night sleep, or if you’re leaving your boat to explore some remote islands, especially if the wind picks up.

So I wanted to show you exactly how an anchor behaves on the sea floor. I found a nice popular anchorage where the tide had gone out, exposing the same sandy bottom that the boats in the distance are anchoring in, so we can see exactly what is going on, without the sea being in the way.

The worst thing to do is to simply throw your anchor and chain overboard in a heap and hope for the best. That is literally just rolling the dice.

Instead you want to lower your anchor to the seabed, and then lay the chain along the bottom.

You want the pull on the anchor to be almost horizontal, and for that you need to measure the distance from the bow roller to the seabed at high tide, and pay out at least five times that much chain, which is known as 5:1 scope, so the anchor and chain lies along the seabed.

Without enough chain the pull will be too vertical and the anchor will just drag along, until you let out enough chain to get the horizontal pull. If the anchor is set, but you didn’t let out enough chain and the tide goes up, your anchor could pull out.

But with 5:1 scope the anchor should stay buried with gradual wind and tide shifts
.
More drastic shifts might even pull the anchor out, but it should reset with enough scope.

So the secret is having that 5:1 scope. Of course your anchor could be fouled with kelp or an old shoe, but the first thing you should try if your anchor is not staying put is letting out more chain.

Disclaimer:
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#anchoring #howtoanchor #sailing #howtosail #learntosail #sailingtips

[dougshirley]

You picked an excellent & very forgiving style of anchor for the demo. Can't go wrong with a Bruce. I used to be a Danforth/Fortress user till one night rafted with a Bruce user. Grass bottom & late night squall producing a 180 degree wind shift. Both anchors pulled. The Fortress, all clogged with grass & mud was nothing but a useless mudball. The Bruce turned, reset, & held the both of us.

[stevepeace]

Excellent video. No fluff. Concise, complete, to the point. Well demonstrated.

[Don-ggx]

An old sailor once said, there is nothing more disconcerting than anchoring in one bay and waking up in another😂

[chicobicalho]

Very clear explanation. Many people don't realize the importance of the chain's weight to keep the anchor dug into the sand, especially on large ships that need massive and very long chains, that sometimes help anchor the ship themselves, besides helping dig the anchor in the sand.

[shademe]

I don't even own a boat and found your video entertaining and educational. Thank you for your time!

[artistatlaw]

I really appreciate this! I understand anchoring in theory and have done it (successfully) but getting this visual makes such a difference. I’m going to sleep much better swinging from the hook.

[machinemender]

Seeing the anchor dig in was very helpful. Thanks for another helpful vodeo

[pnwcruiser]

Indeed scope is key. All too often the notion is an exceptionally heavy anchor is the critical element but an overly heavy anchor won't save you with inadequate scope.

[takagienterprises]

My wife and I were just talking about this yesterday and this video came up this morning. Youtube is listening! Great video!

[SoloSailorDave]

Great video... right to the point without any fluff

[gregorycooper]

The locals must have thought you were crazy while you were filming but the sailing types understood. Good video.

[wallacejeffery]

Here in coastal Alabama, several rivers have deep mud. During hurricane conditions, few anchors will hold. One exception was a large sailboat and he had perhaps a 20 to one scope of chain deployed. I think it was a larger than normal Bruce. Hurricane Katrina.

[largo]

Thanks for the advice !!!
And, to made a good anchoring set: "more chain and minus rope".
Rope is cheaper, lighter and flexible, but helpless to mantain the anchor against the sea floor.
Greetings from Patagonia, Argentina !!! 🇦🇷

[robertojames]

I cruised onboard my 55 foot motor yacht for nearly 6 years, anchoring out 90% of the time, usually in a different spot each evening. The key to my peace of mind was to use a 200 foot length of 1/2" BBB chain and a 65 pound anchor, much larger than the recommended sizes. Although the boat was long, it was narrow and low; more like a 35 foot trawler in size and windage as opposed to a typical 55 foot sport fisherman which would be literally three or four times as much boat.
Of course, this ground tackle is very heavy so not only does the boat and the anchor locker have to be designed to handle the weight, the windlass has to be very stout. I built a very powerful hydraulic windlass which could be operated from the helm. The system was wonderful. We never dragged, and unlike many other cruisers, we never hesitated to shift our position as the weather changed so that we could enjoy smooth water in the anchorage. It was particularly handy in the Bahamas when a front passed through. We were nearly always able to move to a smooth spot even though it might require moving three or even four times during the day and a half long frontal passage.
Oversized ground tackle is expensive and without the proper handling gear it's difficult to operate. But if you have the right equipment, it can't be beat. Physical effort was limited to my wife flipping the chain stopper with her toe and squeezing the handle on the high pressure wash down system to clean mud off the chain and anchor.

[andrewvanada]

Glad I finally get to subscribe to someone in their early days of YouTubery. I have enjoyed all of your videos that I've been able to watch so far. I think you'll have a big subscriber base soon!

[vingreensill]

Thank you. Great explanation and demo. I finally understand the importance of scope.

[boyinpyjamas]

its impressive how such small device can keep boat in place

[BarrierSecurity]

Great video!
Greetings from a sailing instructor for 20 years: I also recommend the Bruce anchor for the coast of Norway.

[davecolman]

I have noticed whenever a boating publication does a test comparison of anchors, it's always the latest new thing that is judged to be the best... my Bruce, having been the latest and greatest about 2 hundred years ago always comes in last place. Horse hockey says I... it has never dragged on me even once in 15 years.

[MrBernie]

Nice video 👍In the 25 years of anchoring my 36 ft boat I had a 35lb CQR and only once (in the Maddalena Is Sardinia) did it refuse to set due to a very weedy bottom. So I tried a trick, used in very windy conditions. I use a very long snubber, which in turn alters the angle, quite acutely, of the chain, which creates more drag and gets the anchor to dig in. I have used this method many times, especially in Greece, and have spent some days soundly secured in 40 knots plus of wind. Kind Regards, Barnacle Bern, SW Wales.