Anchoring and Its Discontents

[Philpott]

Looking ahead to the March Cruise-Out for the Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race boats (wow, that's a mouthful!) I'm wondering what you all plan to do about anchoring in Hanalei Bay? Because you WILL have to anchor in Hanalei Bay, since there is no marina there, no usable pier, and very few mooring balls, most taken by local boats.

When we have the cruise-out in March you will have the opportunity to participate in a little race out into the bay using your emergency rudder. That was fun to watch last time, to almost everyone's chagrin.

Sailors will also be encouraged to practice anchoring. Joe Balderrama might be asked to exhibit his Hail Mary anchoring technique just for entertainment purposes, but is that really the way you want to end a beautiful Pacific experience? Chances are good that you will have assistance with anchoring and sail take-down when you arrive in Kauai, but just in case you arrive at 3 am and only Brian arrives on a surfboard, maybe you want to think about details of anchoring ahead of time.

Bow roller? What's a bow roller? Racers tend not to have bow rollers. Danforth? Spade? Delta? Huh? Now is the time for you to make friends with a cruising sailor on your dock.

 

[Gamayun]

How about a 35-lb (?) Bruce on a windlass with 250' of chain? Plus a lighter fluke on 300' of rode as a backup? I think I got this one covered...

 

[Philpott]

How about a 35-lb (?) Bruce on a windlass with 250' of chain? Plus a lighter fluke on 300' of rode as a backup? I think I got this one covered...

Yes, Kynntana has a beautiful set up. Doesn't that mean that you could comfortably anchor in a depth of 34'? With the touch of a switch? hahaha. DM doesn't even have a bow roller. Yet. I'm hoping for photographs and suggestions.

 

[AZ Sailor]

. . . I'm hoping for photographs and suggestions.

I'm not familiar with the Cal 2-27, so I'm not sure if this will help, but here goes:

My previous boat was a 28’ racer/cruiser made by S-2 Yachts (Model 8.6; a little bigger and cruisier than AlanH’s 7.9), and I gave her a bow roller sort of like this:



I could use two existing bolts on the bow plate on the starboard side of the stem piece on the boat, and the two bolt holes at the aft end of the bow roller. But I had to drill one new hole in the bow roller and one new hole in the bow plate to have three bolts holding the roller in place. In the next picture, the dimple in the bow plate, outboard of the second Phillips-head bolt, was my first attempt to drill the plate with a regular 3/8” drill and half a dozen drill bits:



I was able to finish drilling the bow plate with a much bigger drill from a buddy’s machine shop, tungsten drill bits, and cutting oil. I put a backing plate under the new bolt, matching the existing two. I was happy with the result, and it held steady in many anchoring adventures, some in high-stress conditions.





Well worth the effort if you intend to anchor out more than once every few years.

What the bow roller did not accomplish, however, was any dampening of the swinging on the wind the boat would do at anchor. That problem was caused by the boat's inherent windage: wind on the nose would blow the bow off to one side or the other, and the boat would saw back and forth all night. Not fun, not safe, and bad in a crowded anchorage where you want all boats swinging together as the wind shifts. Adding an anchor-riding sail was the 100% cure for that problem. The harder the wind would blow, the more arrow-straight the boat would hold nose to wind.



Many boats behave well at anchor without a riding sail, but if you find yours does not, the riding sail is well worth the cost and effort.

Good luck. Being able to get some sleep while anchored out is one of the great joys of cruising.

 

[Philpott]

Wow, thanks, Lee! Those are really helpful photos. I stayed up late last night, and decided that the Lewmar Medium Fairlead anchor roller (the one you used) seems to be the best for Dura Mater. At 11" x 2 1/8" it will just fit between her nav light and that doohickey thing that holds her roller furler. The difference is that your boat had all that metal at the bow. I will surely need a strong backing plate down below.

One last issue: Do you think my anchor will work with this roller? It is an A80 given to me by John Foster (thank you, John. I know you are up there having an opinion about this as I type).

 

[peter00]

This will probably be of no help to anyone but.... my sailmaker, when I ordered my assym., insisted that the efficiency of the sail increased significantly the further forward of the forestay that the tack was located. So I looked at my bow situation and realized I had a dirty great Rochna sticking significantly forward of the bow roller. With very little trouble at all I figured out how I could secure the anchor in place with a couple of dyneema strops and then, using a soft shackle and a block on the Rochna semicircular bar I had a great lead for the assym. downhaul which was well forward. It was easier to do than to describe here and the beauty of it was that when cruising coastwise if there was an emergency and I needed the anchor toot sweet I could just cut the strops and the anchor was ready to go. I also split a hose to cover the bar on the Rochna so the soft shackle wouldn't chafe. Plus the Rochna is one of the best anchors available today which doesn't hurt.

 

[Philpott]

I figured out how I could secure the anchor in place with a couple of dyneema strops and then, using a soft shackle and a block on the Rochna semicircular bar I had a great lead for the assym. downhaul which was well forward.

Let me get this straight: You tied down your big fat anchor and used it as the tack for your assymetric spinnaker? Was this on Carlotta? Didn't she already have a significant bowsprit? That would be something to see. Very inventive. Brave, too.

 

[AZ Sailor]

I will surely need a strong backing plate down below.

Indeed. The roller is going to take some heavy loads from time to time. You might want to have someone knowledgeable look at the situation to see if other reinforcement is also in order.

I can't tell is that anchor fits that roller. I bought anchor and roller at the same time, so I could test fit in the store.

 

[peter00]

Let me get this straight: You tied down your big fat anchor and used it as the tack for your assymetric spinnaker? Was this on Carlotta? Didn't she already have a significant bowsprit? That would be something to see. Very inventive. Brave, too.

This was on Scaramouche with a truly massive assym. I never used it in heavy winds because I couldn't manage it in heavy winds by myself But the loads would be radically scaled down in any of the boats pictured above. For those that don't know, Scaramouche was a 50' alum. IOR boat with a massive fore triangle. I would guess that my system was stronger than the bowsprits typically put together for this application.

 

[mike cunningham]

I upped my chain from 15 feet to 50 feet before the race. I am glad I did. The anchor and rode were stored in the aft cabin for the trip over. Once I was offshore I transferred the anchor rode to my drogue and vice versa as I approached Hawaii. I actually deployed the drogue during a 40 Kt session with the dregs of Celia about 350 miles from Kauai. The seaway was getting pretty scary. Anyway, it was a waste of time, within 6 hours the sun was out and and had the best day and night of sailing of the entire trip.

Upon arrival in Kauai David Garman came aboard and helped me get anchored. I do a lot of anchoring but David is a perfectionist. Jacqueline didn't drag at all the entire week I was anchored out. I think that extra chain really helped, although it weights a frikking ton.

My vote is if he doesn't sail this year, we fly David to Kauai and appoint him the Lord High Diode of Anchoring.

 

[peter00]

Given that everyone hates all the extra weight of added chain you might find the attached link interesting. the links linked to the link (if you get my drift) are also interesting. Big eye opener for me. http://www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-anchors/catenary.php

 

[mike cunningham]

That is a very interesting article and food for thought. One additional reason I added more chain is I will often anchor in fairly shallow water subject to significant tidal currents. I have had my nylon rode wrap around the keel more than once as the tide turns. Depending on wind speed you can wind up with some strange boat swings and orientations. If the wind picks up you can get stuck ass to wind with a wrap around the keel. This will happen at about 3:00 AM in the morning. Don't ask how I know this. The longer chain is heavy enough to stay below the keel as the boat swings.

Not a problem for Hanalei fortunately. I have a 15Kg CQR. Based upon the results described in the article it might be time to look for a more modern design although the only time the CQR has failed me was in heavy weed at Monterey. I just could not get the thing to set.

 

[Philpott]

Depending on wind speed you can wind up with some strange boat swings and orientations. If the wind picks up you can get stuck ass to wind with a wrap around the keel. .

This might be a dumb question, but what would result from a second, small anchor off the stern?

 

[Lanikai]

DM doesn't even have a bow roller. Yet. I'm hoping for photographs and suggestions.

Why am I always so sure I have great pictures of these things tucked away in iCloud, and it turns out I don't?

Here's the best I can offer from Happiness. Garhauer AR-20 is the roller. I installed it while anchored in Clipper Cove, using small bits of Starboard and teak that I had aboard as spacers below the roller, and a thicker piece of teak with some huge fender washers for a backing plate belowdeck. The roller just barely squoze between the forestay fitting and the starboard light. With the Danforth yanked up in the roller, ready for deployment, a fluke usually blocks the running light -- another project (mounting a bicolor on the pulpit). I always thought I'd upgrade to an oversize Fortress or one of the new generation spade types, but the no-name little danforth that came with my boat has held through some unexpected conditions and the shank fits easily in the roller so it stays for now. I like having it ready to go. Not a pretty setup, but there are uglier things on this boat. And no spinnaker snags yet, but that's probably just a matter of time.

I see a lot of rollers mounted as far forward as possible. I guess it works for some, but...long moment arm + big swell + yawing, pitching boat = busted roller, chafe, etc. I dun seen it on the internet. I like it mounted as far inboard as possible.

http://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=24

 

[BobJ]

This was on Scaramouche with a truly massive assym. I never used it in heavy winds because I couldn't manage it in heavy winds by myself But the loads would be radically scaled down in any of the boats pictured above. For those that don't know, Scaramouche was a 50' alum. IOR boat with a massive fore triangle. I would guess that my system was stronger than the bowsprits typically put together for this application.

Found on another forum:

 

[mike cunningham]

This might be a dumb question, but what would result from a second, small anchor off the stern?

I tried this once in shallow water at China Camp. There was enough slack in the two rodes to allow the boat to get nearly broadside to the two anchors during the flood. I felt like, and probably was, a complete idiot. I now had a bar taught rode from both the bow and the stern. I don't remember how I finally got off, I do remember it was a complete cluster you know what and provided a half hour of first class entertainment to the other boats anchored there (and no, I couldn't wait for slack water). I never tried this again.

 

[peter00]

The last time I was in Hanalei Bay in 2014 one of the other competitors set two anchors because while the boats tend to be wind rode and lie with bows towards the beach the swell comes around the point and is on the beam. The result is a fairly uncomfortable roll. This other fellow set his anchor off the stern but towards the beach so he could hold his boat head to swell. In the normally gentle conditions this apparently made life on board much more comfortable. I had a better idea and slept ashore. Like all open roadsteads Hanalei Bay is a completely untenable anchorage when there is a serious wind shift away from the normal tradewind pattern.

 

[mike cunningham]

The last time I was in Hanalei Bay in 2014 one of the other competitors set two anchors because while the boats tend to be wind rode and lie with bows towards the beach the swell comes around the point and is on the beam. The result is a fairly uncomfortable roll. This other fellow set his anchor off the stern but towards the beach so he could hold his boat head to swell. In the normally gentle conditions this apparently made life on board much more comfortable. I had a better idea and slept ashore. Like all open roadsteads Hanalei Bay is a completely untenable anchorage when there is a serious wind shift away from the normal tradewind pattern.

It is amazing how well you can sleep at sea with the boat bucking around like crazy but once you are at anchor, just a little rolling is enough to drive you nuts.

 

[Christian]

I don't know why a racing boat would add a bow anchor roller just to anchor in Hanalei. Such an assembly has to be really strong and exists for permanent anchor storage and convenience with a windlass.

Anchoring for a light boat is likely by a bridle from the bow cleats (if you have any). Those cleats have to be strong.

Who wants the weight of an anchor on the bow while racing to Hawaii? That's cruising-boat stuff. Put it down below.

Just opinions, of course.

 

[Gamayun]

That's cruising-boat stuff. Put it down below.

Hey now.....

Just opinions, of course.

Whew. Glad to know that, Christian, I do love your videos so your opinions are right in my book and my racer/cruiser bonafides remain intact, though maybe I should post a picture of my new solar arch. I insisted that it have a pull up bar...seriously not kidding. It is so cool, too.

Looking forward to racing ya'll to Kauai!