Securing your boat and yourself at anchor when the wind is piping up, can be a hair raising experience. Even in relatively protected harbors, the surface of the water will be choppy, the boat will be bucking and veering in the wind and communications between those in the cockpit and the person on the foredeck can be all but impossible. Yet, often it is the case that anchoring will be the last thing you do after a day of slogging through deteriorating conditions. One might be tempted to get the hook down, to secure the boat and then hurry below.

Yet, if you pay careful attention to anything you do when faced with rising wind, you should give special care and concentration to laying out your ground tackle. Not only will you sleep better, should the wind really howl in the night, you will save yourself the confusion and possible danger of dragging.

When faced with a situation when you have to anchor a boat in a high wind, you should first take careful note of the harbor and the surrounding shore. Take a good look at the chart to see where shoals lie and to figure where the current will be the strongest. When the wind is up, currents will tend to run faster, tides will tend to be higher and lower than normal, and the underwater hazards will present themselves at unexpected times.

In addition, take a careful look at the weather. Will the wind be swinging as the storm passes through and if so, which way will it swing? Will it increase during the night or is the storm passing? Is rain in the forecast? And, how long is the bad weather expected to last?

Survey the bottom to determine which anchors to use and how to deploy them. On the chart you will see indications of the bottom, whether it be mud, or sand or rock. If you have the option, anchor in sand, which will give you the most reliable holding power and will accept the anchor without swallowing it the way mud does.

Select the spot to anchor by deciding where you will have the most protection from the wind from it present angle and from the likely angle should it shift. But, pay attention to other factors as well. Don't anchor in a crowd. One of the boats to windward of you just might drag, fouling your anchors and damaging your boat. And make sure that downwind of your chosen spot there are no immediate hazards.

It will be tempting to drop all sail as soon as you enter protected waters and to maneuver under power alone. In tight quarters this will be the best solution, for you will be able to cut close circles if need be without having to man handle the sheets. However, if you are anchoring in an open bay with enough room around you to make wide slow turns, you may find that a reefed main or mizzen will act as a stabilizing force on the boat.

Before you begin your approach to the spot in which you will anchor, ready the anchor tackle. You should have two anchors ready if possible. If it is a muddy or sandy bottom, you will want to use a light-weight type or Danforth type anchor and a plow. The weights appropriate for your boat are shown in Table OO. Both anchors should have lengths of chain and the chain should be attached to the nylon anchor rode with a swivel. If you have sufficient chain on board, use the chain with the plow and the nylon-chain combination with the lightweight type anchor.

If you will be anchoring in rocky or grassy areas, you should have a fisherman type anchor. The long, pointed fluke on this anchor type will penetrate grass into the sand below, or it will hook securely in a crag in the rock. A fisherman anchor should be buoyed when anchoring in rock as it will have a tendency to lodge itself very securely.

In storm winds, or in the presence of a rising storm, you will want to set two anchors. The heaviest and most secure anchor should be set directly into the wind. This will insure than no matter which way the wind changes, either left or right, you will have your safest gear in front of you.

Once the first anchor has been set and a scope of at least 5 to 1 for chain and 7 to 1 for nylon rode has been played out, take a look around you until you have your bearings. It will be vital, should you begin to drag that you know exactly where you began. And, while setting the second anchor, you will want to know fairly closely where the first anchor is lying.

To set the second anchor, you have to have an idea of which way the wind is likely to swing. If the wind should move right, then the anchor wants to go to the right of the first anchor, and visa versa. Power ahead with the helm hard over in the direction you wish to set the second anchor. If the main is still flying, sheet it in until it fills and you will quickly gather headway as you sail hard on the first rode. Continue pressing to windward until you have nearly reached the same relative distance up wind as the first anchor.

Set the second anchor at this point, and then fall back on the rode as freely as possible. It will be necessary to play out rode from the first anchor to make the set of the second anchor effective. Once you have set the second anchor, you will want to reset the first, which has been slightly worked on the bottom by the second maneuver. Drop off on the second rode and back down on the first until it is well set.

Finally, slack off on the two anchors until you are hanging between them with a minimum of seven to one scope. In a breeze over 40 knots, you will find, no matter how protected the anchorage, that you will feel more comfortable with scope of 8 or 10 to 1.

Once you are settled down and have the sails furled and the boat tidied up, take magnetic bearings of your position. You will want to have two or three bearings on objects that will be illuminated at night, if possible, or at least on landmarks that are prominent enough to be seen even in darkness. Take your depth below your keel and figure the state of the tide or current; you may experience extreme lows and extreme highs and you will want to know where you stand.

Lastly, it is important to take precautions against the single most destructive force while at anchor in a high wind: chafe. Tape or tie chafing gear elk hide, canvass, sail cloth, or even old blue jeans wrapped in duct tape onto the nylon rode where the line passes through the bow chalk. Remember that the nylon will stretch a lot, so the chafing gear should cover the rode well inboard. The line may have to be taken up from time to time to keep the chafing gear at work.

On an all chain rode, you will want to fix a nylon pennant and a chain hook. The hook with a stout nylon line attached, should be hooked onto the chain and then the chain should be let out until you have five or six feet of line running from the boat. The chain can now be made fast with a sag in it and the nylon line can be made fast. The nylon will absorb the strain on the chain and will keep the boat from riding up on the anchor chain with a hard jolt. The nylon line attached to the hook should be fitted out with chafing gear exactly as was done for the nylon rode.

No one anchored in high winds sleeps well. But if you have equipped your boat with suitable anchors and rodes and have taken the trouble to set those anchors with care, you will rest a lot easier.


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