Anchoring follies

[tpenfield]

It seemed as though it was a 'special' day for anchoring at our favorite boating spot today. We got there fairly early and anchored close to shore and then brought all the stuff onto the beach. There was only about 6-8 boats there at the time, but the area filled up fairly quickly from then on.

In an hour or so, there was about 30 boats anchored, of all types and sizes. Usually, on a day like this, there are one or two folks who just don't seem to get this anchoring stuff and end up putting on a show for the watching crowd. Well, today seemed like a special day, because there was one right after the other who arrived and could not set an anchor. There must have been 4 or 5 of them. Some would eventually get the anchor set and their boat positioned properly among the dense pack of boats. Others would just repeatedly toss the anchor only to drift with the wind.

At one point some yahoo actually hooked onto my anchor and managed to pull it up. . . . Hey, that's my anchor !!! Of course they made a hasty retreat without so much as an apology.

Although the percentages are somewhat small in terms of those who do not know how to anchor or have insufficient equipment, the problem today seemed large. Why is it that some boater's just don't get it about this anchoring stuff???

 

[louiefl]

Re: Anchoring follies

A few weeks back at one of the local sand bars, the guy in the boat next to me simply beached it without any anchors. The water moves pretty quick when the tide shifts and as soon as it came up enough, it floated off and took off with the tide. He was about 500 yeards away and started sprinting, I jumped in, swam about 50 yards after it, fired up his boat and brought it back. He was rather humbled by the experience, but grateful that I jumped in.

I use a sand spike on the beach and your standard danforth aft. I like the sand spike as there is no crossbar for kids to smash their foot into.

 

[2ndtry]

Re: Anchoring follies

I boat on an inland lake often that you can get away without having an anchor MOST of the time (I carry two).

One day we had a pro wakeboard event on a windy day that attracted a lot of people. Everyone was have some trouble keeping still, but one boat in particular has having a heck of a time. After about 20 minutes and dragging a few other people's anchors, he finally gave up, tossed in his line and motored out of there. I had kids on board so to pass the time I sent one after the line after it floated to the surface. They swam the line back and I had a heck of time pulling it up, but instead of an anchor on the end of the line were three towing balls AND the hitches (receiver type). Heavy as all get out, but not gonna hold a 20'er on a windy day!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Anchoring follies

Why is it that some boater's just don't get it about this anchoring stuff???

For the same reason they can't back a trailer down a launch ramp.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Anchoring follies

It was rather windy where we were today and I noted one very new 30ft Cobalt dragging every possibly way and fighting to keep hooked for hours.... All the guy did was repeatedly fire up- move- and try and anchor... Although this didnt happen- frequently we have someone from upwind drift into us and give us a look like it is somehow my fault

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Anchoring follies

The main reason that most people have such issues anchoring is because they don't use enough scope. They simply release the anchor until it reaches bottom, then try to get it to catch. If they'd let out a good bit more rode, they would find it much easier to set the anchor.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Anchoring follies

We were at a popular sand bar (Braun Bay on Winnipesaukee in NH) on Saturday morning. It was breezy so we anchored with plenty of scope on both the bow and stern anchors and were quite stationary and far from all other boats. The area filled up fast and it was amusing to watch people who just don't understand how anchors work. I would say more than 50% of them would drive the boat to the spot they wanted, stop and then throw the anchors as far as they could. This would give them about a 2:1 scope and with the wind as it was, that wasn't working at all. Those boats ended up requiring someone to be on "anchor watch" the entire time they were there.

One moron "anchored" about 5 feet from my boat, cranked up the party music and then his boat kept drifting toward my boat. He and his crew kept looking at me like it was my fault. After their boat actually bumped mine, we gave up and left to go for a cruise. I hope their battery was dead at the end of the day...

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Anchoring follies

One moron "anchored" about 5 feet from my boat.

I guess they didn't know or care about the 25' rule either.

Braun Bay is one of our favorite spots on Winni.

 

[bgc]

Re: Anchoring follies

There is a great thread here, where the OP is asking for anchoring advice. One person chimed in on how his mushroom anchor will hold his boat with 120' of rode....in a 100' depth and 7 times the depth is (Bull).

The U.S.Power Squadron has a great anchoring seminar that I wish more people would go to.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Anchoring follies

I guess they didn't know or care about the 25' rule either.

Braun Bay is one of our favorite spots on Winni.

We've been hassled by the Marine patrol for 25' violations in Braun Bay in the past, even though we were anchored first and other people filled in around us. So we take digital pictures showing how far we are from other boats as soon as we get settled in now. I am not about to start being the "rafting police" in Braun Bay, but I have no problem showing an MP officer pictures of us legally anchored to prove who was there first...

It's a spectacular place, crystal clear water, fine white sand and 3'-4' depth for acres and no wakes or waves to deal with. I can understand why it's popular. I just wish people would be more considerate when they arrive late.

This picture was taken before it got "really" crowded, almost all the boats got there after us:

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Anchoring follies

Not to get too far off-topic, but why is rafting prohibited on that lake? Too many drunks, or?

I've never heard of such a rule.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Anchoring follies

Maybe the theory of anchoring it too much for some folks? Som years ago I was driving a 22' SeaRay cuddy (not mine and unknown mechanical condition) on the bay. A storm was coming so I was hustling back to the lagoon. The motor just cut out suddenly and the wind was blowing us quickly into a shallow marshy area. I asked my girlfriend (novice boater) to toss the hook until I could get the motor sorted out. Well she and another friend spent 5 exasperating minutes discussing how to toss the anchor, without actually tossing anything, as we drifted closer and closer to the shallows. I finally went up there and grabbed it a tossed it and cleated it off. I just missed drifting into the weeds. After I recovered from my disbelief and stress, I was able calm down a bit. I finally got the motor started and motored home ahead of the storm....After 4 Mai-tais at home, the incident was easier to bear....

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Anchoring follies

What is disturbing to me about this whole anchoring stuff is that we boat on the ocean, where 15-20 mph wind and 3-4 foot seas are normal afternoon conditions. If you have and engine mishap or something where you are adrift, you better know how to anchor, or else you and your boat will end up on the rocks.

One of the boats that we saw having trouble this weekend had a dinky little anchor (than might have held a rowboat) and 3 feet of chain . . . for a 20 foot boat . . . and they were trying to anchor in an area with a heavily seaweed bottom. Just a few feet away, was a sand bottom, that maybe (just maybe) the dinky little anchor might have held.:facepalm:

So, I'm thinking . . . well if they don't know how to anchor, what else don't they know?

Oh, well, it is just part of boating, I guess.

 

[shrew]

Re: Anchoring follies

Not to get too far off-topic, but why is rafting prohibited on that lake? Too many drunks, or?

I've never heard of such a rule.

I boated on that lake back when I was a kid. We boated there my entire life. The only anchoring restrictions used to be you couldn't sleep overnight. The problem is there are far more boats than there are good sandy anchorages. Braun Bay is the largest and by far the most popular. Back in the late 70's and early 80's the rafts used to be huge. We'd roll in and frequently just tie up to the boat on the end of the raft. You asked permisions first, but that is more like rining the doorbell when you arrive at a friends house rather than just simply walking in. It was more about being polite.

The problem is, as is the case in anchorages all over the country, the landowners pay ridiculous mortgages and insurance and don't want to loose their waterfront view to a waterfront party, music, yelling and so forth and so on. The various wealthy landowners petitioned and got the laws changed to that you can't have more than (it used to be 2 boats to a raft) and boats couldn't be closer than 25 ft. This cut the number of boats in the anchorages by more than 50%. Wealthy tax paying landowners win and us filthy vagrant boat owners loose.

This is why when I bought my boat, I moved it to the ocean and have absolutely no interest in boating on Winnipesaukee anymore. More places to go, more places to anchor, significantly less anchoring restrictions, I can sleep out overnight and I can have as many boats on the raft as we have friends interesting in tying up.

As for why do people drag......I've seen MUCH in the way of bad information provided by a number of folks on this and other forums. The guy who advises how he anchors his 14 ft. tinny while he fishes his local pond simply doesn't apply to the guy in a 22,000 fly bridge.

Short answer: Wrong anchor, not enough chain, not enough scope, improper deployment methods, and bad holding in the anchorage. These all lead to comlications when anchoring. Worse when the tied changes, wind kicks up, etc.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Anchoring follies

I boat on an inland lake often that you can get away without having an anchor MOST of the time (I carry two).

One day we had a pro wakeboard event on a windy day that attracted a lot of people. Everyone was have some trouble keeping still, but one boat in particular has having a heck of a time. After about 20 minutes and dragging a few other people's anchors, he finally gave up, tossed in his line and motored out of there. I had kids on board so to pass the time I sent one after the line after it floated to the surface. They swam the line back and I had a heck of time pulling it up, but instead of an anchor on the end of the line were three towing balls AND the hitches (receiver type). Heavy as all get out, but not gonna hold a 20'er on a windy day!

Did you check the parking lot to see if any of them were stolen. Why would he just abandon them/

TerryMSU

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Anchoring follies

The problem is, as is the case in anchorages all over the country, the landowners pay ridiculous mortgages and insurance and don't want to loose their waterfront view to a waterfront party, music, yelling and so forth and so on. The various wealthy landowners petitioned and got the laws changed to that you can't have more than (it used to be 2 boats to a raft) and boats couldn't be closer than 25 ft. This cut the number of boats in the anchorages by more than 50%. Wealthy tax paying landowners win and us filthy vagrant boat owners loose.

I agree with the landowners on this one. If the rafting had been peaceful, there would not have been enough complaints and concerns to ban it all. And I'll bet that if people rafted up with more than the legal limit, kept the music off, and behaved, no one would bother them. If I owned the land at the cove in the photo, I would not be happy about it.

Back in high school we used to raft up and spend the night, and often got yelled at from the shore--and we probably deserved it. We'd be in some nice waterfron neighborhood cove. But it was just a couple times a year, not enough to create an issue.

I'm thankful for the wide open space on the coast--where we can get together and raise hell, or go off for solitude. I understand the conflicts I read about here on the smaller but crowded bodies of water.

But I also don't see how anyone can get in a crowd like the one in the picture and expect people to know what they are doing. Although there are many exceptions, you generally aren't going to find the skilled and experienced boaters in the majority of party crowd. And in a tight squeeze, it doesn't take many who don't know--or care--what they are doing to mess it all up.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Anchoring follies

Well, on the local lakes near me, if you buy a house in the party coves, you have no say about it. If you wanted solitude and nice view without people making noise or rafting up en mass, you buy a house at a different location. I can see it both ways, but I'd rather have people rafting up and showing some semblance of order than the pic above with everyone anchored with no real method to the madness.

 

[HellRaZoR004]

Re: Anchoring follies



This is the reason for the picture above. Too much regulation.

Almost all the sand bars on the lake are designated NRZ (No Raft Zones), so the ones that aren't you can see why it's a mess....

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Anchoring follies

I agree with the landowners on this one. If the rafting had been peaceful, there would not have been enough complaints and concerns to ban it all. And I'll bet that if people rafted up with more than the legal limit, kept the music off, and behaved, no one would bother them. If I owned the land at the cove in the photo, I would not be happy about it.

The land in that photo is conservation land, not private property, so the boaters are not bothering anyone on that shore. There's homes several hundred feet across the bay, and I imagine they grow weary of the crowds, but the anchorage was popular long before the homes were built (the lots are not desirable because the water is only 1-2 feet deep over there and very rocky), so they knew what they were getting into. The reality is, the anchorage is "rowdy" about 25 days a year. That leaves 340 days of peace and quiet. Not a bad ratio. Also, when I say "rowdy" it's not really all that bad. Mostly family boats with kids, not Spring Break.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Anchoring follies

Not to get too far off-topic, but why is rafting prohibited on that lake? Too many drunks, or?

I've never heard of such a rule.

It's not prohibited on the lake, only in the popular anchorages. There's still plenty of other nice places to raft up.