Using 2 Anchors from Bow onto the beach as a backup method

[ERock82]

I went beach camping on my boat this past weekend and the winds and current were much stronger than expected. I was not able to set my bow anchor even after trying to dive down to set it. I did not want to go home so I just put both anchors (bow and stern) on the beach and figured I'd chill till high tide the next day. As expected, my boat was stuck sideways in the sand in the morning during low tide. It's a small boat so I wasn't too worried. Some guys ended up helping me push it out even though I was just going to wait.

It then hit me to try hooking up both anchors from the bow and bringing them in tight onto the beach, creating a V Shape. The boat would face bow out like it's supposed to but both anchors on shore. This worked really good and the boat did not move a bit for the hour it took to pack gear and load in 30+ mph gusts. It made me wonder, why not do that in the first place if anchor won't set offshore?? The only drawback would be that the stern could move into the sand but that's way better than the whole side of the boat. So, if I run into this problem again, would it be the next best thing to anchor like this overnight?

 

[tpenfield]

How would a wind change be handled though? If if went on shore you'd have a boat on the beach.

 

[GA_Boater]

How would a wind change be handled though? If if went on shore you'd have a boat on the beach.

And with strong winds, tides and waves, the boat could end on it's side filled with water and sand.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I normally anchor on the leeward side of any island. I toss out the aft anchor, set it, pay out rode until I get the bow near shore where I want it. then I jump in and drag the bow anchor up onto the beach. I then pull them draw-string tight. If its a tight mooring, I will use two aft anchors, and two bow anchors - I have seen too many boats come loose and smack their neighbors.

for anchoring overnight, I use two bow anchors in a vee formation. Never put both bow and stern anchors up on shore, unless you want to be beached (like you found out). I also do not go out overnight if there is supposed to be heavy winds.

 

[Chris1956]

If your anchor doesn't hold against the wind or current (or both), you need a bigger anchor, and/or more line. You should be able to anchor the bow out, with out issue.

A good trick is to get a rubber snubber for the bow anchor line. Set the bow anchor and back the boat down to the beach, under power. Now set the stern anchor on the beach. If you do it correctly, you can pull the boat into the beach, stretching the snubber, to get the boat close for loading/unloading.

 

[shrew]

Placing more anchors on the beach will not prevent you from ending up on the beach, particularly if you are in a tidal area. You need to iron out why the anchor is not setting. Are you using chain? Are you using sufficient scope? What is the type of bottom you're anchoring in? What type and size of anchor? What size boat?

 

[ERock82]

I understand that the "proper way" to anchor is from bow out to sea and stern onto beach. I'm just trying to see if that way (2 from bow to shore) would've been better than bow to beach and stern to beach. That is all I wanted to know. It seemed like it would've been better to me but I didn't know if I was missing anything. I am attaching 2 diagrams. #1 is the way I'm asking about and #2 is what I did overnight. I would think that # 1 wouldn't be able to come up on the beach on it's side, just it's stern. Therefore all you have to push off the beach is the stern, not the whole side of the boat. I just don't know if #2 would've been safer for boat even though it gets beached easier.

A guy next to me had problems setting his anchor too bc of the winds. He finally got his though but I was exhausted after 7 or 8 attempts and gave up.

So, just want to know if #1 would've been the better choice over #2 for overnight.

 

[bruceb58]

Neither is good. You need a better anchor or pick a different spot.

What size boat do you have?
How much anchor line do you have and how much were you putting out?
What anchor type and weight do you have?
How much chain do you have?
What type of bottom are you anchoring in?

The fact that you were diving down to set it makes it sound like the anchor was pretty close to shore.

 

[milehighjc]

I guess I am going to illustrate my inexperience.... (or ignorance?).

First off, I am only boating on inland lakes, so tide is not an issue for me. Last year was our first full season, and we did have one camping weekend (4 days three nights) where I needed to anchor overnight at our campsite. It was in a sheltered area (no wake), but in Colorado, pop up storms are common, and can have pretty high winds.

I dont like beaching the boat, I have no interest in having the hull banging on rocks that I might not have seen.

My thoughts when anchoring for the night was to approach bow in to the shore, set a fluke anchor off the stern, making sure it was set well. With the boat fully floating (no part of the hull on the bottom), I used a mushroom anchor set against a large rock on the shore. My logic was that I wanted the outdrive in the deepest water possible (trimmed into the trailer position).

We did get one pretty good storm.. my boat stayed in place while the neighbors boat, and two jet skis got loose... which of course pleased me to no end as I was the one that had to retrieve them to keep them from colliding with my boat.

So the comment about "bow out" being proper caught my eye... why is this? Is it specific to conditions, or is there something I didnt think through sufficiently?

 

[bruceb58]

I have see smaller boats swamped because they anchored stern out. Also, if you are going to get a high wind onshore, you want your bow out. If the wind is off shore, not nearly as much of a concern. Also way more comfortable if you are in the boat since the windshield is shielding you from the wind.

If I am going to have a lot of wind, I am 75' off shore minimum when I drop my anchor(depends on depth). You can then either back in or drive in and then set whatever you are going to do on shore and then situate the boat bow out. I typically back in and that allows me to set my anchor before I reach shore.

I use a Fortress anchor with a lot of chain. It is the best anchor I have ever used.

On some lakes like Lake Powell, if I am in a protected cove, I will bring the boat sideways into the beach if it is all sand knowing that I might have to modify that if the wind comes up and go bow out.

 

[ERock82]

Neither is good. You need a better anchor or pick a different spot.

What size boat do you have?
How much anchor line do you have and how much were you putting out?
What anchor type and weight do you have?
How much chain do you have?
What type of bottom are you anchoring in?

The fact that you were diving down to set it makes it sound like the anchor was pretty close to shore.

It's a 14ft boat, weights about a 1,000 lbs. I have a 10lb danforth style anchor on 50ft line with the chain. I let out all 50ft when trying to set offshore. Was about 7 or 8 ft where I tried to dive but a serious current and I couldn't hold breath long enough to set. It was a sand bottom. I can't imagine needing a bigger anchor than 10lbs for that small of a boat. I think the current had a lot to do with it.

 

[ERock82]

I guess I am going to illustrate my inexperience.... (or ignorance?).

First off, I am only boating on inland lakes, so tide is not an issue for me. Last year was our first full season, and we did have one camping weekend (4 days three nights) where I needed to anchor overnight at our campsite. It was in a sheltered area (no wake), but in Colorado, pop up storms are common, and can have pretty high winds.

I dont like beaching the boat, I have no interest in having the hull banging on rocks that I might not have seen.

My thoughts when anchoring for the night was to approach bow in to the shore, set a fluke anchor off the stern, making sure it was set well. With the boat fully floating (no part of the hull on the bottom), I used a mushroom anchor set against a large rock on the shore. My logic was that I wanted the outdrive in the deepest water possible (trimmed into the trailer position).

We did get one pretty good storm.. my boat stayed in place while the neighbors boat, and two jet skis got loose... which of course pleased me to no end as I was the one that had to retrieve them to keep them from colliding with my boat.

So the comment about "bow out" being proper caught my eye... why is this? Is it specific to conditions, or is there something I didnt think through sufficiently?

I don't know why exactly but there could be 50 boats out there and 49 of them would anchor that way. Now, if I beach my boat at a beach bar for a couple of hours, a lot of boats just go bow into the beach and place anchor into the sand. Maybe because it's just easier and the tide won't change while they are there for a couple hours. Not sure. If I'm going to just chill on an island with plenty of room around me, I'll just throw one anchor off bow in about waist deep water and keep an eye on boat while on the beach.

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's a 14ft boat, weights about a 1,000 lbs. I have a 10lb danforth style anchor on 50ft line with the chain. I let out all 50ft when trying to set offshore. Was about 7 or 8 ft where I tried to dive but a serious current and I couldn't hold breath long enough to set. It was a sand bottom. I can't imagine needing a bigger anchor than 10lbs for that small of a boat. I think the current had a lot to do with it.

I personally would install a keel guard and run it up on the sand with such a small boat. did it all the time with my 19', then again, where I beached it, the stern was still in 6' of water with half the boat on the beach.

Bruce mentioned lake Powell, there its not uncommon for 80mph winds to come out of nowhere. Even the big 85 foot yachts can struggle then.

 

[shrew]

I understand that the "proper way" to anchor is from bow out to sea and stern onto beach. I'm just trying to see if that way (2 from bow to shore) would've been better than bow to beach and stern to beach. That is all I wanted to know. It seemed like it would've been better to me but I didn't know if I was missing anything. I am attaching 2 diagrams. #1 is the way I'm asking about and #2 is what I did overnight. I would think that # 1 wouldn't be able to come up on the beach on it's side, just it's stern. Therefore all you have to push off the beach is the stern, not the whole side of the boat. I just don't know if #2 would've been safer for boat even though it gets beached easier.

A guy next to me had problems setting his anchor too bc of the winds. He finally got his though but I was exhausted after 7 or 8 attempts and gave up.

So, just want to know if #1 would've been the better choice over #2 for overnight.

Neither of these images provided will prevent you from ending up on the beach. They will prevent you from being pushed to sea. You can run 10 lines to 10 anchors on the beach, the outcome will be the same. Just think about it. Try pushing a rope. I'm in no way lecturing 'proper', I'm simply discussing physics. Once you start moving toward the beach, the lines will slacken and your boat will go beam too.

 

[Scott Danforth]

^ +1 what shrew said. you need to have 1-2 lines keeping you from coming into shore to prevent you from going onto the beach.

 

[thumpar]

Get an anchor buddy line. You can add an extra rope if you need. It will keep waves and wind from picking the anchor up. I anchor one off the bow and then tie off to a tree or something sold off the stern. It will sway a little but always stay in the same spot using it.