Sailing and Camping

When you go to sleep at an anchorage, one thing you will want to do is to wake up in the same place. In other words, make sure your anchoring equipment and techniques are safe and secure. You don't want to be taking an unplanned excursion around your chosen anchorage, especially if there are other boats in the vicinity.

You probably know that you should let out as much anchor chain as you can, so that the chain lies horizontal to the sea bottom, and that your anchor should be of sufficient heaviness to keep your boat from dragging during the night.

However, even with the right equipment and the right amount of chain, there are still some little tricks and techniques you can keep at the back of your mind.

One thing you could do is to set another anchor so that it sets in the line between your prow and your main anchor. This setup will allow the boat to swing with the wind and tide, but will stop any fear of dragging. By having both anchors in a line, it is easier to pull them both up when it is time to leave.

If you only have a single anchor out, and the boat is swinging a lot with the wind, there is a bridle technique you can use. Suppose the wind is from the port side, and blowing the yacht sideways around the fulcrum of your anchor. Since this puts unnecessary strain on your anchor, you should remedy the situation.Tie a rope to a cleat at the back of the boat, and tie the other end to your anchor cable forward of the bow roller. Then, as the wind tries to push the stern around, the line will tighten on the anchor rode and prevent any further sideways movement.

Then there's the old bag of sand trick, as Maxwell Smart would say. If you are worried about the sea bottom, in that it is not good for holding an anchor, or perhaps there are rocks where your anchor could snag when you try to pull it up, then the bag of sand is a good option. In this case, get an old sack with a hole in one corner. Attach a trip line to this corner just above the hole, and fill the sack with sand. Tie a strong rope around the neck of the sack, and attach a float to the end of the trip line. Then drop the sack over the side, or bow. When it's time to go, haul up the sack with the main rope, and at the same time jiggle the trip line so that the sand falls out of the hole and back onto the sea floor.

Finally, if the bottom is thick, oozy mud, as in an estuary, a good temporary anchor to use while fishing or having a meal on deck is to stick a pole into the mud and tie your boat up to the pole. You could use the spinnaker pole for this, if you can't find anything suitable on the shore. You can also use this method to keep the stern away from a riverbank, if you have tied up bow-on to the bank. Remember, this is only for a temporary stay, when people are up on deck and it's still daylight, not for overnight stays.