Sailing (also Known as Hunting or Tacking) at Anchor
The plan was to motor down the Patapsco River from Anchorage Marina just east of Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, and meet my friends to do some Rockfish fishing on the Bay. I was a day early, and decided to anchor on the Magothy River just north of Sandy Point State Park where I was to meet my fishing buddies.
During the day on the Magothy, the NOAA weather forecast turned real ugly -- winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts to 35. Reluctantly, we decided to postpone the fishing for a few days, and I hunkered down for an extended stay at anchor.
I might add that "Blue Heron" is well equipped for chillin' out at anchor. There is a week's worth of food and water, and plenty of electrical power from the solar system.
The first thing I noticed was the boat's tendency to tack back and forth in the wind while on the anchor. This was a problem because not only is it annoying to be constantly moving, but it results in the anchor dragging. I had experienced this before and had prepared a few tricks to combat it.
First, I rigged a 15-foot, 1/2-inch dock line with a large carabiner hook on one end. I hooked the carabiner to the handrail, and threaded the other end through the tow eye at the bow down at the waterline. Once the anchor was set, I unhooked the carabiner from the rail and hooked it to the anchor line, and then pulled the anchor line down to the tow eye. This helped eliminate much of the wandering at anchor, maybe 60% of it.
My next trick was to double up 15-feet of heavy anchor chain, attaching both ends to a shackle and to a length of anchor line. This I lowered off the stern until the chain rested on the bottom. Then I pulled in a foot or two of line and made it fast to a stern cleat. The combination did the trick! The boat only tacked through a small arc, maybe 5 or 10-degrees.
So now I am peacefully anchored on Gray's Creek off the Magothy River. A front should pass through tonight, and tomorrow NOAA is calling for more high winds. Guess I'll be chillin' for a few more days :)
During the day on the Magothy, the NOAA weather forecast turned real ugly -- winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts to 35. Reluctantly, we decided to postpone the fishing for a few days, and I hunkered down for an extended stay at anchor.
I might add that "Blue Heron" is well equipped for chillin' out at anchor. There is a week's worth of food and water, and plenty of electrical power from the solar system.
The first thing I noticed was the boat's tendency to tack back and forth in the wind while on the anchor. This was a problem because not only is it annoying to be constantly moving, but it results in the anchor dragging. I had experienced this before and had prepared a few tricks to combat it.
First, I rigged a 15-foot, 1/2-inch dock line with a large carabiner hook on one end. I hooked the carabiner to the handrail, and threaded the other end through the tow eye at the bow down at the waterline. Once the anchor was set, I unhooked the carabiner from the rail and hooked it to the anchor line, and then pulled the anchor line down to the tow eye. This helped eliminate much of the wandering at anchor, maybe 60% of it.
My next trick was to double up 15-feet of heavy anchor chain, attaching both ends to a shackle and to a length of anchor line. This I lowered off the stern until the chain rested on the bottom. Then I pulled in a foot or two of line and made it fast to a stern cleat. The combination did the trick! The boat only tacked through a small arc, maybe 5 or 10-degrees.
So now I am peacefully anchored on Gray's Creek off the Magothy River. A front should pass through tonight, and tomorrow NOAA is calling for more high winds. Guess I'll be chillin' for a few more days :)
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| Grays Creek off of the Magothy River, Maryland. |
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