Anchoring

Anchoring generally

Jeremy Rogers Ltd now supplies any new Contessa with a 25lb CQR anchor with 10 metres galvanised 8mm chain and 30 metres nylon warp.

Cryptic has 30 metres of 8 mm chain and 17 metres of warp securing a 25 Ib CQR anchor.


CQR - nearest sounds to "secure" or Plough anchor. So named due to its resemblance to a traditional agricultural plough - the original CQR (Secure), a 1933 design patented in the UK by a mathematician - Geoffrey Ingram Taylor - they are generally good in all bottoms, but not exceptional in any. The CQR design has a hinged shank, allowing the anchor to turn with direction changes rather than breaking out.

In Cryptic's stern locker she has approx 10 lb Danforth type.


American Richard Danforth invented the Danforth pattern in the 1940s for use aboard landing craft. It uses a stock at the crown to which two large flat triangular flukes are attached. The stock is hinged so the flukes can orient toward the bottom. Tripping palms at the crown act to tip the flukes into the seabed. The design is a burying variety, and once well set can develop high resistance. Its light weight and compact flat design make it easy to retrieve and relatively easy to store but has difficulty penetrating kelp and weed-covered bottoms, as well as rocky and particularly hard sand or clay bottoms. If there is much current or the vessel is moving while dropping the anchor it may "kite" or "skate" over the bottom due to the large fluke area acting as a sail or wing. Once set, the anchor tends to break out and reset when the direction of force changes dramatically, such as with the changing tide, and on some occasions it might not reset but instead drag.

The basic anchoring consists of determining the location, dropping the anchor, laying out the scope, setting the hook, and assessing where the vessel ends up. The ship will seek a location which is sufficiently protected; has suitable holding ground, enough depth at low tide and enough room for the boat to swing.

The location to drop the anchor should be approached from down wind or down current, whichever is stronger. As the chosen spot is approached, the vessel should be stopped or even beginning to drift back. The anchor should be lowered quickly but under control until it is on the bottom. The vessel should continue to drift back, and the cable should be veered out under control so it will be relatively straight.

Once the desired scope is laid out, the vessel should be gently forced astern, usually using the auxiliary motor but possibly by backing a sail. A hand on the anchor line may telegraph a series of jerks and jolts, indicating the anchor is dragging, or a smooth tension indicative of digging in. As the anchor begins to dig in and resist backward force, the engine may be throttled up to get a thorough set. If the anchor continues to drag, or sets after having dragged too far, it should be retrieved and moved back to the desired position (or another location chosen.)

There are techniques of anchoring to limit the swing of a vessel.

- If the anchorage has limited room by using an anchor weight, kellet or sentinel. One lowers a concentrated, heavy weight down the anchor line – rope or chain – directly in front of the bow to the seabed, behaves like a heavy chain rode and lowers the angle of pull on the anchor. If the weight is suspended off the seabed it acts as a spring or shock absorber to dampen the sudden actions that are normally transmitted to the anchor and can cause it to dislodge and drag. In light conditions, a kellet will reduce the swing of the vessel considerably. In heavier conditions these effects disappear as the rode becomes straightened and the weight ineffective. Known as a "anchor chum weight" or "angel" in the UK.
- Using two anchors set approximately 45° apart, or wider angles up to 90°, from the bow is a strong mooring for facing into strong winds. To set anchors in this way, first one anchor is set in the normal fashion. Then, taking in on the first cable as the boat is motored into the wind and letting slack while drifting back, a second anchor is set approximately a half-scope away from the first on a line perpendicular to the wind. After this second anchor is set, the scope on the first is taken up until the vessel is lying between the two anchors and the load is taken equally on each cable. This moor also to some degree limits the range of a vessel's swing to a narrower oval. Care should be taken that other vessels will not swing down on the boat due to the limited swing range.

Anchoring in West Scotland especially

People worry about anchoring (and so they should), particularly if they are from the marina-strewn south of England, and even sometimes from the Clyde. Do not think you can get away with marinas and moorings in this area - you definitely cannot, and indeed should not if you want to make the best of it.

Don't worry too much if you seem to be close to the shore, or indeed a rock that emerges at low water. You do have to be closer in here than on the south and east coasts of England. Just make sure you have not got too much chain out so that if the wind or tide change you don't go aground.

Need a good heavy anchor appropriate to your boat size along with 30 metres of chain. I have always used a CQR with no problem, others swear by the ROCNA.

Lay out the chain to 3-4 times the depth at high water, and then motor back on the anchor hard to ensure it is well dug in - this is particularly important in places like Canna harbour which is notorious for kelp.

Never use a tripping line for fear it will trip itself, or wrap itself round the prop, and so far so good. Put out a second anchor if it is going to blow hard. It is also easier to lay out even more chain if there is room to swing.