March 10, 2005--Anchoring Stories
by Al & Beth Liggett

We've just anchored. Al walks back to the cockpit and says, "We'll be OK if the wind doesn't blow."

	This is Al scrubbing the anchor chain. No, we are not anchored in a swimming pool...this is a sandy patch in Chagos.

How often have I heard that? It got so that I could tell when he opened his mouth exactly what he was going to say. A kind of "catch phrase" around our house meaning, "I don't really like the set of the anchor." And how well do you think we slept that night?

I heard the "catch phrase" far more often when anchoring our first boat, BACCHUS, than nowadays. That was because we had a manual windlass on that boat, a Simpson Laurance 555. It was strong and reliable, but not user-friendly when it came to re-anchoring. Or re-anchoring over and over and over at some of those impossible places.

When SUNFLOWER was built in 1976 we installed the same anchor windlass, the SL555. We were just unsure of the reliability of electric windlasses at that time. Seems everybody we knew who had electric ones had troubles with them. But after 8 years of listening to the "catch phrase", a few bouts with bad backs, and some extra bucks in our pocket following a work interlude, we were ready to go electric.

We changed to a Nilsson vertical anchor windlass in 1984 (now sold by Maxwell). Don't like the way the anchor set? Step on the button and try again. Don't like this position? Step on the button and move. Water deeper than you'd like? Well, not much you can do about that, but at least step on the button and the windlass does all the work, not your back. It was one of the best "upgrade" investments we have made on SUNFLOWER.

All the rest of our basic anchoring gear has remained the same for the past 28 years. Our primary anchor is a 65-pound CQR. We usually paint it white, making it easier to see down in the depths against the sea bottom. A secondary, 75-pound CQR lies on the foredeck. We have a 15-pound Danforth with 12 feet of 5/16 chain that we use for kedging and stern anchoring. It is easy to drop and retrieve from the dinghy. It lives in our aft lazarette. We also have a really BIG, Navy Danforth type anchor. It comes apart, and the shank and fluke sections are stored up forward under a sail bin. Sort of a reserve, sort of a storm anchor. We have never used it.

The 65 lb CQR is attached to 300 feet of 3/8 inch high test chain. I couldn't begin to calculate the hundreds--thousands?--of times we have used this chain for anchoring, yet other than the galvanizing, it shows no signs of wear. Originally, each end had an oversized link forged on to it. This was to accommodate a shackle of the size that matched the strength of the chain. We had to cut one end of the chain off however, when we sent a sample length to Nilsson to get the proper chain gypsy match for the windlass. We also have a 100-foot length of 3/8 chain stored in the forward bilge that has seldom seen the light of day. We have all manner and lengths of anchor rode lines, but prefer to stick to our chain/CQR combination.

When anchoring, Al attaches a 1/2-inch nylon, 3-strand piece of line to the chain with a rolling half hitch. He then lets both chain and line out until the line is just above the water, snubs up the line on the cleat, then lets out a bit more chain to form a slack loop. The line is a shock absorber, stretching to take up any pitching or jerking motion instead of the chain. The snubber also acts as an insulator against the noises made by the chain grating around on rocks and coral when you have that kind of bottom.

Anchors aweigh. Does anybody really say that? I mean, besides in the Navy or Coast Guard? Maybe it's even too old-fashioned for the modern armed forces to use either. It is surprising the sort of things that the chain and the anchor will bring up when you "anchor aweigh". All manner of rubbish and junk--plastic bags, bicycle wheels, cans; once the head of a doll came up! Lots of fishing line and sinkers snag on the anchor too. Once we cranked and cranked (pre-electric) and a 5/8 nylon line of good quality came up with the anchor. Al decided to keep it instead of cutting it away; maybe he could get a usable length. Coil after coil of line came aboard and finally--a 40-pound Danforth anchor as well!

The chain gives homes to many sea creatures--crabs, starfish, sponge, mussels, shrimp, even had a tiny sea horse once. Lots of barnacles and corals grow on the chain--especially if you are hooked to the bottom in Langkawi for very long. How long? Well 2 weeks will give you a lot of exercise with the scrub brush. Then you know you'd better tend to the dinghy bottom too!

On our "To Do" list is to install an anchor wash-down system. Mind you, it has been on the list for the last, oh…. 4 years? I know the pump has been aboard for at least 7 years! Maybe we'll get to it in Chagos...

Anchor stories that stick in the mind...

Dropping the hook just at dusk off an island in Papua New Guinea. Reverse. The boat just sails backward; the anchor isn't holding, and the wind is blowing us out of the bay. Crank, crank (pre-electric) until the anchor is just off the bottom and we try again. Back we pull and don't hook in. Meanwhile, a buddy boat has dropped their hook and is sitting solid. Al cranks in some chain; the anchor is free of the bottom; third time for the same drill; third time we just slide backwards. And a fourth time; and a fifth. By now he's yelling; I'm crying; it's been a long day. Finally, Al cranks the anchor up all the way to the surface. The anchor is wearing most of a rusty 55 gallon oil drum. Drums do not make good anchors!

October, 1989. Little harbor on Knidos Island, Greece. Notoriously bad bottom--like smooth cement. Drop the anchor; it doesn't hold. Try a few times, then Al just puts out 120 ft of chain--we're in 15 feet of water. Figures the weight of all that should hold us. We'll be all right if the wind doesn't blow--right? So of course, the wind DOES blow. Lashing wind and rain so we take time to get into foul weather gear. Engine on, step on the button--but by now we have been blown sideways onto the bows of a charter boat tied to the pier ashore. His chain under our stern between skeg and prop. Engine STOPS! Three fat naked German men on their bow trying to push us away, one of whom says, "Madam, this is not good." They release their chain, our motor starts, Al steps on the button and we are free of them. And pinned sideways on the next boat in line and the same thing happens--their anchor line under our stern and the engine stops! This is a Turkish gullette--with a HUGE bowsprit that has gone right between the mast and the topping lift and is sawing at our boom! An alert crew jumps down onto our sail cover and tries to push the bowsprit back. Now this, Madam, is not only "not good," it is perilous! They release their anchor line, we restart the engine, and eventually free ourselves. The anchor will not reset. We get as close as we can to the harbor wall for protection, drop anchor and a whole bunch of chain in a heap, keep anchor watch until we have enough light, then claw our way out into the storm. We are exhausted by the time we manage to make a few miles to weather and into an anchorage in the lee of the island.
The anchor is not happy; neither are we. Repeat the "catch phrase" here, and have a bowl of soup.

And you know what? An hour later the wind dies for 15 minutes, then comes roaring back at storm strength from the opposite direction and we are once again on a lee shore! But, ah-hah, Madam, this is a useful wind, and we sail away to a more inviting island.

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