Book on Anchors

I would never have guessed that there could be a whole book on anchoring! Maybe a chapter...

I wouldn't imagine a great tome on the subject, but I think you could easily fill a book. There are a great many ways that you can anchor poorly, and as such there are a great many things that can be written about how not to anchor poorly.

Anchors and anchoring are both the most popular topic of conversation and the most argued about topics among trawler owners. If you want to make a thread on their forums explode, just talk anchor.

Was this thread started in response to the two anchoring threads? The cat that anchored in that small bay and wound up getting bashed on the rocks, and the speed boat that almost got sawed in half in SF Bay because it landed on a seawall?

Just curious

Same on the sailboat forums.
Also one of my favorite subjects after having been a liveaboard in the hurricane belt with no boat insurance. Anchors were my friend..
(Sold the boat and moved ashore a few months before hurricane Hugo hit St. Croix. Timing is everything and luck is more powerful than big anchors)

I try. Seriously though, I'm curious how anchoring is such a huge topic. I've sailed for years, but never heard of anchoring being a "hot topic" in any regard. Can you give us some highlights of what the book covers?

You sailed for years but anchoring has never been a big deal..?
I guess you sailed from marina to marina never gotten your anchor wet except for the occasional lunch in settled weather?

Any and all hard-core cruisers and or liveaboard boaters swears by a big anchor, a heavy chain and lots of luck.
To see how sh!t will hit the fan if you think anchoring is not a huge topic, check out this thread: http://www.yachtforums.com/threads/legacy-on-the-hard.3975/

Pretty much. Day cruiser / regatta-racer, but not an overnight kind of dude. I always figured the bigger the boat the bigger the anchor, and that it was probably a judgment call. Just being honest here, I guess I'm out of my depth when it comes to anchoring (no pun intended).

I figured if it ever became an issue the guy at the boat supply store in Alameda would have a chart or book to recommend whatever line was needed for whatever job.

I always say that anchoring is the easiest thing to do on a boat yet it is also the easiest to screw up judging by the number of time I have been dragged onto but some idiot who seem to think he will get billed by the local taxman based on how many feet of rode he is using.

Like so many things, I guess you can write a whole book on the subject but teh most part it s not rocket science and what you need to know can be summarized in a short article.

Tied for first place with "Varnish vs Cetol" and "Guns on boats".

True dat. Many responses to other topics start with "Well, you have the wrong anchor..."

I agree. I don't understand why soooo many people put out such a short amount of anchor rode/chain. I always put out lots of chain and around 10x the depth if I'm not worried about swinging into anything/anyone.

If you put it out you have to wash it when you bring it back, and you've usually got to coordinate two or more people to bring it in link by link. Complacency and difficulty add up to laziness and laziness over time adds up to mishap.

Opcn:

Did you live in Alaska before?

Not sure what you mean by coordinating, two people, link by link and laziness

Ain't rocket science.

If naomi is with me, she stand over the pulpit with the hose rinsing the chain while i control the windlass from the helm.

If I m alone and th wind isn't blowing hard, I am at the bow with hose and control the windlass with the foot switch.

No big deal and no excuse to be dragging...