We spend 90% of our cruising life time at anchor so our anchoring setup needs to be good!

As live aboard cruisers we rely on our anchoring system to keep our floating home in place through day and night, good weather and bad. The exact setup will vary slightly depending on the type of boat you have, but reflecting on our experiences while living aboard our monohull then catamaran, these are Fabio’s and my thoughts and practices for anchoring in the Mediterranean Sea and along Atlantic coastlines.

Anchors

Anchors date back to the ancient Greeks but have evolved immensely over the last 50 years, and it probably pays to get the latest innovation. Cruisers generally go for the biggest anchor they consider feasible and even weight obsessive Fabio sleeps better knowing that we carry a 40kg Vulcan on our Schionning catamaran (49 feet weighing 9 tons).

We also carry a storm anchor and a stern anchor. As both need to be lifted manually and deployed from the dinghy, they are made of aluminum. When employing a stern anchor, the boat could be pulling on both anchors with a cross-wind multiplying the forces, so it shouldn’t be too small. Finally you could carry a secondary main anchor if you cruise in areas where substituting a lost main anchor would prove difficult.

Anchor chain

Choosing the right anchor chain depends a lot on your budget, cruising grounds and the boat you have.

Initially we used an oversized link at the end of our chain because we carry high strength chain to save weight, opting for 8mm chain instead of 12mm (on the 49 feet 15 tons mono and on the 49 feet 9 tons multi). Unfortunately we discovered that wasn’t difficult (just expensive) for us to buy a new main anchor on the south coast of the United Kingdom when the specially welded oversized link broke. Needless to say that a high strength shackle was substituted for the failed oversized end-link.

The length of the rode is decided by the type of boat and your envisaged cruising grounds. On our 15 ton monohull we carried 100m of chain, while our performance catamaran has just 60m which is spliced to 60m of nylon rope. We upgraded to stainless steel so that the chain (hopefully!) won’t have to be replaced after five years of cruising. While it costs a bomb, it has the added advantaged that mud is much less likely to stick to it.

Add-ons

As well as the anchor and chain there are other add-ons that we use to improve the functionality of our anchoring system.

We like to use a swivel since it prevents the chain from twisting, but (in cruising life there always seems to be a ‘but’) occasionally the swivel twists when the anchor hits the sea bed preventing it from digging in. A chain stopper (sufficiently beefed and attached to accept the loads) serves to take the load off the windlass. For a smooth ride you’ll need a strop (monohull) or bridle (multihull) with a chain hook. We use 12-strain nylon for the bridle as we found that the 3-strain twisted.

When talking about cruising gear there is always the issue of which spares to carry. Everything electrical is prone to failure at some point so it’s a good idea to mark the chain for when the chain counter fails and get a back up remote or foot switches so you have two ways of operating the windlass. We also carry a second solenoid, but only because Fabio claimed that the one delivered with the windlass was defect before realizing that the problem was his electrical installation.

Anchor chain scope

The general rule is that the amount of chain is a multiple of the distance (at high tide) between the bow roller and the bottom of the sea; 1:3 in deep anchorages to 1:5 in shallow anchorages, since the catenary slope flattens the pull effectively increasing scope. But, as with all general rules this is only the starting point!

How well the anchor holds depend on its type, size and consistency of the bottom. The modern bow anchors hold exceptionally well in hard sand and require little scope. A light aluminum anchor holds much better in soft mud bottoms but needs a flatter angle so more scope. A heavy old fashioned fisherman anchor in the only one that holds on rocks.

Wind force and consequently the windage of your boat isn’t included in the general rule, but do need to be taken into account as Steve and Linda Dashew explain in their cruising series, which contains a wealth of information on anchoring. Wind gusts not only increase the static wind loading (with goes up with the square of the wind velocity) but also a sheering force (double of static) and the developing waves will create shock loads. This is why when wind is anticipated the largest viable scope (1:8) should be your choice.

Anchoring in places with tidal current creates its own problems. The alternating water level changes the scope and you will have to be even more careful with neighbors. Our cat turns late so at low water its noses easily become too cosy with the neighboring bow of a heavy displacement mono.

Finding your spot

No doubt you will have chosen your next anchorage based on the forecasted wind and swell, and information from sources like a pilot book and the NoForeignLand app. Before coming in it’s wise to check the satellite images as well as the chart to learn the depth and the type of sea bottom.

Most modern anchors need sand for the flukes to dig in; they will skid on sea grass as well as rocks and coral if there’s only a thin layer of sand above. Not only is it unwise to anchor on sea grass in terms of holding, but in the Med poseidonia sea grass is protected and there are purpose made apps indicating its presence. You should also check the local regulations on minimum distances to shore, a wide spread seasonal rule in the Med. Like with the sea grass it pays to follow the rules, as the bigger distance from shore the less attractive you are to (sand) flies.

Picking the right spot takes time. We start by motoring around the anchorage to get a feel for the depth and sea bottom. We visualize our turning circle, taking into account the distance the anchor might drag before setting. Fabio is on the front deck seeking sand patches and with the help of a golf ball meter checks the distances to shore and to other boats. We also check the surroundings for possible katabatic (‘fall’) winds and the venturi (‘tunnel’) effect. A few years ago all charter boats (notorious for having light anchor gear) dragged out to sea in an anchorage off the south west coast of Mallorca when sunset brought 45 knots of wind rushing down and funnelling between the steep cliffs.

Dropping the hook

If the depth is more than what you can dive you may want to attach a buoyed retrieval line before dropping the hook. Just remember that deploying an anchor buoy in a busy anchorage is frowned upon since you effectually prevent others from swinging above it.

A system is only as good as the people who operate it and that’s where the ‘marriage savers’ enter the scene; headsets to communicate better. As I head into the wind for a full stop, Fabio drops the anchor by disengaging the gypsy. Like that the chain runs freely and the anchor drops fast. As the anchor drops I mark a MOB position on the electronic chart. Once the anchor hits the bottom I try to reverse slowly in a straight line, so as to prevent the chain heaping on the anchor possibly fouling it or twisting the swivel.

When the full scope is reached it is time to set the anchor by reversing, although if the bottom is mud your modern anchor needs some time to sink in before you pull. While I am on the engine controls and check the distance to the MOB position, Fabio has his hand on the anchor rode. If he feels vibration and an occasional bump, the anchor is sliding. If he feels a continuous vibration the anchor holds, but this might be behind a rock or coral if that is what the bottom is made of. So once Fabio feels it hold I put up the revs slowly and keep it close to max for ten seconds, checking both the distance to the MOB and visually with a bearing on land. Finally it’s time for the visual inspection and the deserved swim!

Anchor alarm

Before de-stressing completely, set up some kind of anchor watch. Some chart plotters can do this (but we switch it off to save energy) and there are many different telephone apps available. It is also nice to have an alarm when you leave the boat, which is one of the reasons we have Sailserver which gives access to NMEA data when ashore.

When you leave your boat don’t forget the anchor light. It has happened too often that we left the boat in the afternoon, got ‘stuck’ chatting with fellow cruisers as the night set in. An anchor light serves not only to find your own boat but also to avoid new arrivals coming a bit too close. With today’s LED anchor lights we just always leave it on!

Raising the hook

Weighing the anchor should prove much less time consuming than dropping it. Fabio is on the foredeck, pointing in the direction of the chain and signalling every 10m mark so I know where to steer the boat and when we are free. Like this the windlass is not used to pull the boat but only lift the anchor gear.

On rare occasion you can get into trouble lifting anchor. If in the Med anchored stern to the city wall, another boat’s anchor chain has likely crossed yours. For this we carry a ‘chain lift hook’ which luckily has never been put into use. After strong winds your anchor might have buried itself so well that you will need to drive over it, pulling it up with the boat’s engine (and the chain stop). But be sure that it is indeed only deeply buried and not caught behind something where pulling isn’t an option. In Las Palmas, Gran Canaria our neighbor setting out for the Atlantic crossing was forced to stop and repair his bow roller instead as his anchor was (and remained!) stuck under some cables.

Final thoughts

Anchoring is a stressful time and mistakes can happen. When cruising with young kids we made sure they knew the drill; stay below until the engine is off, however long it takes. The times that we found ourselves dangerously close to the rocks because the anchor didn’t hold were directly related to impatience; once because we were both unwell when we anchored and the other one because we had friends on board and it was dinner time. In both cases we found ourselves trying to re-anchor in the middle of the night.

Finally remember that as far as anchoring is concerned there is no safety in numbers, quite the opposite. We will all have spent nights on deck in overcrowded anchorages with fenders out and neighboring boats dragging into us.

What does your anchoring setup look like? Tell us down in the comments!