Spending the night on the anchor

[Frozen]

I got my first boat with a cuddy and was looking for tips, advice on spending a night at anchor. I'm on Long Island, so I would be spending it in a nice cove or little harbor. Tips on what to bring besides the obvious? Things like that. Thanks guys

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

one sleeping bag. one woman, no stove.

 

[wbc1957]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

one sleeping bag. one woman, no stove.

With some Barry White tunes playing...

 

[FunInDuhSun]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

----"Stating the Obvious"----
-Anchor and Anchor line!
And set that puppy UNDER POWER.
First time I ever overnighted we had a t-storm come thru and the anchor dragged. Not fun at 2AM. When you turn in for the night leave the keys in the ignition.....




Bimini top (for rain AND morning dew protection)
Couple spare beach towels
Extra blanket
battery jumper box (just in case)
Bottle of wine
And shut off the cell phone

 

[veritas honus]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Obvious is subjective... Do you have a back-up (extra) anchor? If not, that would be my first suggestion.

FunInDuhSun has a good list going. I would add to it, extra clothing...heavy on the socks, more than one extra blanket, and or sleeping bag, lots of good snacks, and don't forget the cork screw for that bottle of wine.

 

[Frozen]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Thanks for the replies, but only 1 woman? 2's double the trouble!

Do you guys always do a stern anchor overnight? Or just the bow and let the current/tide move you around? I have 3 anchors on the boat. Would you recommend also setting my backup anchor off the bow but with slack incase the main anchor starts to slip? My GPS has a anchor drift feature, leave that on?

No Bimini top but its a walk around with a camper canvas so I think that will do. Spare towels thats a good idea! Sleeping bags and blankets, got those! Have a spare starting battery and a jumper box! Just one bottle of wine, you sure? lol. And good idea with turning off the cellphones!

Thanks guys and keep the tips coming!

 

[floats around]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Bottled water, functional anchor lighting. Appropriate communication device(s) for the area, charts, standard safety equipment, deck of cards, laptop with DVD incase of rain, paper towels, those wet clean up towels, information on a buoy there you can use instead of the anchor. Toilet paper!?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Use only one properly set anchor, from the bow, for overnight. If you think you need two, your anchor is too small, you don't have enough chain in the rode, you have wrong anchor type, or you are doing it wrong. Never use second anchor from the stern overnight unless you are in a raft or the anchorage is so tight that you have to.

Get a GPS with an anchor alarm. It'll wake you if you drag the anchor.

My Magma kettle grill becomes a single burner stove and works great for brewing coffee in a stove-top peroclator. I highly recommend it and the grill is pretty handy for grilling food too... Practice brewing at home first to get a good handle on the amount of ground coffeee you'll need and the brewing time.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Thanks for the replies, but only 1 woman? 2's double the trouble!

Do you guys always do a stern anchor overnight?

Really good idea, followed by a really bad idea!

With a stern anchor, imagine what happens if a storm blows up from the opposite side, and your stern is now trying to be the bow... Yeah, bad things happen quickly.

 

['78 Crusader]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Two anchors is a must with PLENTY of scope. Set them both off your bow about 45degrees from each other.

Also, don't forget that while you're at anchor, you'll need to leave your anchor light on all night while at anchor.

Another bit of advise is to set your GPS alarm to go off if the boat moves a preset number of feet...that way you'll wake up if all of a sudden your adrift.

And....watch the weather. Take a look at the weather before you decide to retire for the evening...and if you wake up in the middle of the night, gander at the weather one more time....just to be safe.

Most importantly.....HAVE FUN!! (Oh, and try to "lay some pipe" while you're with your 'ole lady, she'll appreciate that).

 

[freelancer]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Wow lots of good stuff...GPS alarm is good for anchor drift and if you have radar, set the alarm for a 100 foot radius for safety. Don't want anyone creeping up on you in the middle of the night

Also, got to have a cup of coffee in the morning, instant maybe. Have fun.

I got my first boat with a cuddy and was looking for tips, advice on spending a night at anchor. I'm on Long Island, so I would be spending it in a nice cove or little harbor. Tips on what to bring besides the obvious? Things like that. Thanks guys

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

And make sure you have enough battery power to handle the GPS, anchor light, and Radar spinning all night as well as turn the engine over the following morning.

 

[CaptNCamille]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

And make sure you have enough battery power to handle the GPS, anchor light, and Radar spinning all night as well as turn the engine over the following morning.

If you have two batteries use one to start the boat only, then switch to #2 as a house battery to power your anchor light and GPS anchor alarm. One well placed and set anchor only. No stern anchor.

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

My GPS does not have an alarm. So I just tie the stern anchor rode to my ankle.

 

[CaptNCamille]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

BTW let me recommend Hemlock (east side) or Coast Guard Cove. (As long as the cops aren't dredging for bodies !)

 

[Frozen]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

My GPS does not have an alarm. So I just tie the stern anchor rode to my ankle.

Thats awesome!

Thanks for all the tips.

I see 2 different opinions on the 2vs1 bow anchor. What's everyone else thoughts? Also to note, my main anchor is a plow and my spare bow anchor is a danford, does that matter? And def no stern anchor, got it! What range do you guys set for the GPS Anchor alarm? How many feet? And no radar sadly. I have 3 batteries on the boat, 2 house and 1 start, planning to add another starting battery.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[dpoelstra]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

I have never anchored with two bow anchors...if the tide turns, they could get twisted and foul. Most of my anchoring experience is in the San Francisco bay and the surrounding delta. Heavy currents, winds and tides swings.

One properly sized and type of anchor properly set, with plenty of chain and scope, will be good. The more chain vs. rope the better, and the more chain the less scope needed. Make sure you give yourself enough room so it will re-set when the tide and/or wind changes and your boat is not up against a rock or on the beach.

 

[rincon madness]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

all of the above, but make sure your automatic bilge works......... and yes, run your bow light/white lights.

 

[soggy_feet]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Thats a Negative on the bow lights (assuming you mean nav lights), unless under way. Anchor light while anchored, Nav lights while navigating.

Bringing a girl out... I usually make sure I have extra clean towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner..., tons of toilet paper, food like fresh fruit. If it didnt have parents I dont really bother eating it myself, but strawberries usually go over well with the girls. And peanut butter for some reason...
Only concern I've had from the fairer sex is the fear that we were drifting, or would get lost, so, to avoid that paranoia, make sure everything is locked down for the night, set that anchor solid, and make it look like you're a pro.

 

[shrew]

Re: Spending the night on the anchor

Thats awesome!

Thanks for all the tips.

I see 2 different opinions on the 2vs1 bow anchor. What's everyone else thoughts? Also to note, my main anchor is a plow and my spare bow anchor is a danford, does that matter? And def no stern anchor, got it! What range do you guys set for the GPS Anchor alarm? How many feet? And no radar sadly. I have 3 batteries on the boat, 2 house and 1 start, planning to add another starting battery.

Thanks for the tips!

Two anchors on the front is known as a 'Bahama Mooring'. Here is a better rule of thumb.

1) Do what everyone around you is doing. If you drop two anchors, whether it be 1 bow/1 stern, or 2 bow, right in the middle of boats all anchored with a single bow, you are going to screw up the works. You will have half of the wing radius as everyone around you with a Bahama moor setup and no swing radius with a bow/stern combination. When the wind or tide shifts, everyone will swing around except you you'll find you're in the way of other boats and fairly unpopular. I'ed never seen anyone Bahama Moor anywhere in the greater Long Island and Block Island Sound area.

Folks who use one bow and one stern, do so closer to the beach/shore and anchor with their stern to the shore. If you see folks along the shore with both bow and stern, then feel free to find a spot near them and do the same.

2) Try to anchor aorund boats of similar size and type. Particularly type. Sailboats swing differently than an express cruiser. sailboats and larger trawlers use all chain rode and sometimes lots of it.

A single anchor properly sized with the correct amount of chain and length of rode that has been properly powerset will typically do fine and will ride better with the bow to teh wind and waves. In general it makes for a quieter calmer nights sleep. With a bow ans stern combo, the boat sits where you anchored regardless of the direction of wind and tide. This leads to the potential for more rolling and wave slapping on chine while you're trying to sleep. Plus a beam to wind will have a lot more 'windage' on the broad side of the boat as opposed to the bow.

3) Make sure you're using relatively the same scops as everyone around you. When you're pulling in and aren't sure, don't hesitate to ask.