Advice Needed - Anchoring overnight

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Rick D

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Hello All.

Friday is supposed to be a full moon and nice weather. I want to spend the night anchored on the boat out in LI Sound with the family. Haven't done this before. I intend to anchor just off the Hammonasett beach area (outside the swim area of course).

I have a windlass with a danforth style anchor and I anticipate the area bottom to be sandy with a depth of about 25'. Aside from mooring lights being kept on and anchoring far enough from any object inside the radius of my anchor scope, what advice/precautions can people provide?

The area is not within or near a channel.

Thanks,

--Rick
 
First check the weather forecast and make sure the anchorage you pick will be sheltered from the wind... I ve bitten caught a few time with unforecasted wind shifts in LIS which resulted in uncomfortable nights :)

Scope scope scope scope... 25' depth plus tide plus bow means you should need around 175'' of line.

I like having a portable GPS (or smartphone) with anchor alarm next to my bed...

If you can leave an extra light on the cockpit to be every more visible or in case your an anchor light fails
 
Some of the folks from the area will be able to offer more location specific advice however just make sure you do your homework regarding weather and the more scope the better...
 
In 25' you will need a lot of scope, 175' or so.

I always try to find a place in the lee of something for the forecast wind direction in order to reduce wave slapping against the bow. Some people find it nice other find it noisy if they sleep is the bow berth.

Dont forget tide changes will swing the boat as well as wind changes. The danforth should be OK in sand but expect to wake up a few times to be certain all is OK. You might want to do an anchor check after tide change.
Must of all if the weather is settled have a good time.
 
I would consider in near Duck Island Roads, it is more protected.

Plenty of scope is needed, make sure your anchor is in tight.
 
The big 'what if' is the weather. If you are not protected from every direction, at least the directions most likely to get wind from, you may find that you may need to make a move in the middle of the night. Do you have an escape plan. Otherwise enjoy the weekend. We used to do someting like 40 overnights a year. One of the pleasures is watching all the dayboaters headed home before the sun goes down & you are just putting on the grill.
 
I learned this one from Pascal, surprised he didn't mention it.... Leave your chart plotter on and zoomed in to about 1/16th of a NM. Turn tracks on. If I arrive somewhere I do this right before I anchor. Then I have the chance to watch it for several hours before I go to bed. You can see where you dropped, where you fell back, and where you settled. You'll know pretty quickly if you're hooked up since you'll draw a nice little cresent, or even a full circle in a 180deg wind shift. It's great for piece of mind. And when I wake up in the middle of the night it's an easy thing to check when half asleep. I also set my anchor alarm. I do the exact same thing with a handheld garmin I keep by my bed too.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Prospective

I learned this one from Pascal, surprised he didn't mention it.... Leave your chart plotter on and zoomed in to about 1/16th of a NM. Turn tracks on. If I arrive somewhere I do this right before I anchor. Then I have the chance to watch it for several hours before I go to bed. You can see where you dropped, where you fell back, and where you settled. You'll know pretty quickly if you're hooked up since you'll draw a nice little cresent, or even a full circle in a 180deg wind shift. It's great for piece of mind. And when I wake up in the middle of the night it's an easy thing to check when half asleep. I also set my anchor alarm. I do the exact same thing with a handheld garmin I keep by my bed too.

Click to expand...

We do the same and also set the anchor alarm and GPS accuracy alarms. I have a navigation station inside the salon for this exact reason. Also we keep our camera system and monitor on as well. If you have an LED USCG approved fixture great, if not I would recommend getting one. If you don't feel you have the reserve amp hours in your battery bank to leave a networked plotter on consider using a small battery powered handheld GPS unit.
It's great overnighting where we boat the water on averaghe is 5' or less not the best protection but there is plenty of room to drag the anchor if the weather kicks up and wake up enough to reset the anchor or move the boat. The 1st time we anchored out my wife wouldn't or I should say couldn't sleep. Me I sleep like a baby when anchored out.
I also suggest anchoring away from areas of high traffic from fishing boats.
Have fun but be safe.
Bill
 
Yes, weather... absolutely will be the key factor and it's much too early to tell one way or the other. Will definitely be a "It's time to head out.. let's check the conditions..." scenario.

I like the idea of a 2nd anchor light... even if it's a flash light... I want to be seen. I will not have my gps on once I power down... but will be in visible sight of the beach at all times and yes, I expect to wake up every hour to check. Once I power down, the only thing I expect to have are the anchor lights.

Will probably bring another battery (fully charged) and jumpers as a backup if for some reason I drain too much from my two batteries.

My chain rode is 10' I believe.

Hogan, thanks for the tip on Duck Island Road... will look into it.

--Rick
 
What Hogan said. Behind the breakwater at Duck Island is better protected for a quiet night and may be a bit farther from city lights.
 
With only 10' of chain you may want to get a mushroom anchor and as your letting the anchor out attach it to the last shackle of the chain before the nylon. This added weight will make it act like you have more chain and keep the angle of the rode lower. However be sure that it is able to be quickly removed in case you have to pull up the anchor in a hurry...

max
 
Hey Rick

Enjoy the Blue moon that night, (2nd full moon in Auguest)

Next Blue moon is Aug 21, 2013
 
Duck Island it is... just spoke with a woman over at Pilots Point and she spent last weekend anchored between the break waters of duck island.
So, my concern is now over anhoring etiquette and common sense... I need to leave enough distance between me and anyone/anything around me to accomodate drift and swing...as i do not have a second anchor and can't assume those around me do as well.

So, I pull in set my anchor with the proper 7 to 1 ratio making sure I note my radius and someone pulls up and drops anchor inside that area. I guess I just have to to wait and see and deal with it at the time. Politely addressing my concerns should go a long way but we've come across a few (a truly small number) boaters in our short time on the water who seem to boat with a grudge or something.

--Rick
 
We have found that sometimes with just enough wind we don't swing with the tide. The bow generally wants to point itself into the wind. Having the big enclosed hardtop is like having a big sail but we anchor in what I would describe as pig's mud so the anchor sets like it's in concrete. We also have 60 feet if heavy BBB chain and an oversized Danforth anchor. Once it's set in this pig mud it seems to dig deeper we have never broken free not even during the Mother's Day Noreaster about 4 years ago in almost 70 mph winds. We didn't get much sleep in that but it was a real adventure.

Bill
 
I ve anchored at duck a couple of times, last time was after leaving the thimbles and turning around because the sound was just too nasty. Excellent holding there, it was blowing 40kts!

What i do while approaching is visualize where I m going to drop then figure x boat lengths downwind to see where I ll end up and make sure I don't end up too close to another boat or most importantly on top of their anchor. Always try to guess where someone's anchor will be and try not to end up on top of it.

That is rude and will get you angry looks :)

On the other hand, sometimes you way want to move up close to someones transom and drop just behind them to fall back. Most people understand the logic, some don't and give you a nasty look... Too bad, not my fault if they're too dumb ...

As others mentioned use your plotter when setting. Zoom in pretty tight aonyouncan can see the track "peaking" where you dropped. Then you ll see the track as you fall back and as the anchor sets you ll see a nice arc developping as you swing. That arc may grow a little thicker
If the winds pick up but if you start seing distinct lines being drawn behind it means you dragging

Of course the old fashioned way of taking a bearing on your beam between two objects is still a good practice when setting the anchor

Speaking of which, i usually let the boat drift back while paying out scope after dropping. This way the boat drifts at an angle and when I stop releasing chain (or line) it will snap back bow to the breeze. Then i set the hook with some reverse

And finally, I don't think there is any current at Duck, but in spots with current it may be hard to feel where you end up at at which angle.
 
When I anchor, I place my anchor in relationship to the neighboring boat's anchor and not in regards to where their boat is. Their boat will move due to wind, current, and tide. Their anchor, hopefully, will stay where it's at and the boat will move in an arc. I make sure that at night, my arc will not intersect theirs. While boats will generally face the same direction, different types of boats will swing at their own pace. During the day I set an aft anchor so my boat is at the same relative spot. At night I prefer to swing off the bow anchor.
 
As others have said, Duck Island would give you a little more protection. Off Hammonasett Beach you're also completely exposed to some idiot running thru at night, not expecting a boat to be anchored there. While I hate being crowded in an anchorage, I also dislike being out all by myself in a spot where drunks or pre-dawn fisherman might zoom thru.

I'd suggest Active Captain on your laptop or phone too, so if the forecast changes, you can see your local options.

Enjoy!
 
We don't like anchoring with other boats so other than really busy nights like the 4th of July and events on the water we don't anchor near other boats. Lot's of good advice given here even some great local knowledge.
Bill
 
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