How to Anchor for a Storm

Since you can’t predict every squall, it’s best to anchor for a storm. If one never comes, you’re fine. But if high winds hit, you’ll be prepared.

Dave and I strongly believe in anchoring as if we know it’s going to blow 50 . . . because sometimes it does. You may expect the possibility of a squall. But when it arrives, it may be stronger than predicted.

We’ve probably had about one 50-knot blast from a squall each year we’ve been cruising. Several have blown over 40, sometimes sustained. I’m not counting tropical storms and hurricanes, just “normal” weather in places not known for extreme conditions.

Our anchoring technique and ground tackle are our number-one form of insurance. We only carry liability insurance. But with hull insurance, you don’t want to drag into another boat, go on the rocks or even ground on sand. It also helps us sleep welll . . .

Anchoring Equipment

When we began preparing for our first hurricane anchoring, a book we referred noted that anchoring isn’t one piece of equipment. It’s a whole system. And one weak spot can cause a system to fail.

So we start with a good anchor. For us, that’s a Mantus. (Disclosure: I do earn a bit on Mantus sales through links here.Bbut we chose Mantus for our own anchor before we had that relationship. My life may depend on my anchor choice. And no amount of money will encourage me to use one I think is inferior). Mantus has a great reputation for setting, with a very sharply pointed weighted tip and a roll bar to assure that it is right side up so it can dig in. We have never had it fail to set first time, even in light grass. We haven’t encountered an area with only heavy grass.

Many older anchors just don’t set as well (or at all in challenging conditions). Some don’t reset if the wind or current changes. We did ride out a hurricane on a Bruce anchor. But ever since then, we’ve had a “new generation” anchor (first a Spade with our previous boat, now a Mantus . . . Rocna are good too). Fortress and Danforth are good in certain conditions. But they do very poorly at resetting when wind or current changes the direction of pull.

Then came the rode and snubbers/bridle. We used 125 feet of chain followed by 150 feet of Brait on our primary anchor. After the equipment from the previous owner fell woefully short, particularly on the chain, we invested in more chain. We somewhat regretted not going with all chain.

When we had more than 125 feet of rode out, our chain hook bridle (also from Mantus) didn’t work. We had to use two dock lines attached to the rode with rolling hitches as our bridle. Unfortunately, this is harder to remove in an emergenc). While the rope rode alone would provide the needed shock absorption, it would quickly chafe through on the bow roller. A bridle or snubber prevents this. And they provide a smoother ride on a catamaran, too. Note that a bridle or snubbers are crucial for shock absorption. And you must size them properly to provide a certain amount of stretch. This is one case where bigger isn’t necessarily better!

Boat Attachments

Attachment points on the boat are next. Beefy cleats with solid backing plates are best., Hawse holes for the snubbers to pass through also reduce chafe. This was the weak point on Barefoot Gal. The cleats were good sized but the backing plates could have been better.

Additionally, we consider a properly sized electric windlass to be vital safely gear.

• With an electric windlass, we’re willing to anchor and re-anchor. We would do it as many times as necessary to get a good set and in a location where we were both comfortable. If we were not both comfortable where and how we were anchored, we did it again. It’s was no good if one of us was worried!
• A windlass made it easy to raise anchor when the wind direction suddenly changed. It enabled us to leave in a hurry, if needed.
• Finally, since we are not worried about how much chain we’ll have to pull by hand, we are willing to anchor in slightly deeper water. That usually gave us a much greater safety margin from shore in the event that we did drag. It also allowed us to use a heavier (larger) anchor as our everyday anchor.

We use Sena Bluetooth headsets (2Talk Headsets are now available on The Boat Galley Store). Update:This set is different from the ones I owned. But they are the latest version and a little less money! Even in normal anchoring situations, it helps to talk things over. On our first boat, we used hand signals and occasional cockpit huddles to discuss what we wanted to do. Headsets are better. We did not use them when anchoring in rain. Then we fell back on hand signals and years of anchoring together. In the Bahamas where we were often trying to drop the anchor in a small sandy spot in the middle of grass, being able to talk was especially helpful. When you have as Dave a 5-foot circle to drop the anchor, verbal directions are much more precise than hand signals.

Finally, we used a smartphone anchor alarm to let us know if the anchor drags. There are many available for both iPhones and Android, as well as on many GPS/chartplotter units. We set the range to be slightly smaller than our distance from the anchor. That way it went off in a major wind shift, not just if we are dragging. A major wind shift usually precedes a squall; we’d like to know in any case with a big shift. Different alarms have different sounds. And some let you choose between several. Be sure to choose one that will wake you!

Anchoring Techniques

In an ideal situation, we come into an anchorage and motor around a bit while discussing where we might anchor. Things are not always ideal, however.

First, it is unlikely that where the chart has the little anchor symbol is the only place to anchor. It is , however, likely that there would be a cluster of boats there! We prefer to anchor a little bit away from other boats, where we have full 360-degree swinging room if possible. We consider the forecast wind direction, swell direction, where other boats may transit the anchorage. For example, consider local fishermen when anchored off a village. Consider anything else that may be pertinent.

Dave was almost always on the bow doing the anchor work and I was at the helm. When we decided to drop the hook, I went into neutral and coasted up to the spot. Dave would drop the anchor and play out the rode as we drifted backwards. In very light winds, I would put the boat briefly in reverse to get it moving slowly astern. We used at least 5:1 scope (high tide water + free board) and usually closer to 7:1.

We did not pull on the anchor at all at this time above what the wind might do.

Dave installed the bridle to give the anchor a bit of time to settle in. Once the bridle was on, I slowly (idle speed) reversed the boat to stretch out the chain. Dave was always convinced that the chain was fully extended before the GPS showsed 0.0 as the speed. I always continued the slow reverse until the GPS showed 0.0 knots.

I then slowly increased the RPMs (still in reverse) until we reached our typical cruising RPMs and held it there until the GPS again showed 0.0 knots. As I raised the RPMs, I usually saw a little movement at first as the anchor really dug in.all the catenary was taken out of the chain and the snubbers were stretched. The GPS may have shown 0.4 or 0.6 knots. Then we would fall back to 0.0. We’re set!

I returned  the engine to neutral. After confirming that we were both happy with where we’re anchored, I’d turn the engine off  and set the anchor alarm.

Of course, if the GPS does not go to 0.0, we don’t have a good set. So it was time to raise the anchor and do it again in a slightly different spot.

Yes, I’ve heard people say they don’t want to back down hard on their anchor because they might break it out. I’m not quite sure of the reasoning, to be honest. Part of backing down hard is to set the anchor. But it’s also to see if it will break out in a severe gust. I’d much prefer to know if we have a good set right away than at 2 AM in a squall!

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