Setting the Anchor Technique

[Jfrano]

So have a 29CB with the Rocna Anchor. When people are setting the anchor, what RPM will you run the engine to set the anchor? Seen various videos offering varying advise.

Thanks
Joe

 

[adueser]

Typically abt 1000 rpm.

 

[Capt’nKarl]

R-23 with 200 hp Yamaha outboard. For me it’s not a matter of RPM but rather a “feel”. We slowly motor into the wind to the location we want and drop the anchor. After letting out the appropriate amount of scope as the boat drifts backward I secure the anchor chain. Once secure I ask the first mate who’s at the helm to “bump” the engine in reverse and then into neutral. Once I’m convinced the anchor is holding, with the motor in reverse, we increase the power for a second then shut the engine down . Once everything is secured we relax and have a drink.
Karl

 

[Submariner]

With the Rocna10, I lay out the rode for 5:1, I then tie off the rode to a cleat. I put the engine in reverse... and I watch the GPS speed. It'll eventually hit 0 knots. Then I look at a clock and wait for 60 seconds to elapse (engine in reverse the entire time). This allows the Rocna to burry itself into the seabed. Then I will usually reel the rode back in to get 3:1, tie off to a cleat, turn off the engine and go relax.

 

[FlyMeAway]

Then I will usually reel the rode back in to get 3:1, tie off to a cleat, turn off the engine and go relax.

3:1?!?! You and I have very different definitions of "relax" :lol:

 

[Submariner]

Then I will usually reel the rode back in to get 3:1, tie off to a cleat, turn off the engine and go relax.

3:1?!?! You and I have very different definitions of "relax" :lol:

Anchorages are crowded. Getting a 5:1 is not always reasonable. 3:1 is. The Rocna is sticky when buried correctly. I also have 50 ft of 5/16" chain on a 27' boat. If I were anchoring through a bad storm I'd put out more rode.

 

[scross]

I back up at about 1-2 mph and use whatever rpm it takes to do that.
I know 5:1 scope is safest but I also know swinging into other boats in crowded anchorages is frowned upon. I try my best to find a safe spot where I can get a 4:1 scope (as measured at highest tide) if the conditions are calm to mild. Did that just this week at Garrison Bay and Spencer Spit where it was pretty crowded.
I have also just dropped the anchor and 50 ft of chain to the bottom, without setting the anchor, to act as a parking break while waiting a couple of hours for a slip assignment at Roche and Friday Harbor.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

all good advice above. I would add that if you have a modern anchor like the rocna, please be careful when backing at speed to set as when the anchor sets it can set hard: causing people to fall over or putting lots of strain on the windlass.

 

[Submariner]

Here's a great video of how to set a Rocna anchor, with underwater footage of the anchor being set.

Rocna Anchor testing and setting underwater
https://youtu.be/CfstdnOwq_s

 

[aintmissb]

Anchoring is something I’ve never been good at, so this is very helpful. But I still wonder, with all these careful techniques for burying a Rocna or similar anchor, how the heck to you retrieve it? With a line tied to the anchor? Surely you don’t want the windlass trying to pull it out?
Roger Ware, Kingston, ON

 

[knotflying]

When setting an anchor it is important to have the chain and rode pay out rather than just dumping it down and moving back. This helps immensely to get a good hold. Usually when achoring you are going to face the wind or current, whichever is stronger. If other boats are around you will see which way their boat is facing and that is the way you should be facing when setting your anchor. If the anchorage is tight with other boats I will often ask the boat near me how much rode he has out so if we swing I wont get to close to him/her. Going in reverse is a matter of just putting it in reverse gear as you let chain and rode out and let the boat do the rest. No need to power up. When all is set always tie your rode off to the cleat. Do not depend on the windless to not slip.
As far as retrieval goes never make the windless do the work until you are ready to lift the anchor up. I always have my mate put the boat in forward gear and keep slack in the rode as I retrieve, using hand signals for direction and stop or move forward. On the east coast I use a minimum of 5:1 and always try to get 7:1. We never dragged in 10 years and we have been in some high wind fast current situations.

 

[Jfrano]

Thanks for the great input.

I had watched some good YouTube videos, typically sailboats, technique until you set the anchor is the same. They would set anchor at 2500rpm, that using their much less powerful engines, I failed to realize!

 

[pwensinger]

Modern anchors, like the Rocna, are designed to first lay on their side, presenting their tip to the bottom. The tip is commonly weighed, sometimes with lead. Then as the boat is backed down the tip enters the sea bed and the anchor rights. It only takes a couple of feet of backing down. the anchor is set, the engine can be turned off. The anchor will continue to bury itself as the rode pulls on it from wind and wave action. See the U-tube channel "S.V. Penelope". He's a guy local to your area who does very though anchor tests in a variety of bottoms. He's gotten excellent results from the Rocna except when the roll bar gets fouled from sea weed/bottom detritus. This material can prevent the Rocna from burying itself.

 

[Chimo]

Anchoring is something I’ve never been good at, so this is very helpful. But I still wonder, with all these careful techniques for burying a Rocna or similar anchor, how the heck to you retrieve it? With a line tied to the anchor? Surely you don’t want the windlass trying to pull it out?
Roger Ware, Kingston, ON

Knotflying answered the important point, keep the rode slack as you retrieve. You can use the windlass to take in the slack but it's best to use the engine to take the load off. I single hand so I'm up on the bow using the foot switches there and reaching through the window to work the throttle as needed. As the rode becomes vertical the shape of the Rocna means the shank becomes a lever and lifts the tip. At that point the windlass should easily lift the remaining rode and anchor. If it is straining then tie off to the large cleat and power the boat ahead a little to break out the anchor. If you do have the bad luck to really jam an anchor under rock or similar the only chance may be to let out some rode, tie of to the cleat and try pulling in different directions. Of course if you have brilliant foresight, which I never have, you will have a retrieval line and float on the anchor from the beginning. Too complex for me on my own for now.


Hope this helps.

 

[Submariner]

Anchoring is something I’ve never been good at, so this is very helpful. But I still wonder, with all these careful techniques for burying a Rocna or similar anchor, how the heck to you retrieve it? With a line tied to the anchor? Surely you don’t want the windlass trying to pull it out?
Roger Ware, Kingston, ON

I pull up the slack using my hand and the windlass. When the line gets taught as I run out of slack, I'll wrap the line around the starboard bow cleat and rock the boat. The boat going down and up is usually enough to break the anchor loose.

 

[FlyMeAway]

Then I will usually reel the rode back in to get 3:1, tie off to a cleat, turn off the engine and go relax.

3:1?!?! You and I have very different definitions of "relax" :lol:

Anchorages are crowded. Getting a 5:1 is not always reasonable. 3:1 is. The Rocna is sticky when buried correctly. I also have 50 ft of 5/16" chain on a 27' boat. If I were anchoring through a bad storm I'd put out more rode.

The most important thing is that everybody in the anchorage is at roughly the same scope, so you all swing together.

I learned anchoring in the Caribbean where 5:1 (or even 7:1) can be the norm even in very crowded anchorages (then again, you can see all the anchors -- or even swim down to them!). Disaster is more likely to strike if you are the 3:1 boat in a 7:1 anchorage (or the 7:1 boat in a 3:1 anchorage) than if everybody is 7:1 in a relatively crowded anchorage.

Part of the problem is that newer anchors like the Rocna hold well in 3:1 scope; older anchors like the CQR or even the original Bruce don't hold as well until you get 5:1 or 7:1 scope. Anchorages should go lowest common denominator, and the CQR and Bruce still get a lot of use in the northwest...