Motored up to Fernandina Beach today. Caught the tides well and made good time. Passed very close to a large container ship in the Jacksonville/Mayport channel. I thought about taking a picture of the ship, but there was a fast current and the channel is tight. Also caught another Blue fish for lunch. I'm crossing my fingers for good winds tomorrow. I really want to sail.
The Bahamian Moor is a two anchor system. There are long articles written about the system, but I think my anchoring system achieves pretty much the same result, without all the fuss. At least I have yet to drag anchor using it.
I never had a problem with anchor dragging on my old Pearson monohull. But I almost always sailed her in ideal conditions. The upper Chesapeake has little tide to contend with, and good anchorages are never far away. On this cruise, I've experienced some strong tides, nasty weather and crappy anchorages.
Also, catamarans swing at anchor more than monohulls. The wind affects them a lot more. As I've mentioned, of the few times I've felt seasick, a number have been at anchor.
Anyway, my system is simply to set my large danforth anchor with a long line. That's as much as most people do anyway. But once settled, I drop a smaller anchor on a shorter line. I don't bother setting it. It seems to eventually set itself as I swing about the first anchor in the changing tides and wind.
When I weigh anchor in the morning, the two anchors are almost always set at a nice angle.
Ross emailed me that he and his wife left today for a week's charter cruise in the Bahamas. The boat they chartered is a catamaran a little larger than mine. Maybe when he gets back, he can give his impressions of anchoring a catamaran in the Bahamas and the Bahamian Mooring. Not having made the Bahamas on this trip, all I can give is an account of my mooring system on the ICW.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lazy Man's Moor
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9 comments:
Also, I've been thinking about why my anchoring system seems to be working. With all the swinging I do around the large Danforth anchor, it's not to hard to see why it might unset itself.
With strong tides and wind, it's not unlikely for the boat to do a quick 180, or even a 360.
I think the smaller anchor just acts as a brake. I have a shorter rode on it too. It's not really meant to hold the boat, although I'm sure it does some of that too. But I think it mostly just cuts down on some of the torque on the holding anchor.
Scott,
Congrats on getting to Fernadina Beach. Looks like you will soon be leaving Florida. How is Fernandina Beach? I believe that is close to Amelia Island which I hear is beautiful.
Is your boat greatly affectedly by the wake of bigger boats like the container ship?
It was foggy here this morning, but the sun has come out and it is very warm here this afternoon. I think the warmest day we have had so far. I checked the weather forecast for Fernandina Beach and it calls for sun and a few passing clouds. High 81F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. I hope you get to do some serious sailing tomorrow!
Would love to see another pic of one of your cooked meals especially of the fish you catch.
Rose
Thanks Rose, I have bread and mayo aboard now, so I made a fried fish sandwich. Although I'm becoming a lazy fish cleaner too. I just filleted it, which is pretty wasteful. But I'm sure the crabs enjoyed the entrails I tossed overboard.
I'm hoping for some sailing tomorrow!
Scott,
I get the impression that you are not using a bridle in your anchoring system. Are you?
Hi Anon,
No I am not using a bridle. I simply set the first anchor and then drop the second. Both tied to the center cleat.
I have been reading the discussion of anchor bridles on the Gemini yahoo forums. But as long as this simple system works for me, I'm going to stick with it.
The only issues I've had are that the lines occasionally get a little twisted. Also, I do need to watch out for the lines getting caught on the centerboards, especially when I first set the anchors.
I guarantee you will like a bridle better. A simple way to do it is to just set the anchor as usual and secure the rode on one side. Secure a second line to the other side and tie a rolling hitch around the rode. Adjust both lines so you hang like you want. When something changes, adjust one or the other till you hang good again. It stops all that sailing around the anchor. Forget about the 2nd anchor except in unusual conditions.
Anon, I'll consider it. But my main concern is not the spinning around the anchor. It's the anchor dragging. The spinning probably contributes to the dragging when the anchor is unset while spinning. But I think there may be other factors as well, like the size and windage of the boat.
My primary danforth anchor is a good size, with a long heavy chain. I don't know that I would want to deal with a larger anchor. But still, I've dragged when using it alone.
Scott,
Glad to see you are underway and SAILING! It is cool watching on the boatcam. I checked in this morning and it was very foggy (unless your lens was fogged). Enjoy the trip, Louie
Yep Louie, I'm sailing. Hurray! This morning there was a lot of fog. It was like the start of a race when the fog finally cleared around 10 am, with everyone weighing anchor in Fernandina Beach.
Most everyone continued on the inside, while I motored out through the long inlet and sea wall. With the late start, I also had the tide against me. It was a slow ride out.
I'm now flying up the coast at about 2 mph. I'm looking to do an overnighter. The internet isn't so great in GA, so at some point you'll probably lose me.
I've got the sails hauled in as tight as possible. NWS predicted south winds, but of course, they are from the east and little bit north.
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