Dragging Anchor
Our first anchor dragging experience was exciting
but not dangerous.
At 2030, our anchor alarm went off. Steven went
forward, and sure enough, the anchor was dragging through the water. The drill
when this happens is to start the engine, motor up and pick up the anchor, then
reposition and set the anchor in a different spot. Alternatively, if you don't
have enough scope out, you can let out more rode and see if the anchor will
hold.
In this case, we didn't have the
room to apply more scope. Thus, we started the engine. As we went forward to
take the snubber off the anchor chain, we noticed a small sailboat drifting down
on us very fast from upwind! The people on board knew they were drifting, and
they were trying to rectify the situation. They got it under control about two
boat lengths upwind, and motored up to reset their anchor. Seeing as how two
boats slipped at the same time (the wind had come up to 15 knots, gusting 20),
I'd say this anchorage has a bit of a holding
issue.
We picked up our anchor, motored
up, and dropped it in a slightly different spot. It caught and held the rest of
the night, although Roma didn't sleep too well for the first 3 hours while the
wind was howling in the rigging.
Posted: Tue - July 6, 2004 at 03:25 PM