MORE ANCHORING HINTS

Seems like the biggest mistake we see people make when anchoring, is not using enough scope. How much is enough? Forget the formulas, three to one,or seven to one and ten to one. How much you need is a product of how heavy your boat is, and how much windage, and how much you have in the chain locker, and how much swing room you have where you are anchoring. Can't really say why, but it seems in really deep water, three to one might work; we rode out the storm of the century in Belize, in 60 feet of not well protected water, with a little over three to one, using a 75 pound CQR for a 46 foot 34,000 pound boat. Winds got into the mid fifties. On the other hand, in water 20 feet and under, it seems harder to set an anchor, unless we use over ten to one scope. Maybe someone else can tell me why. Our saying is, "you bought and paid for all of it, why not use it."

Notice I refer to chain. You don't have to worry about chafe, the weight of the chain adds to the holding power, and you ride much steadier than the boat on a rope rode. Main disadvantage is the chain chews you can get on a fiberglass hull, if you are anchored in a tidal sluice way, and the wind pushes you over the anchor chain. A bow protector will help, or stay out of these situations. Otherwise, you better have a windlass that will allow the switch from chain to rope, and have only 40 to 60 feet of chain with rope spliced on. This really is an issue for those cruising the Keys or Bahamas, but as I said, you can learn to avoid the situation.

Next biggest mistake, is not pulling back hard enough and long enough, to really dig that anchor in. We pull really hard, taking it up slowly, and letting it pull, up to about five minutes in total. Even so, when swimming the anchor afterwards, we may be surprised at how the anchor is set, our 200 pound Danforth often only half dug in, with the stock protruding on one side. This leaves you subject to wrapping your chain around the stock, although in ten years of use, it has only happened once It was the one time we were glad we had our Turkish anchor line grabber, on this side of the Atlantic. See the blog, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

After years of anchoring in mostly sand, or as in the Med anchoring in "god only knows what" since it was too deep to see, we are now learning a lot of tricks about anchoring in deep mud, which seems to be standard for the Chesapeake. Don't remember having the problems getting our anchor to stick, like we are having this year, but I am wondering if the extremely heavy rains have raised the ground water level to such an extreme, that the bottom in places has become soup. So here are a couple of our new "tricks of the trade."

For what ever reason, when we have gently dropped and gently backed up, to where the anchor should have set, we just as gently start dragging backward. A good hard pull will sometimes make it set. In the past we were never so gentle, and I thought the jerk on the windlass might not be good, but the anchor always set, so maybe it is better to give it a quick dig to start with.

We have also found, when taking up the anchor, giving it a good hard pull while still set, and leaving it in gear for thirty seconds seems to knock the spaghetti line of mud that forms after dragging around all night, off the anchor chain, just like dropping the anchor back on the bottom after you first pull it up, can knock a lot of the mud off of it. I do hope you have a salt water wash down right up in the bow of the boat, because unless you like a lot of stinky mud or critters decaying in your chain locker, you have to get that anchor chain clean.

Last, but not least, a good strong windlass is essential to good, safe anchoring. Otherwise you will find yourself disinclined to set and reset you anchor three or four times, when it didn't really dig in properly, or you ended up too close to shore or another boat. And for those nasty situations that could happen in the middle of the night, having a windlass may enable you to get your anchor up fast in heavy conditions. For tses sort of emergencies, also be sure you can cut your chain loose, by having a length of rope that leads up on deck, tied to it, and don't ever anchor too close to shore if deep water is behind you. In a sudden and heavy wind shift, you could end up in the surf zone.

MANUALS FOR THE CRUISING BOAT

Get all the manuals for all your equipment. Know who made the components. Most equipment you buy, from your engines to your watermakers are assembled of other manufactures equipment, not built by the name of the company on the item. When you need a replacement part, it can be quicker and always cheaper to buy from the manufacturer of it, or a major parts supplier such as Grainger, rather than the company who assembled the item. Be sure you have aboard a Grainger catalog, a West Marine catalog, and a Defender catalog.

MIXING METALS AND AN INFRARED THERMOMETER

 

Don’t mix metals in your twelve volt wiring, such as using a stainless washer on your battery terminal bolts. Use a copper washer to match the copper wiring. If possible, use copper or bronze bolts on the battery terminal. This is really important with your major twelve volt wiring, not so much with the minor wires, although you may lose some power. Check for the extra heat generated, with your infrared thermometer.

 

Buy an infrared thermometer, if you don’t have one. Any good hardware store has them. They have multiple uses, such as measuring the changes in temperatures in your water and oil in your engine, and your exhaust emperatures. Remember the water temperature in your engine will change, as you go from area to area with sea temperature changes.

 

ANCHORING HINTS

For those of you who bring an anchor into a hawse pipe, and the anchor must be brought up and face the right direction to house it, rather than try to lean over with a long pole poking at it to turn it about, just back up as you bring it aboard, and it will automatically turn facing the way you need it.

 

Here’s how to clean your anchor quickly, when it wants to bring a big sample of the bottom aboard with it. When it comes off the bottom, and has come up a few feet, give it a quick drop. This assumes you are in clear water where you can see what is happening, and you are not moving.  If any thing remains on the anchor, backing will help clean it, without banging it on the hull. Of course you must have a wash down on the chain as it comes aboard, and it still pays to stand by with a hose in hand. Best of all, if your boat didn’t come with an enclosure that keeps the dirty water from running down the deck, you can often build your own, and cut some scuppers in the toe rails at the low point of the blocked area, so the dirty water runs overboard.

With very few exceptions, never anchor with two anchors. The exceptions are anchoring in a tidal sluice way, where you place one anchor upstream and one down stream, or if in a heavy gusting situation where your boat is being batted from one side and then the other, and the motion is miserable. This happened to us just once in thirty two years. Last exception is a very tight anchorage, where those around you have two anchors out. Best is to avoid these places, the risk is too great. Most times when we see someone anchored with two anchors, we know he, or his anchors, is not to be trusted, and we move away.

 

Get some means of communicating with your partner that is hands free, to be used when anchoring or going into a slip. We bought the combination microphone and ear phone set, the first ones at FAO Schwartz, the second set at an SSCA Gam. The two sets were the same equipment, but the first ones were half the price.  Both have proved invaluable. Best part of the second set is the soft case that came with it, which keeps the off switch from being moved to on, accidentally. Doesn’t help if we just forget to turn them off.

 

EQUIPPING THE CRUISING DINGHY

                                             BOATER BEV’S BOLG

 

                  A COLLECTION OF THINGS WE’VE LEARNED: PART TWO

 

EQUIPPING THE CRUISING BOAT’S DINGHY:

What you put in your dinghy is as important as the dinghy. You must of course comply with regulations, which means the proper licensing, safety equipment, and lights, and please, do what is necessary to get that white light high enough.

Oars may not be required, but they are on the top of the list of essentials.

 

On the must have list is two anchors, one to hold the dinghy to the beach, and the other one, and it can be smaller, to hold the dinghy off the beach. Sounds funny and superfluous, but so often, even if the wind should blow the dinghy out off the beach, there will be a side current, or next to shore the wind blows along shore, or wakes will set you on, so you almost always need that second anchor. If your dinghy is small and light enough, you can do as most people do and drag it up on the beach, but that does nothing to enhance the bottom paint. If you keep your dinghy in the water, and it has a hard bottom, it pays to have bottom paint on it. If it is a soft dinghy, you are abrading the bottom. And any dinghy sitting on the shore can have waves splash in and fill the dinghy, unless you’ve taken the wise precaution of turning it around with the bow facing outward.

 

Next, I also suggest two painters, the primary one for tying to docks or your boat, strong enough and long enough, so there is no question of breaking, or not having enough scope to comply with the request at most busy dinghy docks, to leave a long line. Half inch line works well; it may be overkill in terms of strength, but smaller line can become difficult to untie. The second painter should be for towing, if you ever tow. This time a floating line is preferred to eliminate this necessarily longer line from getting down into your prop. You still must keep it short as you anchor, and let it out as you pick up speed.

You also should have another small, lighter line from the stern, so you can tie your dinghy alongside your stern, or the dock or another boat, when this becomes convenient. And don’t forget to have a long steel cable you can use to padlock the dink to shore or the boat in iffy areas. Chain would be better, but hard to carry a long enough piece. Don’t use this in areas where dinghy theft is almost unknown; it’s hard on everyone else.

 

A spare gas can, a small two gallons worth can be a life saver, if you have a gauge that fails, or you’ve been careless, and for years, after having both these failures, we carried one, but now with the four stroke engine, an the fuel lasting so much longer, we’ve given it up. May regret this someday.

 

A ladder to climb back in the dinghy after a swim, unless the tube size is small enough and you are agile enough. Eventually, you will have a guest who isn’t.

 

A good air pump is a must have, although it doesn’t have to be in the dinghy. Not inflating the tubes hard enough is one of the biggest destroyers of inflatables. Don’t forget the water pump, even if you have a built in pump, and an extra stern plug may be a lifesaver someday. A pliers, and screwdriver, and a few fuses should be aboard.

 

In the nice to have category, and close to essential, I would put a radio, (this can be a portable) and a compass, a bottle of water, and any kind of map you can get of the local area. This can be a freebie, or one you’ve copied from your chart boo; it’s just great for dinghy exploring. At night have some sort of powerful flashlight or searchlight.

 

Depending on the area you cruise depends the risk of theft, so judge by that, what you can leave unsecured in the dinghy. In our experience, the Caribbean was the worst place, and we kept the dinghy pretty stripped down, but you must carry oars, and eventually, we lost a pair.

 

Ancillary to the dinghy, is a means of hoisting it. Our experience was with davits on the stern of the sailboat, modified with cross bars, to prevent swaying in big seas, and set so the stern of the boat rode lower than the bow, to allow water to drain out the back hole under almost all conditions. It follows, there must be lifting rings mounted in the dinghy. When we got electric winches, it was as easy as pushing a button to hoist it up, and took less time than writing about it. We lifted the dinghy every night, and on every run. Kept the dinghy quiet, clean and safe, and meant extra speed underway. Now with a trawler, we have a crane that hoists the dinghy to the upper deck. It is rigged to be a one-man operation, but we don’t do it every night, and when it is a short hop, of less than ten miles, we usually tow it. Did lose it once having the line slip away when we hit unexpected, very rough seas. A problem with floating lines, especially new, is they are slippery, and must be very carefully tied.

 

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Now for the addition to our dinghy that has meant the most to me, and as you can see from the photo, even Dave uses. We call it the Granny Rail. It is a support I can grab on to, whether climbing in or out , from the side or the front mounted step (the highest part of our dinghy), and feel safe and secure. You can make it as simple as a single stanchion mounted to the floor, but it must have a rigid floor. You can write, if you want more details. Best present you can give yourself, if leaping about from deck to dock is getting beyond you.

GO SLOW IN SHALLOW WATER

It took a long time for us to realize that running our boat at normal cruising speed, seven to nine knots, in shallow water, (under nine feet) not only caused a distinct rumbling sound, serving as an excellent depth sounder, but caused the back of the boat to sink, so our swim platform submerged. We found it was common knowledge among tug boat captains, but it was a slow learning process for us. This slows the boat noticeably, another clue something is happening.

 

HANDHOLDS EVERYWHERE FOR GETTING OFF AND ON THE DINGHY

We have been cruising the Bahamas again, this winter of 08-09, and as spring comes on, so have the winds, seemingly endless winds. We are hanging to a mooring at Exuma Park headquarters in the north Warderick Wells anchorage, enjoying the scenery and the social life among our fellow cruisers. Out came the Scrabble board and the Domino set, and so, some pleasant afternoons have been spent. So now on to some useful information, I hope, for you wannabes, and you newbies. I thought a "wish list" of important goodies you might not think of, would be nice

1. You must be able to get on and off your boat, from a dock, from a dinghy and from the water. It must be easy; you won't always be young and nimble, and your older guests, like parents, really need it easy. For a sailboat, without a rear swim platform, a folding ladder, set along the side decks as a break in the life lines, will work for dinghies and for swimming. Must have solid stanchions on either side. For motor boats or sailboats with swim platforms, all you need to add are some things to grab onto as you dismount from the dinghy, and cleats to tie to. Some sort of folding ladder for swimming should be permanently mounted. I wish I knew how to post pictures, but we have a folding ladder mounted between stanchions in the center of our swim platform, another set of single stanchions on either side of the platform to grab onto when you land the dinghy, and to allow us to tie the dinghy along the back of the boat, when we want to load and unload in heavier seas, and a pair of large handles attached to either side of the boat,at stand up height, to grab onto if we pull the dinghy alongside the platform. There is also a grab rail along the entire back of the boat about three and a half feet up from the platform, used to hold onto, and to attach our passerelle, for exiting the boat from the stern when the dock is high. We attached a small grab rail to the deck, for the passarelle, when we are backed up to a floating dock. You just can't have too many supports, for safety and comfort.

2. The dinghy, don't leave home without it! Get the biggest one you can lift aboard your boat, and get some way to easily lift it aboard. Best is to have what we had on the sail boat, very sturdy high davits, so easy, that we never thought of not lifting the dinghy every night. Yes, I said every night, keeps it clean and safe. We never went to bed without preparing the boat to take off at a moment's notice, and that meant not worrying about the dinghy. It was slung at an angle, and the plug pulled so it couldn't fill with water. Best is a hard bottom inflatable, and make sure neither the color, nor the protective strip will rub off on your hull. If you are getting up there in years, particularly the little woman, get an electric start, and even a center steering wheel, can become essential when old arthur-itis sets in.

It's the electronic age- as if you young ones didn't know, and take advantage of all of it. Latest on the scene, and a blessing like all the other gizmos have been, is AIS, which tells you who your larger neighbors are, and now for not too much extra, you can tell them who you are. Also, XM weather on your chart plotter, and FLIR, which turns night time into day on its monitor. I have a lot of issues with XM, too inaccurate, not far enough time in future, no time given for when the forecast is given, and too expensive but you get used to it, and don't want to give it up, in spite of these flaws. Cellular phones, unlocked, if you are going foreign, so you can buy SYM cards and use your phone in any country, are a must, and an antenna to extend the range, and a good antenna for wi-fi signals. Now there is a totally new technology radar on the scene, which is supposed to pick up even the smallest object close to your boat, and boy, do I want that one. Seeing the big boats isn't so hard, it's the small ones, or the floating refrigerator you want to know about. Guess we'll now need two radars. A chart plotter, and a back up, a really dependable autopilot, (we used to have a back up and thirty years ago it was essential-not now) depth sounders, weather instruments, single side band radio, and don't let anyone tell you it isn't important, VHF's, plural, even if the second one is a portable, so you can take it in the dinghy, if you don't have one mounted in your dinghy. Important point! Be sure you can hear your VHF in your cockpit; this is an essential safety factor.

I'll go into more later, it is just too late for any more.

Life on a Cruising Boat

October 8th to the 12th, 2007

For those who visualize the life of a boater as lying about in a hammock, sipping pina colada's, let me tell you nothing could be farther from the truth. Then again, maybe I shouldn't disillusion you. I have a friend who said if that is what non-boaters want to believe, let them. Let them be a little green with jealousy, while we get green from rocking about too much. Let them think we are bored reading too many trashy novels, while our eyes are drooping over one more manual on how to fix what isn't working at the moment. Oh yes I know, there are those purists who insist that the way to cruise without spending so much of your time fixing things is to do without, and  keep it simple. Forget refrigeration and freezers, so what if the little woman has to shop every day or live on canned meats, forget generators, and learn to love candlelight dinners, and preparing meals and cleaning up in the dark, and forget air-conditioning,  and watermakers, and all the other things that it's possible to have on a boat, if you are willing to spend the time and have the ability to keep them running. If you're a "real man", you don't need these things, but chances are after a few years of deprivation and struggling, you will not be living with a "real woman." She will be back ashore, living the life she was used to. 

Of course you can spend a big chunk of your time tied to a dock; I always wondered why so many boats whose budgets were more constrained than ours, spent so much time at docks, until I realized they needed the power and water. That is a viable choice, or at least was in the past when dockage costs hadn't risen to the moon. Just don't take that "holier than thou" attitude toward us who don't want to do without. It reminds me of those who rejected the idea of electronic navigation when Loran and Sat Nav first came out. They were the real men who only had a sextant, but they really practiced "big boat navigation." That is, whenever they saw a big boat, they called it to verify their position. Where are their sextants now? And in fact, where are they? We don't have many couples in our thirty years and over cruising club, mostly because after a number of years, the wives rebelled.

So here it is, chapter and verse of life on a cruising boat as we know it, and have known it since 1977, when we made the move form sailing and racing one design motorless boats, to a Cal 46 ketch rigged motor sailor. Dag Pike in his book about motor sailors, defined them as a boat that would travel to their hull speed whether under sail or power. In those days, most sail boats had only enough power to get in and out of a harbor, powering against a trade wind sea was impossible for them. Many motor sailors had a rig that could only drive them off the wind, or lend some stability. The Cal 46, designed by the famous Bill Lapworth could do it all. Not only did she have a main, mizzen and jib, mizzen staysail and spinnaker, but a big engine and a big prop. She also came equipped with a generator, air conditioning, microwave, separate shower, and walk in, stand upright, engine room, things seldom found on boats in those years. I loved to sail enough, and was so entranced by the idea of seeing what was over the horizon, that I would have gone off cruising in anything, but thank goodness i didn't have to. I knew what it was like being chewed alive by sand fleas, or being drenched in sweat because it was poring outside and the temperature and humidity inside the boat were both in the 90's. If all we could afford or maintain was a bare bones boat, I'm afraid I too would have fallen by the way side after a few years, and Dave would have died of boredom having nothing to fix, and only walking beaches or fishing to keep him occupied. 

A point I'm trying to make is, don't look down your nose at me for having the old creature comforts and now living on a motor boat, and I will be happy to count among our friends those who are purists on sailboats, even though you may not last more than ten years in the boating life. Time to go off and do more boating chores, although don't think of chores in the derogative sense; think of it like the line in Wind in the Willows-"There's nothing as much fun as messing around in boats.' got to go do some more messing around, which is what we do when we spend time in a marina.

Now it is the cruising season, and we are messing in our boat in the Bahamas. Daily chores, just like you have at home, continue. this isn't cruise ship living, this is taking your floating home off adventuring. So shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundering go on as usual, just done in different conditions, with different challenges. Like how to get the groceries aboard, when the store is a number of blocks from the dinghy dock, and then stowing them in all those cunning places a boat provides, like under the settees, or the floor boards, or any cubby you can find or make. Everything is just a bit more challenging

On the upside, you will have eliminated the usual pattern of being torn into too many pieces, as you rush from meetings, to the work place, to theaters, to social commitments, almost all requiring driving your speeding bullet on a crowded highway. Life slows down, and you concentrate on key things,  like staying alive. This means the weather becomes the most important news of the day. Socializing is done with fellow cruisers, and it's barefoot style, and simple. Most people invited aboard come with their own drinks, and a dish to pass, and even will pitch in and help clear up. and it is the people you meet that are the heart of it all. Yes what you see is exciting, sometimes fo beautiful, whether a sunset, or a tropical rainforest, or fantastic ruins, but what you remember most, are all the wonderful people you will meet.

So life on a cruising boat isn't like life on a cruise ship, it's harder but better. You are still working in a sense, you are making the decisions on where you will go and how to do it, you are fixing almost everything that goes wrong. The old saying, there are no plumbers at sea, is true. But you gain and gain, in skills, in knowledge, in friends, and sad to say, possibly a few pounds. The price of all that socializing. Go enjoy.

My intro to blogging

This is an initial leap into the world of blogs and blogging, so
with nothing special to say except I'm holding my nose and taking my
first leap, and hello world! Much, much more will follow, once I see
this really works.