And make sure you know whether it is reading under keel clearance or depth of water
If there is a bit of a chop and you find the boat is snatching at the anchor then veer more chain. Or add in a rope snubber tied to the chain with a rolling hitch and then back on board to a cleat. Once secure, veer more chain so the boat is holding to the snubber and chain. It’s always better to use a snubber, so the strain is taken on the cleat rather than the expensive windlass.
If you place your hand outside the bow roller onto the cable and it is quiet you are holding. If it is vibrating you may be on the move. Monitor any movement against something fixed on the shore… or set an anchor watch on the GPS.
If the anchorage is lively and the boat is moving around a bit and you haven’t set a snubber, there is always the chance that the anchor chain might jump off the bow roller. To stop this from happening can add in a split pin or a lashing between the bow roller cheeks.
You don’t want the anchor jumping out of its mount and setting itself unexpectedly, so attach it to the boat. A lashing will do, or a lanyard, often bow cheeks have a split pin for securing the anchor.
Anchors that bury themselves into the seabed will generally handle the turn of the tide without tripping. If they do trip we want them to set themselves again quickly. Danforths and Fortress anchors can be hard to re-set and that is why they tend to be used as kedge anchors. The modern breed of Rocna and Manson anchors will re-set themselves very quickly. Delta, Spade and CQR anchors should also re-set themselves.
A kedge anchor is a second anchor – the bower anchor (the anchor on the bow) being your primary anchor. The kedge anchor is so called because if you were to run aground on a sandbank, then you would row an anchor out in the dinghy, set it and then ‘kedge’ the boat off the sand bank. A kedge anchor can be any type of anchor but they are often the Danforth or Fortress type.
Always attach the bitter end of the anchor chain to the boat with a lashing or a piece of rope so you can cut it quickly if you need to free yourself in a hurry.
If you can’t get the anchor up because it is caught on something, try driving the boat over the anchor. Try working the boat around and lifting the anchor from different angles. If it really won’t come up then we will need to leave the anchor and the chain behind. Attach a buoy to the chain and mark the spot with the MOB function on the GPS so that divers can come back and retrieve your gear.
If you have had to anchor in a hurry and you are not sure of the ground set a tripping line so you pull the anchor out backwards, if it becomes stuck.
You can choose whether to keep the buoy of the tripping line on board or let it float to show others where your anchor is. It could be a useful guide to others to prevent them laying their anchor cable over yours.
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