Anchoring

[Tempus]

A few days back, we were anchored just off the beach near Barrenjoey Head NSW. We were in water about 2m deep and I'd played out a healthy scope when anchoring. A family in a ~ 20ft speedboat anchored near us and promptly all (all eight of them!) pulled out surfboards and paddled to the beach, I assume to walk across the spit and catch some waves. The spit was providing nice shelter from an on-shore easterly and there were all sorts of boats (types and sizes) at anchor.....when the southerly change hit. Very quickly it was evident that the speedboat's anchor wasn't holding and the exceptionally strong wind was pushing the boat towards (1) a large expensive catamaran, and (2) the rocks of Barrenjoey Head. Those on board the cat' prepared to fend the boat off....and possibly rescue it from the rocks when finally the owner of the errant boat came strolling along the beach....seemingly oblivious to the fact that his boat wasn't where he left it.

It was about this time that we...and the skipper of the cat....realised that we were dragging our anchors as well, being completely exposed to the very strong southerly. We up-picked, and departed for a better anchorage.

The lesson would seem to be that you can only address insufficient scope/dragging anchor if you are actually on board your boat. The owner of the speedboat was either clueless as to how close he went to holing his hull.....or put on brave face in front of the audience!

[bartmac]

Having watched the behaviour of some boat owners its not surprising these sort of things happen.However Macs with thier windage,flat bottom etc are a handfull.Ours will swing about when other boats around us are reasonably stable.Having now experimented with a small sail,rudders and centreboard down (not recommended if the tide is going to swing you right around) a rear anchor (again can be counter productive if the boat is going to jiggle all night) anyway the upshot has been an achor substantially bigger than required and additionally an anchor buddy,I guess to be sure to be sure---sleep comes easier.This trip with a larger plough style anchor on sandy and muddy bottoms we've had no problems but have seen much bigger boats with smaller gear

[Boblee]

Probably the biggest worry or concern for us when travelling is anchoring and there are no hard or fast rules as every situation is different especially in oz with our variations of weather and tides, I gave up on danforth or sand anchors very early and now use either or both a sarca or a Rocna, both are good anchors and both are bigger than required but both have let go for a variety of reasons.
The Mac dance adds a whole new variaton on anchoring as while most other heavy or keeled boats will swing evenly with tide or wind the macs can have a mind of their own and many solutions are out there including stay sails etc etc but there is no substitute for just being careful when setting your anchors and checking regularly.
Even when beaching with anchors well set, when the tide comes in you can still get problems if other boats are too close or there is an unexpected wind change.
My solution for the mac dance is to use two anchors and if heavy weather or big tide use a bridle to pull the nose into the wind or wave action so the boat pitches rather than rolls but this is usually after a change of tide or wind at 2am.

[Oskar 26M]

I have had a few bad bad experiences with the Mac dragging anchor, the worst being at Shark Bay when the rode shackle jammed in my Manson Supreme anchor's rock-slot after a wind change causing it to drag while I was ashore (see Anchor Caution).

I stopped using the rock-slot and have not had that anchor drag again since, even in quite severe wind conditions but I always set an anchor alarm even when I'm on board.

Provided both you and the boat have reliable mobile phone coverage, there are a few gadgets and mobile phone apps that can monitor the boats location and send you an SMS if it drifts out of a predefined radius. I have one, and it works, but I still remain very nervous about leaving an anchored boat unattended.

[Boblee]

Was at the mouth of the Macarthur river NT and was off fishing when the wife says "I think the boats moving" we made the 2k dash back and it had pulled the anchor (Sarca) 300m right accross the river and upstream with the tide, luckily when it hit shallow water again it got hooked up but think it got enough speed up to hold the anchor off the bottom for the first bit, obviously not enough scope as only pulled up to fish the mouth of a creek but went further.
The mate and myself were at Whyndham WA and had just negotiated a narrow passage up the Cambridge gulf at night time with a 7m tide pushing us, as it was pitch black I was trying to work off our previous daytime track with the chartplotter and a spotlight and it was a bit scary especially as I knew there was nowhere to stop and rock everywhere until we were through.
Anyway we finally got back to Whyndham about 1 am and was bone tired instead of dropping two anchors just dropped one as it was a good sticky bottom even though we were by this time almost at full tide but had anchored there several times previously, woke up next morning and we had dragged over 500m and were right in front of the wharf with a big live cattle boat coming about a k away.
This time it was the Rocna but when it was retrieved it had big plastic bag over the point it held early as I checked it but with the bigger movement of water later it dragged, very lucky we had drifted past two other boats and could have been disaster, we have anchor alarm on the plotter (Raymarine c80) but rarely use it due to current draw.
Been very careful setting anchors since then , it's very disconcerting at times on the mac when you set your anchor well away from other boats but wake up with a breeze and or tide change and find yourself right beside one as they all move together but not the mac.

[KookaSnook]

On the subject of anchoring... we have found that out boat even fully filled with water ballast is jumping around like a yoyo when anchored in strong winds and seas. Yes we have had fun with the drag even with our new nice and heavy plough anchor but what annoys us the most is if we put down the keel to stop us rocking all over the place and stabilize the boat we find it is knocking underneath the boat all the time and drives me nuts. My husband is more concerned that the knocking could do damage to the keel and would rather leave it up. Does anyone else have this problem with a knocking keel or is there something wrong with ours?

A yachtie friend of ours has suggested to just add some tension on the rope when we put the keel down at anchor. We are yet to try this but wondering how everyone else gets on with a MX26 keel. Our boat is a 2002 version.

Oh and noticed someone in the forum also mentioned an Anchor Buddy... I had someone else recommend one of these made in NZ. Wondering if anyone can provide feedback on these and do they really assist with drag... but the rocking of our boat is so annoying especially while we were over at various Tangalooma locations and the waves were rolling in oh and not forgetting Peel when the wind changes to a darn southerly.

[Boblee]

Haven't heard of anyone working out how to stop the board knocking but we never use it when anchoring anyway as there would probably be few situations where I wouldn't be worried about it hitting something due to the mac dance, tidal change or submerged objects.
The rolling can be corrected as can some of the dance by using a bridal on the anchor rope to pull the nose into the waves causing it to pitch rather than roll which is a bit more pleasant, the bridle works even better if using two anchors as it gives it a bit more contol if set right.
The photo below is at lacrosse island at the mouth of the Cambridge gulf WA, our double anchor set was fine until the tide and wind changed so I got up and set the bridle a 1 am, at the time of the photo everything is fine again but we certainly didn't spend another night there, it is a notoriously bad anchorage especially as the 8m+ tides can make it very shallow.

[bartmac]

We have a Anchor Buddy made in NZ....and yes it does what its supposed to do ie increases holding capacity of your anchor and creates a shock absorber in the rode BUT given the hull design of a mac ie FLAT its not going to help you swinging.Putting the rudders and centreboard down is fraught with danger if the tide or wind is going to turn you....anchor rode around either rudders or board.... having experienced this makes for a sticky situation and some innovative thinking to get loose without damages.The two anchor method is also open to having to get up during the night and adjusting things......the jiggle of being orientated to the wind/tide can also more annoying as swinging.The knock of the centreboard is just part of the Mac character...I believe some have moded thiers not to knock but it is designed to free hang unlike weighted centreboards which actually add to the righting moment?....the macs board is hollow and fills with water.We've found at most anchorages the Mac is not behaving like all the other boats and thus you have to make sure you allow a bit more room.Having tried a stay sail,two anchors,board & rudders down .....last 11 day outing we just put up with the swing and an oversize anchor....actually way oversize....my wife who is not at least nautical commmented that of all the bigger boats we saw....30-45ft and big houseboats nearly all had smaller anchors

[Boblee]

Think the most likely method of stopping the dance is either a stay sail or a mushroom? anchor or weight dropped from the stern but depending on where you are you could still have problems eg narrow estuary with tide and wind changes, don't think there is any real solution except vigilance, I quite enjoy watching the sky change through the hatch at night but not when there are other boats around.
The rolling is basically when the boat is side on to the waves which may or may not be to the wind but the stay sail might fix that, I haven't tried it but the bridle sure takes the swing out of it until something changes.