17 posts
Hi all,
I have some basic questions about anchoring overnight, hoping to ease my mind and give it a go this summer. I've been sailing my 10?m Crowther cat for a number of years and feel comfortable with it. I've done plenty of overnight stays, but only when there's an available mooring or at a marina. I'm a bit paranoid about sleeping at anchor until I've confirmed a few things.
My current setup is:
12kg Danforth Anchor
5m of 8mm chain
35m of 12mm nylon rope to the boat
Also, 20m of 6mm chain doing nothing. never used.
Whenever I anchor, it's just for a lunch stop in 4-8m of water, so it's pretty easy stuff. I lower and raise the anchor by hand, so 5m of chain isn't difficult to handle. I can run the rope up to a winch if needed. I also have a spare 20m of 6mm chain on board that's not in use.
I have a couple of questions:
Is 5m of chain and 35m of rope enough to anchor overnight in 3-8m of water? I feel maybe I should be using more chain.
The current setup would give me about a 5:1 scope in 8m of water, but I'm worried that might not be enough of that in actual chain?
Would I be better off ditching the 8mm chain altogether and just using the 20m of 6mm chain?
Another option could be to cut the 6mm chain down and attach only 10m of it to the end of the 8mm chain to give a total of 15m of chain. If that's suitable, could I simply join them with a 6mm bow shackle?
Any input would be greatly appreciated - as i'd like to gain more confidence in anchoring.
Thank you!
