Well, for the first time in the 3 or 4 years I’ve been watching this forum, I finally feel as though I can add something. Anchoring is my thing. For 10 or 11 years, I had to anchor my 338’ fish processor in western Alaska in all kinds of weather to get the fish on or off. The additional structure that we had tacked on to the original ship really raised the wind resistance and increased the vessel’s tendency to yaw in the breeze. 60 degrees either side of the wind wasn’t uncommon, and it was sometimes pretty scary to watch the chain fetch up as the ship sailed through the wind and came up hard on the port or starboard extreme. After a few years of watching this, I started doing the following as SOP in a strong breeze: Set one anchor normally with whatever scope is needed, then drop the second anchor underfoot with enough chain to keep it on the bottom. This small amount of resistance was enough to keep the bow from swinging, and it stopped the shock loading of the main anchor. There. I’ve exhausted my expertise.
9 Likes