Staying put

An anchor does not hold by weight — it holds by digging in, and it can only dig if the pull along the seabed is horizontal. That is what scopescopeHow much anchor chain you lay out relative to depth — at least 4:1 with chain, so the pull stays horizontal.full glossary → is for: with chain, a working minimum of four times the maximum depth of water (more in wind, more with rope). Short scope lifts the shank and turns a good anchor into an expensive plough.

Choosing the spot is tide-and-chart work you already know: enough depth at low waterlow waterThe moment (and height) of the tide’s trough. Abbreviated LW.full glossary → for your draught, enough scope at high waterhigh waterThe moment (and height) of the tide’s peak. Abbreviated HW.full glossary → for your chain, holding ground that bites — sand and mud are good, weed and rock are lottery tickets — shelter from the forecast wind (and the forecast shift), room to swing clear of neighbours, and no cables, moorings or fairwaysfairwayThe main navigable channel of a harbour or river.full glossary → underneath. The struck-through anchor symbol on the chart settles the last point.

Laying it: bring the bow head to wind or tide, stop, lower — never hurl — the anchor to the bottom, then fall back as you pay out scope, and dig it in with a burst of astern. Proof of holding: pick a transittransitTwo fixed objects seen exactly in line — a position line of perfect accuracy, no compass needed.full glossary → abeamabeamOut to the side of the boat, at right angles to her length.full glossary → — two fixed objects in line — and watch it; if the transit holds while the boat settles, you are anchored. Then set an anchor alarm or note swinging-circle bearings, because the test continues all night.

A tripping linetripping lineA light line from the anchor’s crown to a small buoy — pulls a fouled anchor out backwards.full glossary → — a light line from the anchor’s crown to a small buoy — is cheap insurance on foul ground: it pulls the anchor out backwards when the usual way is stuck.

Choosing and weighing

Anchors come in families, and each has a temperament. The plough types (CQR-style, and the modern spade/scoop generation that mostly out-performs them) are the everyday bowerbowerThe main anchor, carried on the bow.full glossary → — the main anchor on the bow — happiest in sand and mud. The danforth’s flat flukes fold for stowage and bite hard in soft bottoms, which makes it the classic kedgekedgeThe lighter second anchor.full glossary → — the lighter second anchor you row out or deploy from the stern. The claw sets easily but holds modestly; the old fisherman pattern is poor everywhere except the kelp and rock where nothing else works. Whatever the pattern, the honest rule: carry one good bower a size heavier than the chart suggests, and know where the kedge is stowed.

Weighing anchor reverses the laying: motor slowly up towards the anchor as the crew brings in the slack — never drag the boat to the chain with the windlasswindlassThe winch that hauls the anchor chain.full glossary →, it is not built for that — and when the chain is straight up and down, the anchor usually breaks out as the bow rises. Stubborn? Snub the chain at short stay and let the boat’s own pitching work it loose. Properly fouled, the tripping line you laid earns its keep — or motor gently in a circle to back the flukes out the way they went in.