Anchoring Guide

Classic design with a hinged shank. Resets well if the boat swings. Heavy for its holding power — largely superseded by newer designs, but still found on many older boats.

One-piece plough (no hinge). Self-launching from a bow roller. Reliable all-rounder and a very popular OEM anchor. Not the best in hard packed sand or rock.

Sets quickly and resets easily in shifting winds. Lower holding power per kg than modern designs. Good kedge anchor. Often found as a secondary anchor.

High holding power for its weight in the right conditions. Stows flat — ideal as a kedge. Struggles in rock, weed, or thick mud. Can be difficult to reset if it breaks out.

Modern roll-bar concave designs. Set fast, hold hard, and reset reliably. The current gold standard for cruising anchors. Worth the upgrade if you anchor regularly.

Lightweight aluminium fluke anchor with adjustable shank angle. Outstanding holding in mud (set the shank to the wide angle). Excellent storm anchor or kedge. Disassembles for stowage.

Chain is heavy and adds catenary (sag) that absorbs shock. 3:1 works in calm settled weather. Always use 5:1 or more in any wind.

Rope is lighter so less catenary. More scope compensates. Always use at least 5m of chain between anchor and rope to resist abrasion on the seabed.

In strong winds, let out as much as you have. Scope is your best defence. Better to have too much than too little — if swinging room allows.

Check the chart for depth, seabed type, and hazards. Look at wind direction and fetch. Consider what happens if the wind shifts 180 degrees — will you still have room? Will you swing into other boats, shallows, or rocks?

Motor slowly upwind (or up-current, whichever is stronger) towards your chosen spot. Come to a stop over the point where you want the anchor to lie on the seabed — not where you want the boat to end up.

Lower the anchor under control using the windlass or by hand. Never just throw or dump it — the chain will pile on top and the anchor won't set. Let it reach the bottom, then pay out chain as the boat drifts back.

As the boat drifts astern in the wind (or use gentle reverse), pay out chain steadily. Aim for the scope ratio you need. The chain should lay along the seabed, not hang in a steep angle from the bow.

Once your target scope is out, snub the chain (cleat it off or lock the windlass). Let the boat load the anchor gradually. Then give a firm burst of reverse at around 1500-2000 RPM for 10-15 seconds. Watch a transit bearing or GPS — the boat should stop moving astern.

Take transit bearings: line up two fixed objects ashore. If they stay aligned, you're holding. Or watch your GPS track — it should show the boat swinging on a consistent arc, not steadily moving. If in doubt, let out more scope and reset.

Rig a snubber line (nylon) from a bow cleat to the chain — take the load off the windlass. The snubber absorbs shock loading in gusts and is much quieter than chain grinding through the fairlead. Let out enough chain so the snubber takes the full load.

Set a GPS anchor alarm on your chartplotter or phone app. Set the radius to your scope plus half a boat length. If the boat moves outside this circle, you're dragging.

Protection

The most important factor. Choose a spot sheltered from the wind direction and the swell. A lee shore is dangerous — always anchor where you have room to leave safely if conditions deteriorate.

Seabed holding

Sand and mud give the best hold. Weed, rock, and coral are poor. Check the chart symbols — S for sand, M for mud, Wd for weed, R for rock. A sticky mud or firm sand bottom is ideal.

Depth

Anchor in 3–10m if possible. Too shallow and you risk grounding on a falling tide. Too deep and you need excessive chain, which also makes it harder to retrieve. Always calculate depth at low water.

Swinging room

Your boat will swing in a circle around the anchor. The radius is your scope plus your boat length. Make sure this circle is clear of other boats, rocks, shallows, and shore at all states of tide.

Escape route

Never anchor somewhere you can't leave in a hurry. If the wind shifts to put you on a lee shore, can you motor out? If your engine fails, can you sail off the anchor? Think about this before you drop.

Tidal range

In areas with large tides, a 5m depth at high water might be 1m at low water. Check tide tables and add the tidal range to your scope calculation. Depth at LW = charted depth + height of tide at LW.

Not enough scope

This is the number one anchoring failure. If in doubt, let out more chain. A short scope means the pull on the anchor is upward, which breaks it out of the seabed. More scope = more horizontal pull = better holding.

Dropping the anchor and hoping

Always set the anchor with reverse thrust. An anchor sitting on the surface of the seabed is not set — it's just resting there. You need to dig it in with a sustained pull.

Anchoring too close to other boats

Different boats swing at different rates. A multihull will swing before a heavy monohull. Boats on different scope will swing different radii. Leave more room than you think you need.

No snubber on all-chain rode

Without a snubber, every gust shock-loads the windlass directly. This can damage the windlass and makes the boat jerk uncomfortably. A 10m nylon snubber absorbs shock and reduces noise.

Not checking through the night

Conditions change. Set an anchor alarm, but also physically check your position when you wake. A quick look at a transit bearing takes 5 seconds and gives peace of mind.

Ignoring the weather forecast

A benign anchorage in light winds becomes deadly in a gale from the wrong direction. Always check the forecast for the full duration of your stay, including overnight wind shifts.