My Best Friend
on Tuesday, January 27, 2015
People say that sailboats dont have brakes. Maybe some peoples sailboats dont, but mine does. And it saved my butt several time... today!
I have got my anchor system perfected to where I can have my anchor down and set in under 30 seconds. Time me.
Ive sailed with people who never put their anchor out. I sometimes wonder what they would do if they suddenly needed to stop. I suspect it would be a 20 minute 3-ring circus. That makes me nervous.
I put my anchor down 4 times today. Once when I went aground (more on that joyous topic, later), once when my engine stalled, once when I needed a break for a late lunch, and once at my evening anchorage.
The first two times called for quick action. The second two times were more relaxed, but the anchor went down just as fast.
How do I do it? Well, I have a bow roller, and I do store my anchor on it, when Im some place civilized, like a dock...
22 lb Lewmar Anchor on bow roller
photo jalmberg
But for every day use, I keep the chain and the anchor in the bow well. That way, I can walk forward, pick up the anchor, and lower it over board (between the bowsprit and the wisker stay.) This is much faster than trying to feed the anchor and chain through the bow roller. Once the anchor and chain are down, I let the anchor rode out over the bow roller, as usual. The 22 lb. Lewmar Claw, with 12 of heavy chain, digs in instantly.
Recovery is nearly as fast. I pull the anchor rode up till the chain part is up to the bow roller, then tie the rode off to the sampson post. Then I grab hold of the chain and haul it in hand over hand. I have a better angle on it, hoisting it in over the side.
This hand-driven recovery system works, because my anchor is relatively light... just 22 lbs. And because it doesnt have any moving parts. Nothing to pivot and catch on things. And because it has no pointy bits... All of its points are fairly rounded. Its a very user-friendly anchor that tends not to catch on things.
Lewmar 22lb Claw Anchor
photo, lewmar
As I said, I had urgent need of an anchor twice today. The first time was when I ran aground -- again. I strayed a few feet out of the channel and went hard aground. Gosh, I was mad. But the tide was rising, so it wasnt so bad.
I decided to speed the process up by tilting the boat over, so I moved all my heavy cargo, including box of books, two boxes of fasteners, a box of canned goods, etc., all over to the starboard side, down below.
This didnt quite do it, so I tried the trick of tying something heavy to the boom -- two five gallon water jugs -- and swinging it out to the side.
Weight at the end of the boom, to heel the boat over
photo jalmberg
Amazingly enough, this worked, and I was soon off the shoal.
Im getting pretty good at this running aground stuff! You cant buy this kind of experience!
>>> Next Episode: Foul Wind, Fair City
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