Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine October 2017

Another Damned Opinion on My Anchoring!
Or, The Anchoring Dance
Some years ago, my wife and I were safely anchored
aboard our 35-foot catamaran very near the shore in
Portsmouth, Dominica, during a rather typical period
of 20- to 25-knot winds. A vessel came in with a man
by Laurie Corbett
allow the fluke(s) to penetrate the sand and grass.
By experience, I’ve learned that advice during anchoring
is, well, seldom wanted. So we just watched as the
man got increasingly frustrated and his family seemed to
become fearful. Andrew, a PAYS yacht services operator
was attending, attempting to assist, and I dared to ask
why he did not offer the captain one of their economical
moorings. “He won’t take one!” I bit my lip, and continued
to watch until the boat moved away from us.
Weeks later, I was anchored in Deshaies, Guadeloupe,
when I recognized the same boat doing the same thing
(with the same limited amount of chain out). However,
this time, in his frustration, the gentleman was actually
dragging his anchor at 90 degrees to the wind and
the many other boats. I was forced to conclude that he
had so little chain out that his anchor would not even
get under or pick up anyone else’s chain! He did, however,
have the attention of everyone aboard the other
boats. After a considerable length of time, he appeared
to be somewhat anchored, complete again with the
scared-looking family.
I hazard a guess at the man’s strategy. I presume he
was taught or concluded that the process should
involve getting hooked with as little chain as required
to ensure that it was a good hook (Darwinian approach?)
and then adding more chain later to improve the security
of the holding. Without more data, it is the only
theory I can come up with.
Now, I am not by any means an expert on anything.
I have also been put in my place often enough by others
who just do not want advice that I should have
learned to be shy about giving it. Indeed, I have many
friends who insist that giving anchoring advice is
something they will NEVER do.
—Continued on next page
OCTOBER 2017 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 22
and woman, and two children near the age of ten. He
attempted to anchor beside us, in front of us (OMG!),
on the other side of us, and behind us, and then began
the process again. I noticed, after being forced to pay
attention, that the problem really seemed that the
gentleman just would not put much anchor chain out
before backing up with a lot of power. The angle
between the anchor and the bottom could not possibly
The anchors of two other
boats overnighting near
us. Having a good
anchor is only part
of the solution!
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