So you're now safely anchored. You might think that the longer the anchor chain, the better. In principle, you'd be right as far as anchoring itself is concerned. But there are some compromises needed because you also need to be able to sail the yacht efficiently.
Firstly, you really don't want a lot of extra weight right up in the bow. Secondly, a lot of chain encourages you to anchor deep, and if the electric windlass fails, you want the average crew to be able to recover the anchor using their muscle power!
A good compromise is to have about 40 to 50 meters or so of anchor chain (if your boat is big enough to carry that much), backed up by a goodly length of plaited nylon anchor rope. If you are anchoring in light conditions, and therefore probably shallow water, you will just use some of the chain. But if things get a bit difficult, you can let all the chain out, and use the nylon to prevent 'snatching', helping to ease the motion of the yacht.
Having anchored, the next thing to think about is your anchor watch. You need to have some way of checking that the anchor doesn't drag. Use your electronics, if you have them. Set the alarm on the depth gauge. Set the GPS or Chart Plotter to alarm if you drift outside a zone of safety.
Take a bearing or two on a useful light (you will probably only start to worry when it gets dark). And if you have any doubts at all, and it's night time, set an anchor watch. You only need one person for this.
Remind the watch to check the wind direction and note it in the log - the biggest risk when at anchor is if the wind backs or veers and increases in strength, putting you on a lee shore in a rising wind. Any significant wind shift and the anchor watch should wake the skipper.
Having set out these slightly alarming sounding precautions, I have to say that only on a few occasions have I had to up-anchor and get out to sea in the middle of the night.
If you choose a sheltered spot with good holding, check the weather forecast, and lay out sufficient scope with good holding, she will usually stay there, rooted to the sea bed, without worry.
Usually the yacht will settle bow on to the wind, and therefore to any swell, giving a gentle fore and aft movement that is entirely comfortable. But sometimes, things don't quite work that way, and she rolls. That can be uncomfortable, and if you want, you can adjust the lie of the yacht by rigging a spring to the anchor chain.
Pull in about ten metres of chain and attach one end of the spring to the chain outboard of the bow roller. Then let the ten metres of chain out again, taking one end of the spring with it. Next, walk the other end of the spring astern (port or starboard, depending on which way you want to adjust the lie of the yacht) to your largest winch, and start pulling in.
You can adjust the lie of the yacht quite happily until she is facing directly into the swell. You can even lie broadside on to the anchor if you want, but that's fairly unusual and not really to be recommended.
Another simple adjustment, if you're using chain, is to rig an anchor snub. In anything but the most gentle swell, the sound of metal chain against metal bow roller can be really irritating at night. So I make up a dedicated anchor snub.
I use one of those black rubber mooring springs from the chandler, and about 15 metres of plaited nylon mooring line. About five metres from one end I twist the line round the rubber spring.
Once anchored, I OXO (see below) the short end to a bow mooring cleat and run the contraption outboard through a fairlead so the rubber spring is outboard. I then pull in about ten metres of chain, and attach the other end of the snub line to the anchor chain outboard of the bow roller using a bowline. I then let the ten metres of chain back out so that the pull from the anchor is transferred to the snub.
That way, the chain is slack at the bow roller, and the weight of the yacht is being held on the rubberised nylon snub. Quietness returns, and the crew in the forepeak will buy the beers the following evening!
(OXO refers to the way a line is led around a cleat: once round, twice across, once round again. You can lock it off after if you want.)
Richard Thomas holds a Commercially Endorsed RYA Yachtmaster and Cruising Instructor (Sail) certificate. He runs his own delivery business, www.yachtmovers.co.uk
He is available for deliveries, assisted passages, own-yacht tuition, and yacht management.
