Good Maritime Practice Short Course: Anchoring

Almost all charter yachts are equipped with electric anchor winches - capstan... When operating them, remember the following:

• Engage the capstan only when the engine is running. Otherwise, the spire will quickly "drain" your battery.

• When accepting the yacht for charter, ask to be shown the location of the capstan's power circuit fuses. If they are not automatic, ask for a spare.

• Do not overload the capstan! It is not designed to lift rocks from the seabed!

• If the electric drive of the capstan finally fails, use the supplied handle or lever (handspug). Muscle strength is enough to pull the anchor, although in strong winds and rough seas, you will have to sweat a lot.

• Keep your fingers away from the moving parts of the capstan!

Anchoring under the engine

The maneuvers associated with anchoring under sail or under the engine are absolutely identical. Just under the engine you will reach the armature recoil point much faster and more accurately.

The helmsman (captain) completely organizes and controls the process.

­Command: prepare to drop the anchor! The crew checks the anchor and prepares it for work. Information to the helmsman: the anchor is ready to kickback!

­Steering examines and chooses an anchorage place, taking into account the possible movement of the yacht around the given anchor (see Fig. 1).

­Steering takes the yacht to the point of recoil of the anchor against the wind (current) and controls the beginning of the drift back.

­Command: give up the anchor! The stopper is released and the anchor chain is etched to a predetermined length. The length is controlled by a special counter or colored markings on the chain or rope. It must be at least 5 depths.

­Command: chain on the stopper!

­The situation is checked: Whether the anchor has "stopped". The helmsman backs up, maintaining the direction "with the nose against the wind" (current).

If the anchor does not "hold", we repeat the maneuver until a positive result is obtained. We control the absence of drift by landmarks on the shore (preferably two landmarks in alignment).

If moving the yacht around the anchor is undesirable, we additionally give the stern anchor, for which:

Bleeding off the chain (rope) of the main anchor, we go to the recoil point of the stern anchor, give it back and stretch the yacht between two anchors (see Fig. 2).

Sometimes it is advisable to fix the stern on the shore, using a yacht brin for delivery. An “earring” mooring facility will look ideal, which will allow it to be removed without going ashore.

Advice:

• Always relieve the anchor pin by using stoppers or special stop ends by guiding them from the chain onto the mooring cleats or bittens.

• At night, do not restrict yourself to anchor (klotik) fire at the top of the mast. In addition, illuminate the yacht using spreader headlights or other light sources (LED torch) illuminating the hull of your yacht.

• Periodically check the absence of drift at anchor using the GPS receiver or visually.

Anchoring under sail has some features:

• Remove the staysail, improving the view of the helmsman and freeing up space for the crew on the tank to work with the anchor.

• Exit to the point only under the mainsail, bringing the yacht to the “leventic” position.

• When the yacht begins to drift back, drop the anchor, then read above.

Text: Yacht Captain A. Lysenko

18.03.2012