Anchoring Tips

Buying the right type of anchor for you boat is essential. But knowing how to anchor is critical. There are many instances where rookie boaters have woken up the next morning to find that their boat has drifted far out to sea.

This has nothing to do with the anchor failing, rather it is the technique that has failed. Wind is huge factor in making a boat drift away. To avoid your anchor getting dislodged due to wind, you will have to use two anchors. The two anchor method is known as the V anchor, because both anchors are deployed off the bow (or the stern in some cases) in a V shape. This ensures that even if one anchor drags, the other one is still holding tight. In bad weather conditions an extra anchor is added to this configuration by being let in front of the V.

If you have room to swing around in normal conditions, you can let the V out in an angle of 140 to 180 degrees. However if you don’t, then you will have add a third anchor to the stern so the boat stays in one place. Note that this configuration can be rather uncomfortable for sleeping, as the boat is held rather rigidly by the anchors.

With fresh water boating, always consider the tides when anchoring. Anchoring at low tide could leave you adrift at high tide because of the difference in rode as the water rises. The best way to figuring out the rode is to anchor in high tide. However be wary and keep an eye out as the water drops, because low tide could leave you grounded.