Life On The Hook
By John Urban
Have you ever woken up in a sweat after dreaming that the brakes in your car didn’t work?
If you’re a boater, you have probably also had the equivalent nightmare of dreaming that you are asleep aboard your boat and the anchor drags. And if you’re a seasoned boater, that nightmare likely has more than a tinge of reality associated with it.
Over the years I have done a significant amount of anchoring. I know about letting out lots of line (boaters call this scope) as a way to achieve a better set. I am aware of the need to understand whether or not the bottom is rocky, sandy, or muddy. And I understand that using chain further secures the hook-up because it lays the line lower, giving you a firmer hold.
Yet, most of my anchoring has been the daytime type, the let’s stop here to fish or have lunch variety. Overnight anchoring? Not so much.
I have a vivid memory of the first time we left our sailboat at anchor for an extended period of time. We took the dinghy to shore and walked around. Forty-five minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to see the boat still safely at anchor. Being an optimist, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to end up on the rocks. Being a boater, I was certain that some calamity was going to occur, running aground on the sandy beach seemed the most likely. But I was wrong. Everything was okay. Two hours later, it was still okay. I was even more surprised that night – yup, we were still secure. By the second day, I was damn proud to be an anchored boater. I was independent! I was off the grid! I was detached from the Nanny State of moorings and docks!
But we are talking about boating. That night, the wind blew up forcing boat after boat to drag their anchors. By 8AM the next morning, our own anchor slipped. It turned out that a broken winch handle down there in the mud worked its way into one of the flukes of our anchor. Despite the cause, the plain truth is that all that machismo and independence was a fleeting experience. And you know what? I am far from alone.
Enter, the question eternal – what type of anchor will best secure a boat?
For those wishing a response to this question, I have good news: your query has been answered. The bad news? There are many answers. In fact, everyone seems to have their own answer. The types and brands that people swear by is a seemingly endless list – CQR, Delta, Ronca, Bruce, Plow, Danforth, Kedge, Hall, Fisherman, Mantus, Fortress, on and on. Each answer different, conflicting, and authoritative.
With Spring upon us, I find myself needing to resolve this question. I want my independence back and I aspire to drop my anchor where others won’t go.
And as I write this, several writers from this blog are living the dream on the hook in the Out Islands of the Bahamas – I await their reports. But I am still stuck in a quandary, yet open to suggestion. So if you have some special knowledge on this subject, please feel free to drop by anytime – I am quite sure you will find me tied-up to Mooring ball #80, F. L. Tripps Boatyard, Westport, MA.
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