I am on page 241 of Roger Olson’s book “Plot Your Course to Adventure”. He is describing a technique for deploying two bow anchors opposite each other. In his diagram the angle is 180 degrees. I am going to try this out. The end result is a type of DIY mooring. I am wondering how others normally deploy two anchors. I am not interested in limiting swinging room. Rather, I want something secure so I can leave the boat alone for a week.
Hi Billy on SV Pixie
Two anchors Imho. Is one too many. BCCs small enough for one claw anchor 35 lbs with all chain ride 5/16 , 7/1 scope relax in good holding or go elsewhere oh and snubbers , nylon
A week in settled weather via Predict Wind stay tuned and have a friend nearby or don’t go
Next topic please…
Cheers
Billy
OK thanks. Roger Olson would disagree. He wrote an entire chapter on it. But you are probably correct. I have not witnessed anyone deploying more than one anchor except when Hurricane Isabel came up the coast. I had 3 out. Glad I did.
I also much prefer the simplicity and do trust a single anchor, but this is helped by the fact that I’ve 240 ft of chain and an almost comically oversized hook for piccolo Indigo. I’ve also never had to hold in anything above 40.
Fwiw I’ve read that 90 degrees (45 off the bow for each) is optimal. Defer to Olson though. Might be wise to buoy them both? I’d be slightly worried about ending up beam on to the weather with 90/90.
Personally to weather a big one afloat I’d seek a deeply protected inlet where I could anchor both ends and take lines ashore.
Would love an after action report from your setup!
Having sailed my boat since 1992 I can tell you deploying two anchors at 45° angle angles off the bow is usually a bad idea. It takes a lot of work and your swing is significantly reduced and it does not work very well in a crowded Anchorage.
Years ago, I was caught in a gale off Cape Sojunion in Greece we dragged Anchor at night but it re-grabbed so the next day I went swimming and looked at the other boats in the Anchorage and one boat right next to me had deployed two anchors, but instead of separate rodes, it was one rode to the main anchor and then beyond that on a line in front of the main anchor and tied to the main anchor a light Danforth anchor was attached so if the main anchor moved , the danforth was dug in extremely well because the pull was perfectly horizontal
Tandem anchors
when I need to double anchor which has been rare, that’s how I do it. I have two lines on my CQR anchor one a polypropylene line attached to the eye of the anchor for recovering if it’s stuck and then another line about 15 feet long which just sits there until I need it and then I will tie it to my lighter white fortress anchor this never has failed me
One of the big advantages of having the polypropylene line with an eye spliced already in it is when you go down to swim on your anchor it’s always floating up so you can spot your anchor easily. I’ve had to use it one time when my anchor had lodged under a marina Mooring chain in Greece
I simply took a line swam down to the anchor, passed it through the eye spice and brought it back up and retrieved it easily, saving me hundreds of dollars in diving fees
Franz