Scott and I finally anchored for the first time last weekend! When we had Kokomo, we went through the process of pulling out our anchor and marking it in feet. So we did the same thing with this boat a few weeks ago. It’s important to check your anchor for a few things: is it in good shape, is it all chain and how much chain do you have? Plus, once the chain locker is empty, you can inspect it too.
Our anchor is tied to a cleat on the bow, which helps keep it secured. But as you can see, we need to replace the rope – it’s seen better days.
On this boat, we have foot pedals on the bow for the electric windlass. The anchor you see in the photo below, is actually our spare anchor.
Laying the anchor chain out on the dock.
Turns out we have all chain and no rope. That’s a good thing. However, we noticed the first five rungs were really rusty, so we decided to remove those. Easier said than done, but Scott managed to do it with a set of bolt cutters.
Next we knew that the dock was built in 10′ segments, so we laid out the tarp and then I slowly released the anchor chain and Scott lined up the chain every ten feet on the dock.
How much anchor chain do we have?
Our previous boat had over 250′ of chain and we never once anchored with that boat. Since this boat has a generator, we hope to spend the night on the hook next summer. Once Scott laid out all of the chain on the dock, he spray painted the ends, indicating “every ten feet”. The previous owner had also tied ribbons on the chain, every 25′, so now we have two methods of measurements we can use.
Turns out we have about 240′ of chain. The chain locker looked good and we were very careful when we brought it back up. We checked the locker a few times to make sure it was laying flat.
One word of caution – don’t pull the chain / anchor too tight. As you can see in the photo below, I did just that and it got stuck on the anchor plate below the bow. Scott was finally able to loosen it, by attaching a line to it from the dock and pushing the boat back and forth. But if you’re on the water, you’re stuck.
Let’s practice in Port Madison
Last weekend, we headed over to Port Madison to practice anchoring. Kurt came along to give us some tips and advice. It was a beautiful day and perfect to practice anchoring for the first time.
The original plan was to enter into Port Madison and anchor inside.
However, it was also a very low tide that afternoon and once we got inside where Treasure Island is, we were in only 7′ of water and I got uncomfortable. Not only was I worried about our draft (yes, our draft is 4′, so we were fine), but there were a lot of boats inside and the last thing they needed was a newbie practicing around them. When anchoring, make sure to practice proper etiquette.
So we decided to turn around and head back out. We would practice anchoring in the outside bay. (smart decision). If you are looking to practice anchoring, Port Madison is perfect – it’s only 40 min from Seattle (at 9 knots) and a fun trip.
We’re finally ready to anchor for the first time!
Right outside the bay, we picked a spot that was about 20′ deep and there were no boats around. We untied the anchor and slowly started to lower it into the water. Since there were no boats around, we decided to let out 100′ of chain (5 -1) versus 140 (7-1). If I noticed that the boat was moving forward over the chain, I had Scott slowly back up. We did this a few times, until 100′ was let out. Then we waited about 3 minutes to see if the chain was holding. It wasn’t vibrating, which can be an indicator that it’s dragging.
Success on the first try! We’re not going anywhere. Time for lunch!
The four of us enjoyed lunch in the cockpit while at anchor. It was a bit weird and you do move a lot. This is not a bay I would stay over night in, so I’m assuming it would be calmer somewhere else.
Now we have to pull up the anchor
You’ll love the pictures here, as I was wearing our GoPro camera while pulling up the anchor! LOL. Scott and I followed the same procedure of backing up the boat, if it started to move over the top of the anchor. I would give him arm signals, indicating which direction the anchor chain was as we were pulling it up.
The wet chain made a bit of a mess on the bow, with some rusty water. We took a bucket of water and rinsed it off right away. We only brought up a little bit of kelp, so nothing too bad. The anchor had a lot of mud on it, so I carefully lowered it a few times to rinse it off. In all, it was a successful first time anchoring. I’m really glad Kurt was there to show us the ropes and help with the process. Be sure to check out our next blog as we take a trip around Blake Island to look for a spot to anchor!
Here’s the full footage on our YouTube channel below.
As always, thank you for following our blog. We’re booking our bareboat charter in the British Virgin Islands this week. Our friends Ben & Maria are chartering a Power Catamaran with us next April. I will be sure to share all of my research and am looking for tips and advise too in upcoming blogs.
Please follow us on our social channels: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
Cheers, Scott and Ally
#boatingjourney