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Spent the first night on the boat.

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RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/05/2006 : 19:38:28

Hello all. We went out last night on the boat. I anchored in a cove and spent the first night on the boat. It was an adventure. I used a bow and stern anchor. I was a little over causious for the first time. I have heard so much about people losing anchors in the middle of the night and are awaken when they hear the boat hittings something. I made the mistake of placing the bow of the boat in towards the cove instead of out to the lake. I did that beacuse the weinds were coming off the land when I anchored. The weather forecast was for the winds to be light and not changing directions. I found the wind changed when the wave were lapping at the stern. This brings me to my big question. The Noise. Is it something that you get use to? Between the rigging, water lapping the boat and the rudder squeeking it was a long night. THe bigest was the rudder. i tied it down but it still moves just a little and makes noise. What do you do about the rudder. Also tell me about your first night. I learned a lot and forgot a lot of things I need. Now I have a long list of things I need for the next time.

Don

Don and Kim Young
Las Vegas Nv
http://web.me.com/bolter303/Our_World/Welcome.html

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 19:51:23

Hi Don, you can bundgee the halyards to the shrouds to stop the slapping. As far as the rudder is concerned, I can tighten mine all the way over to either side and it will not move a bit. The waves slapping the hull is just cool. I like that sound. Cheers.

Edited by - on

mashedcat
Navigator

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USA
194 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 20:19:33

ditto dennis, i love the sound. be sure to bungee the halyards in a marina as a matter of courtesy. slapping halyards are distracting, and annoying

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 20:28:37

remembering the old bumper sticker from the 60's on old vans, it could be changed to

If this boat's rocking, don't come knocking

Once you bungee the halyards, and tie off the rudder, the wind and waves are a great sound. I have a 16 lb delta anchor as it is great in the weed beds and sand of the keys, so I don't have too much worry about coming loose.
sleep tight, and pleasant dreams.
Just be sure to have some great coffee for the morning, that's not a time to cheap out on Folgers

Edited by - on

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 20:30:23

Although I just became a land dweller again, I lived on my boat during the week for five weeks. It took me a couple of days to get used to the sound. The rocking was very pleasent. I think when you start to feel relaxed about being at anchor, you will sleep better. Although I was in a marina, the principle was the same, I slept like a log even when it was storming after I had been on the boat a while.

For me, a good air mattress, or whatever you decide on, was the most critical thing for comfort.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 21:14:29

Aside from halyard slap, the rest of the noises are just part of the water music. After a few nights, you don't notice them... after a few more nights you don't know how you slept without them.

Edited by - on

Turk
Admiral

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USA
736 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 21:34:34

One word:

RUM

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 22:21:47

I sleep better on the boat than at home.

When anchoring out in a cove on our lake I tie off the tiller (straight) then tie the stern to a tree on shore.
When anchored where I can't tie the stern off to a tree I anchor fore and aft and use my GPS anchor drift warning feature.

Our first time sleeping at anchor was fretful. Didn't sleep much. Learned to use the GPS anchor feature, learned to anchor properly.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/05/2006 : 23:29:26

I have been thinking about replacing my matress (quarterbirth) with a Temperpedic matress. There is a company that advertises in most sailing mags that cuts them to fit your exact boat. If you have never had the chance to sleep on one, your missing out. Cheers.

Edited by - on

tmhansen
Captain

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USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 01:08:50

I remember our first night at anchor I too was very nervous about staying put. I also put out two anchors, but both of the bow 180 degrees oposite each other (Bahamian Mooring). Where we anchored the tide changes twice a day and can run at 3 or 4 knots I think. I was worried about waking up in the pacific. Its always fun the in the morning to see which way the boat is headed. I too am bothered by noises at night. Seems like there is always something I need to get up out of bed to deal with, be it a halyard, the dinghy bumping into the side of the hull, or something rolling around in a locker. To silence my halyards at night I wrap them around the spreader ends. I upgraded my rudder with the gudgeons from Catalina Direct. The pintles fit tightly and there is no slop in the rudder at all.

Edited by - on

Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 05:21:37

Don, when you anchor bow to wind you will have less noise from the water slapping under the stern counter. The first night I slept on my boat was at the dock and I was in the quarterberth: the amplified slap drove me nuts. Since then I've slept elsewhere, and, when anchored, pointed the boat into the wind.

Brooke

Edited by - on

existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 06:30:28

How's the water level in Lake Mead? My daughter said it's still pretty low, (she lives there).
I wouldn't use 2 anchors unless there was a blow coming, one anchor lets the boat swing with the wind. Set the alarm on your GPS if you have one so equipped.

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 07:44:52

Thank you all for the help and advice. I too got up several time at night to fix different things. As the wind shifted a different sound was heard. I bundgee the halyards and that worked great. I than got up and pulled the dock bumpers up out of the water. I thought we were going to be cold so I got a small heater and that worked great. I slept in the aft berth and left the slider open 2". I could lay in bed and look up at the mast head and see the wind vane. That thing spun every direction at night. At different time when I heard a new noise I would look up and see the wind was comming from a new direction. Now as for the rudder. I have a tiller tamer and and I had it ties straight. I think the problem is that it is not tight in the pins where it attaches to the boat and it moves just enough to give off that rubbing sound. When I got up in the morning I was looking at a way to be able to pull the rudder at night. I think that is a bit much and I am sure someone here has had the same problem. I don't mid the water music I think my problem was that I pointed my bow to shore, droped a stern anchor, pulled into shore and set a bow anchor on the beach. I should have turned the boat 180 degrees. I think that would have stopped the slappin on the stern. I think I will try the two bow anchors next time. Is there anyplace on the web that has good anchoring tips? Yes Lake Mead is low. Where we went was called Sandy Cove. Not anymore. The sandy part is way up on the land and the cove should be called sharp rocky cove. The bad par is that the water level is dropping and little reefs are popping up everywhere. I know I am long here but I have one other question. I understand dropping one anchor and letting the wind pull you around. However in Lake Mead as you approach the coves (land) the water is still fairly deep (100 feeet or so). To get into about 40' of water to anchor you are close to shore, and with a 7 to 1 as you swing you will hit something. Any ideas. Maybe I should break this post into too parts Anchor and Rudder. Thanks again and I will try to sail as much as I can this winter for all of you back east in the snow.

Edited by - on

welshoff
Captain

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USA
253 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 10:47:18

Don,
I replaced my gudgeons with the ones Catalina direct sells. They have a bushing (plastic or compsite?) that eliminates the noise from the rudder. You can also buy replacement bushings - I bought a couple in advance when I bought the gudgeons. It is no longer metal on metal. My rudder drove my crazy the first few times I stayed on board. Changing out the gudgeons took all that noise out of the stern - also "tighted" up the rudder.

Note: my lower gudgeon was especially "loose" and made a lot of noise inside the boat. I think leaving my boat slipped leads to the added wear on the lower gudgeon.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 11:07:37

When mounting the rudder at the beginning of the season, I slip a nylon washer on each pintle before setting the rudder in the gudgeons.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5904 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 11:08:47

Anchoring in 40 feet of water would be a challenge for almost anyone. Personally, I wouldn't even try to anchor in 40 feet with a rocky bottom. I'd find someplace else to anchor. If the bottom was sandy or muddy, then you could probably get by anchoring in 40 feet if you had enough line and lots of chain.

If one anchor is set well, that should be all you need in most situations. You can test how well it's set by backing down on it slowly, and gradually increasing the motor's throttle until you're sure it isn't dragging. If it passes that test, you shouldn't need a second anchor unless a serious storm blows through, or you're anchored in a strong tidal current, or some sizable waves are rolling through the anchorage.

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RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 12:42:47

Steve, Are you saying that 40' is shallow? The bottom is basicly desert under water. Sand and rocks with some vegitation, the anchor seems to get a good bite. I droped the anchor and backed up the boat and got a good set. The reason for the second anchor on shore was so that I don't have any swing. The only problem is that if you anchor out far enough so the swing won't hit (say 70 to 100') than you need about 700' on anchor line out. I appreciate all the help and I am learning a lot for it.

As for the rudder can I chand th bushing in the water or do I need to pull the boat out of the water? It is something I need to do though, too much noise. Thanks

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 15:20:51

As for the rudder, you could tie it off straight like you did then loop a line around the top of the rudder blade and pull the line from the rear of the blade tight to the nearest stantion. That should take any slack out of the rudder for the night. Cheers.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 15:40:01

If you anchor in a small cove and you must limit swinging you are in the same situation we are in here in Southern CA. See my photo below from Santa Cruz Island.

Obviously Indscipline could not swing there and so I had bow and stern anchors out. The trouble is the boat can not move at all and in a beam wind there can be a big load on each anchor. Also, in a crowded cove, everyone better have a stern anchor out, or no one. In our small coves, this is common practice. Don't use a stern anchor unless it is needed to prevent swinging! Swinging is a good thing!

You may find a Bahamian Moor to work better. This means basically taking that stern anchor line to the bow. What that allows is the boat will stay in place, but will spin around so that the bow is always pointing into the wind. Rodes may get tangled and the right way to do this is to attach both rodes to a swivel and lower that off the bow. Any book, such as Chapman's, shows how to do it. I used it extensively in the Bahamas. Lots of work!

Also, you'll get used to sleeping on the hook. I have lots of experience anchoring plus big anchors and lots of chain. 2, 13 lb danforths, 50 feet of 5/16 chain, and 200 feet of 1/2 nylon. The stern anchor is a 8 lb on 10 feet of 1/2 chain and 200 feet of 1/2 nylon. I've had all 3 set at times! Less chain on the stern because I set it from my kayak.

You'll find you sleep light. You get up 3 or 4 times per night, check the set, look out for other boats too close. I always have wild and crazy dreams when anchoring.

At least you don't have to worry about ocean swells arriving. I use 2 swell dampners, which are 3 large orange cones each on a 8 lb mushroom anchor. These are deployed off the side using the spinnaker pole on one side and the whisker pole on the other. Cuts rolling from 30 degree swings to 5.

A riding sail would also be nice, the C25 constantly tacks while at anchor (but the stern anchor stops that).

After a few nights you will tune out the bumps and knocks and other little sounds. I sleep in my salon and can look directly up through the window and see the flag on my port shroud. Lets me keep an eye and ear on the wind.

I have a unique way of setting anchor (learned from a book my Hal Roth).

Motor downwind at 2 to 3 knots, tiller centered with your tiller tamer, put motor in neutral.

Go to bow, drop anchor, quickly feed chain out under the boat.

Snug it up when it is about 3 to 1 scope.

Feel it bite and dig in!

Let out more scope, tie off.

Boat will swing around and stop, head to wind.

Goto motor and back down hard. Check for dragging.

Knowing it is well set leads to better sleep. I always leave motor mount down and motor ready in case I have to move out fast.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5904 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 17:01:45

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Steve, Are you saying that 40' is shallow?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">On the contrary, I don't think I've ever anchored in 40 feet. Most anchorages are in 12-15 feet.

If you have an all-rope anchor line, then you need more scope. If you have a long piece of chain in your anchor line, then you can decrease the amount of scope in the anchor line. The anchor buries itself, and the chain lays on the sand or mud. As your boat drifts back on the anchor line, it tugs on the line, and some of the chain lifts off the bottom, but not all of it. Because the chain is heavy, it tends to hold the anchor line down, so that the pull exerted by the boat on the anchor line is aft, rather than up. If you have plenty of chain, your anchor will hold with a much shorter scope. Chain increases the catenary curve of the anchor line, which increases its holding power.

If you add much chain to your anchor line, you'll definitely want to install an anchor roller on the bow, to make it easier to retireve the chain without scratching the boat.

If all the anchorages in your area are like this one, then you have to get ground tackle that will hold in that condition. But, if there are other less challenging anchorages, I'd avoid this one.

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:10:17

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Steve, Are you saying that 40' is shallow?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">On the contrary, I don't think I've ever anchored in 40 feet. Most anchorages are in 12-15 feet.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The scope on a 40 foot anchorage is about 280 feet. That is a lot of anchor rode. How far from the land were you?

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RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:36:18

I guess the tough thing is that the bottom here goes from deep to the shore at a large angle. To anchor in 12 to 15' of water the boat will be onshore. I have 8' of chain and if I make that longer that will help. I like the idea of tie off the back of the rudder to make it tight. I will look into that. I am going to go out on a jet ski this weekend and scout out some other spots for anchoring in. I will let you know and take some pictures.

Edited by - on

RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:41:29

Duane,

At 40' I am about 100 feet from shore. The tough thing is that if I drope anchor out futer the bottom drops off fast to 100+ feet. So you almost need two anchors.

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britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:49:24

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Just be sure to have some great coffee for the morning, that's not a time to cheap out on Folgers<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Absolutely! Perk that real coffee, best part of the dawn after the sunrise!

Paul

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RedRedWhine
Navigator

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USA
167 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:55:33

We perked a pumpkin spice coffee, I know I know. It is not bad at all.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2006 : 20:26:56

I just ordered some pumpkin spiced coffee for my Melitta pod machine.

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