Comments on: Anchoring lessons in the channel islands

By: Jim and Juanita/Arctic Tern

Jim and Juanita/Arctic Tern — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:29:16 +0000

When we anchored in Pelican Bay on Santa Cruz Island, I was a bit nervous about how close we were to the cliffs and the other boats in the anchorage, especially after seeing how much chain Jim let out. Later we went ashore and hiked up the cliff, looking down at the anchorage from there gave me a whole different perspective, there was a lot more room around us than it appears to be from the water. The only problems we’ve had so far are from other boats dropping their anchor on top of ours, or worring about the boats that drop their anchors with only enough rode to hit bottom, somehow they get away with it, we just try to stay as far away from the other boats as possible.
Maybe we’ll catch up with you someday. Juanita

By: Carol Anne

Carol Anne — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:22:31 +0000

Pat’s and my first experience with anchoring was memorable, too. We were taking coastal cruising lessons out of Santa Barbara, and part of the course involved anchoring off one of the Channel Islands. The first night, we anchored bow and stern, but when it was time to raise anchor the next morning, the wind had shifted 90 degrees, making raising anchor really difficult. Our instructor was using words that I am sure sailing instructors are not supposed to use.

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:15:45 +0000

Yeah, the whole anchoring thing is tricky. I am no expert, but I think eventually you will be anchoring with the same efficiency (and absence of anxiety) as when you locate and set up camp in the wilderness. You will know what to look for, what to avoid, get a feel for when the anchor has a good hold… I once anchored parallel to shore and close enough that I could hit it by throwing a rock–simply to get out of the weather (bow and stern anchors). All the other boats were getting hammered by wind and waves for several days and we were very protected by the nearby cliff. And since our engine was not functioning most of the time we had to sail in and out of all our moorings. That would be a good thing to practice while your engine is working.