Anchor sets

A few days ago I didn’t feel as if the anchor set well – just a feeling on how SWALLOW moved while backing down on the anchor. I watched her swing and checked the GPS to see if she was staying put. She was.

For few hours yesterday mid-afternoon it blew in the low to middle teens. SWALLOW stayed put.

This morning, after a windless night, I woke up and looked out the hatch. SWALLOW seemed to have moved overnight, but not in relation to a boat that had anchored near her yesterday afternoon. I checked the GPS and she was off the mark I had set a few days before. Seems we both dragged!

When the boat that was anchored near departed (they were set to close for my tastes to begin with) I moved SWALLOW. The anchor came up easily – it wasn’t well set! I moved back to where I preferred to be and SWALLOW came up quickly when I backed down on the anchor. ‘Knock on wood’ I now have a good set.

This is the second time in a row I’ve not had a good anchor set. I had the same feeling about the anchor in Clam Bay – though SWALLOW didn’t move overnight.

Not all anchor sets are perfect so it isn’t a surprise that I had one that dragged. It is a bit disturbing that two sets in a row were not good.

I’m bothered when people don’t watch their sets nor seem aware of swing (boats don’t all swing in concert!) and add more safety room … in case they or another craft drags. A month ago I and another boater rescued a boat that was drifting through an anchorage – the boat’s owner had set a 1:1 scope and gone out paddleboarding.

So I’m again hoping the anchor is staying where it is put – I’m knocking on wood!