Quick little questions about anchors

[neovalk]

Hi fellows!

I am a newbie on boatbuilding and design, so I have some silly doubts. May you help me?

1) does every boat have to have an anchor?

2) Is there any law in your country that demants such an artifact?

3) If so, why?

4) If not, when do you recommend me to use it so?

5) when you do have an anchor, how, and where is it normally installed?

6) I'm planning a few miles trip boat for along the coast. Should it have anchors? Consider that the longest trip may long 2 hours.

I hope I'm not bothering so much.
Thanks forward.
Leonardo Baptista Lopes.

[Bergalia]

Anchors, Neovalk, if you go anywhere offshore, are essential. They are your 'parking brake', your mobile 'hitching post', and in the worst event a way of hauling yourself off reefs and shoals.
I don't know of any country that requires them by law. But commonsense has little to do with the law.
Depending on the size of your boat - at least two anchors are best, and for blue waters a kedge anchor is a 'must', (though trailing rope warps serve at a pinch).
A personal choice, but I favour 'ploughs' as they grip in most 'bottoms' - mud, shingle, and shell, and they are easier to 'disengage'.
Where to stow them ? Again I favour having them on deck, within easy reach (but well lashed down). And make sure that they are attached. Nothing more embarrassing than tossing it overboard, and finding the chain still coiled in its locker.

[Robjl]

South Australia requires them by law.
You should never, ever, ever put to sea without an anchor suited to the size of your boat, the depth of water you may find and the type of bottom (seabed). When cruising we carry 2 as a minimum.
"Artifact" !!!
A suitable anchor is more important than insurance.... it is your best insurance
Suggest you read up a bit.
Safe sailing.

[Bergalia]

There you go, South Australia requires them by law. I didn't know that, and I live almost 'next door'.
Still, sound advice backed up by Robjl. Never put to sea without at least one - preferably two - even three ain't too many. And as he so wisely says - read, read and read up on safety at sea. She can be very unforgiving.
However it will take you more than a couple of hours to get to S.Australia from Brazil...

[tom28571]

I started sailing in a Windmill (15.5' racing sloop) and having the required anchor aboard prevented me from needing outside assistance several times before full floatation tanks were approved by the Class Association. The anchor requirement was dropped, over my objection, several years ago. While races today are generally better supported by rescue craft than when I started, people still sail alone at times. In my judgement, an anchor suitable for the size of the boat is second only to life jackets as safety equipment for small boats. In larger boats, it may often go to the top.

[safewalrus]

Sorry to harp on with the rest, but yes an anchor is the MOST important piece of insurance in any kind of water borne vessel. Stop to fish or swim you use the anchor, stop overnight you use the anchor (OK so in both cases you CAN pull up on a beach but the fishing aint much good and your in range of thieves). go out for a few hours run, the weather blows up, there's breakers on the beach, the engine breaks down! If you drift onto the beach your DEAD! How else do you save yourself? chuck out an anchor (or in this case all the anchors you have!) Make sure (as Bergalia states) that you have rope and chain or all chain permanently secured to them and you'll live to go out another day - don't and your dead! No two ways about it! as the man said get reading before you go anywhere!!!

[cyclops]

After you buy and practice using the anchors as if your life depended on using them. Some day, it might. ------------------------Then you can buy 2 sport anchors as I call them. They are 2 concrete blocks. We have loads of plastic commercial nets all over the bottom. You never get a real anchor back. So I use a concrete block anchor. 2 -100' 3/8" lines with 6' of chain looped thru the block and the chain is tied to itself with a small piece of cheap twine. Lower the block, chain, 2 lines into the probable net. If the block becomes snagged. A hard yank on 1 line allows the complete retriveal of all lines. Quick, cheap and very safe for you and your boat.

[marshmat]

Canada also requires an anchor by law. The details are complex but the idea is simple: All boats must carry all appropriate safety gear at all times.

My own boat has one anchor. This is because it only displaces half a tonne and is never more than a kilometre from shore. Any boats I take out farther than this, have at least two anchors. (My preference is for the biggest one the boat can handle on a pulpit and windlass, and the biggest one that you can lift by yourself goes in a convenient locker. Bigger is better!)

How to use (in general):
1) Tie rode (anchor rope) to boat. You'd be amazed how many forget this.
2) Lower anchor over bow until it hits bottom.
3) Back up gently as you let out rode. Stop when you have let out about 5-7x as much rode as you have water depth under you. (ie. 5:1 to 7:1 "scope"). This way the boat pulls the anchor sideways instead of up, so it holds a lot better. (More scope = stronger hold.)
4) Tie the rode off at the bow, making sure it isn't rubbing on anything that could cause it to break.

That's about it. In tight spaces you can back out to ~10:1 scope, then drop the second anchor, and move forward again so you're in between the 2 anchors. Tie both rodes to the bow and you won't be running into the shore any time soon.

Of course, there's a lot of more sophisticated techniques too, but this is pretty much the basics.

[yipster]

and keep an open eye, anchors may crab / slip, and still put you on the rocks.
on gps nav systems you can circle a anchor alarm around your boat

[cyclops]

That is the second best thing about GPS. Anchor drift. The best feature is the MOB, Man Overboard, automatic position storage data feature. The DSC? is great when fully available.

[mydauphin]

Besides the usual use of Anchors here are few others.
1. Use them to pull yourself out of a shallow spot.
2. Use it for leverage so that you can pull a follow boat out of a bad spot.
3. As a emergency brake if you lose power and prevent you from running aground or out to sea.
4. To be able to anchor somewhere and fish or take a break.
5. To put on land to moor your boat alongside a deserted place
6. To use as an excuse to make out..."The anchor is stuck"

and others.....

[Bergalia]

[quote=mydauphin;152441.....and others.....[/QUOTE]


To 'swallow' when you finally come ashore after a working life at sea....

[Frosty]

I got a little baby one in the dinghy as well.

Yes you need an anchor.

Originally Posted by neovalk

Hi fellows!

I am a newbie on boatbuilding and design, so I have some silly doubts. May you help me?

1) does every boat have to have an anchor?

2) Is there any law in your country that demants such an artifact?

3) If so, why?

4) If not, when do you recommend me to use it so?

5) when you do have an anchor, how, and where is it normally installed?

6) I'm planning a few miles trip boat for along the coast. Should it have anchors? Consider that the longest trip may long 2 hours.

I hope I'm not bothering so much.
Thanks forward.
Leonardo Baptista Lopes.

of coarse you sucked in all the silly buggers that answered?

[Frosty]

Well I thought that too,--but he is from Brazil.