Anchoring a boat is a bit more precarious than tying up to a mooring. If you don’t know what’s on the seafloor, it’s easy to get your anchor stuck, or fouled. It can also be illegal to anchor near coral reefs or other marine habitats. For these reasons, it’s best to avoid anchoring if possible, but if you must, follow these steps:

Standard Bow Anchoring Procedure

Dropping the Bow Anchor will require 2 to 3 people. The Skipper on the Helm, Crew #1 on the Bow, handling the Anchor, and Crew #2 aiding Crew #1, relaying communications, and operating the Windlass circuit breaker.

Preparation

1. Take down the sails and start the motor.
2. Motor around the Anchorage and scope out the territory.
3. Judge the current, bottom conditions, depth, location and anchoring configuration of other boats to determine an appropriate location and appropriate Scope
4. Typically, a Scope of 7:1 (Rode to Depth) is considered safe in most weather and bottom conditions for a Rope Rode. With all or partial Chain and lighter conditions, 5:1 is considered adequate. 10:1 may be needed for heavy weather conditions.
5. Identify the target location to drop anchor based on target Scope and where you want to the boat to end up.
6. Prepare Anchor and Crew. Open Anchor Locker. Ensure Anchor is secured at Bitter End. Ensure Rode is free of tangles.
7. Ensure safe distance between Crew and Windlass. Power On Windlass.

Anchoring

1. Skipper approaches target location slowly from downwind.
2. Skipper stops the boat, and commands Crew #1 to “drop the Anchor.”
3. Crew #1 drops the Anchor by slowly letting out the Rode in a controlled manner.
4. When anchor hits bottom, Crew #1 alerts the Skipper. Skipper announces, “backing down” and starts backing down slowly.
5. Crew #1 continues to let Anchor Rode out slowly, controlling it by leading it around a Bow Cleat, and calling out the total Scope that is let out…“30 feet”…“60 feet”…
6. Crew #2 relays communication between Skipper and Crew #1 and points at the Anchor location so that the Skipper can determine the steer the boat in the appropriate direction.
7. When about ½ of the target Scope is out, Skipper commands Crew #1 to cleat the Anchor Rode to the Bow Cleat.
8. The Boat continues to drift backward until the Anchor sets.
9. This position is held for a few minutes to ensure that the Anchor is set and the boat swing has settled out. Engine is in neutral or in reverse gear at minimum throttle. If Anchor does not set, it is pulled up and procedure is started over.
10. When Anchor is set, Skipper commands Crew #1 to uncleat Anchor Rode from Bow Cleat and continues backing down.
11. When full Scope is out Skipper again commands Crew #1 to cleat the Anchor Rode to the Bow Cleat, and again ensures that Anchor is set.

Safety Note: Windlass

A Windlass is a powered gear that interfaces with the Anchor Chain to lift and lower the Anchor. Getting a finger (or any other body part) caught between the Chain and the Windlass is a good way to lose a finger. This has happened to even experienced Sailors. It is prudent to be extremely cautious around an exposed Windlass.

There is typically a main circuit breaker located below deck that applies/cuts power to the Windlass and a foot pad next to the Windlass that controls it. Depending on the configuration, it is possible to slip and land with your knee on the Windlass foot pad while holding the Anchor Rode. Not good.

To eliminate this risk, good procedure is to keep the main circuit breaker OFF until the Crew on the Bow is ready to operate the Windlass. It is also good procedure for Crew on the Bow to test the Windlass foot switch before getting anywhere close to the Windlass to ensure that the main circuit breaker is OFF.

Stern Anchoring Procedure

After the Bow Anchor is set, a stern anchor can be dropped to minimize swinging.

Method 1: Put the Stern Anchor in a Dinghy, drive the Dinghy out to the target spot, and throw it out of the Dinghy.

Method 2: Follow the Bow Anchor procedure but going backwards. The difference is that the boat is now Anchored at the Bow, so the Bow Anchor Rode needs to be managed.

1. Uncleat the Bow Anchor Rode and let it out while the boat drives or is driven backward.
2. Drop the Stern Anchor.
3. Drive the boat forward toward the Bow Anchor while brining in the slack Bow Anchor rode.
4. Set the Stern Anchor once or twice (usually requires going past the target end point).
5. Pull in the Stern Anchor Rode while letting out the Bow Anchor Rode (or vice versa) to get to the target end point.

Weighing Anchor

Weighing Anchor, or raising the Anchor, is done as follows.

1. Skipper drives the boat atop the Anchor, with Crew #1 brining in the Rode so that it is never allowed to become slack.
2. Crew #2 points toward the Anchor and directs the Skipper which way to steer.
3. Crew #1 shouts out Scope lengths….“90 feet”…”60 feet”
4. When the boat is over the Anchor and the Rode is leading almost directly down, Skipper stops the boat, and Crew #1 halls in the Anchor Rode.
5. Crew #1 shouts out when “Chain” is reached and when the “Anchor” is out of the water, and when the “Anchor is Secure.”

With Bow and Stern Anchors out, weigh the Stern Anchor first by letting out the Bow Rode, drifting back on top of the Stern Anchor, and hauling in the Stern Anchor Rode.

Mooring

A mooring is sort of like a permanent anchor. It is simply a buoy that is weighted to the seafloor that you can hook your boat up to. Most marinas that are heavily trafficked by temporary visitors have moorings. Be sure to check the procedure for using a mooring prior to your visit. You don’t want to use a mooring that it owned by someone else. Usually there’s a radio channel for the marina that you can call for information and getting a mooring assignment.

You might want to drop your sails and motor into a mooring (if so, see the section on handling under motor), but you can also approach while under sail. It is very similar to picking up an MOB. You want to approach on a beam reach from beneath (leeward) the mooring and turn up into the no go zone so the sails luff and you have just enough momentum to carry you to the mooring. To reduce power, you should either drop the jib or let the jib sheets run free like in the MOB procedure. It’s a bit tricky since you want to be sure you have enough momentum to get you to the mooring, but you don’t want to run it over.

There should be a line or chain, called a pendant, permanently attached to the mooring. Grab it with a boat hook and tie one of your dock lines to it and a bow cleat.

When the boat is hooked up to a mooring, it will naturally drift downwind in the absence of a strong current. So to leave the mooring, you’ll first need to head back toward the mooring to detach your line. You can do this by either pulling on the line, or if you’re on a larger boat, by motoring or sailing up to the mooring. Of course, sailing is the most difficult since you’ll be heading directly into the wind and you won’t have much room, if any, to maneuver.

Once you’re detached from the mooring, you can motor away, or follow the steps for getting out of irons described earlier.