Tradewinds Sailing Blog

After studying the chart for water depth, swinging room, and bottom type, try to foresee if the anchor spot you have chosen will shelter you from the wind and seas. Check wind and current direction and predicted weather, then position the boat so that you won’t be set onto shore if the anchor should drag or if conditions change.

If other boats are already anchored, do a “drive by” and see what they did. In a crowded area, follow their method, e.g. one anchor off the bow, or two, or bow and stern, to minimize the chance of collision while swinging with the wind and current.

As you are making up your mind where best to anchor, look for alternate locations, in case you need options. Have a plan ‘B’. Consult charts and cruising guides for information where to anchor and to find anchorages for pleasure craft.

My friend Salty Clay says it’s a good idea not to anchor in marked channels, in busy traffic, and in shipping lanes. Also stay away from areas marked on the chart as prohibited, such as restricted areas, cable crossings and anchorages for explosives.

Be kind to your playground and never anchor on top of coral. Also be kind to your fellow boaters: if you have a choice, don’t drop your hook right next to someone else. Finally, don’t make wake in the anchorage.

In “Sailing, A Sailor’s Dictionary” by Henry Beard and Roy McKie, ANCHORAGE is defined as: “1. Destination at day’s end. Always found at the junction of two charts, or on a chart not aboard. 2. Any location on the water where at least twenty boats may be accommodated in sufficient proximity to one another so that a sound of 10 decibels (roughly equal to the noise produced by folding a paper towel in half) made by a member of the crew of any one boat may be heard clearly by a person of average hearing on any one of the other boats.” The selection of an anchor site requires more consideration than just finding an idyllic spot that is away from it all. Before dropping the anchor, make a plan. Use your chart to find out the depth at the desired site and use your tide book to figure out if you will have enough depth to stay afloat at low tide, but not too much to lift your ground tackle out at high tide. Make sure that the water is deep enough throughout the entire “swinging room”, the circle your boat can make while at anchor when wind and current change. The radius of that circle is equal to the length of the boat plus the length of the rode let out, with a little safety margin added for good measure. Is there enough space around to prevent hitting another boat or a shore nearby? The chart will also let you see what kind of bottom your anchor is going to land on. Sand is good. Avoid rocks (known for trapping anchors) and weeds, (known for letting anchors slip and slide).

By Tradewinds member Peter D.

Hi Matt!

We chartered a Jeanneau 45 for 10 days from San Juan Sailing in Bellingham.  That company just gets better every time.  I know that you’ve worked with Roger Van Dyken on your own trips.  He runs a smooth operation.

This was a guy-trip (our patient wives stayed home).  It’s the year we all turn 65 years old.  We all graduated together from Saint Mary’s College (over the hill in Moraga) in 1971.

As we left Bellingham on Wednesday May 26, I hoisted the TWSC burgee and we were off to Shallow Bay (Sucia Island) for our first overnight.  We were on mooring balls at Shallow Bay, Prevost Harbor (Stuart Island), and the cove at the back-door of Butchart Gardens.  We anchored in Port Browning (South Pender Island, BC), Sidney Spit (Sidney Island, BC), Watmaugh Bay (Lopez Island), and Inati Bay (Lummi Island).  We were side-tied at the public wharf at Ganges (Saltspring Island, BC) and at Friday Harbor (San Juan Island).

The TWSC/ASA anchoring and mooring class gave me the confidence and skills I needed to put my bow (and stern) exactly where I wanted.  And my line handling crew seemed grateful!  This charter was my first experience using a bow thruster and it was really helpful in tight spots (e.g., turning around inside the Friday Harbor breakwater & getting away from the Bellingham marina’s pump-out facility).

Leaving Port Browning, South Pender Island, BC. Can you tell that I’m having fun?

The happy crew of “Misty Blue Yonder” at Friday Harbor.

“Misty” at anchor with stern-tie, Inati Bay (Lummi Island)

Letting our anchor “soak” and settle, Shallow Bay (Sucia Island) 

Thanks again to Tradewinds for building my skills!

- Peter D.

It’s easy enough to estimate time of arrival when you are fetching your destination; distance divided by speed equals time. But suppose you want to figure out how long it takes to sail to San Francisco. With the prevailing summer wind, it’s going to be a beat and let’s say your boat does 6 knots through the water—just not in the right direction because you have to tack. The “ETE” or estimated time enroute, and “VMG” or velocity made good aren’t so straightforward. We heard a lot about VMG during the America’s Cup. You can figure a rough estimate, though, without knowing trigonometry or having a whole cabal of nerds running arcane computer programs for Larry Ellison.

What we’ve got when sailing into the wind is an isosceles right triangle where the hypotenuse represents the distance to your destination and the legs represent your tacks. So x + x is the distance you’ll have to sail to get from F to D via point E:

Remembering that geometry class in high school, a squared + b squared = c squared, but since the legs are the same the hypotenuse is equal to either side times the square root of two. (In this theoretical treatment it doesn’t matter whether it’s ten tacks or one.) This means if you divide the hypotenuse, which is in this case the distance from the end of Portrero Reach (F) to the City (D), by the square root of two (≈1.41) and then multiply by two, you will have the distance you need to sail to get there. And then if you divide that by your six knots of speed, you’ll have your time enroute or ETE. Divide the distance from F to D by the ETE and you’ll have your velocity made good or VMG.

Because that calculation is based on a perfect right triangle and you’re neglecting leeway, the distance is actually a little more than that so your ETE is longer and your VMG is less. So forget all that square root stuff. It turns out that just multiplying the distance from F to D by 1.5 is going to give a close enough estimate of the actual distance you’ll have to sail, assuming the destination is dead to windward. (If it isn’t, the multiplier will be less than 1.5, but of course, never less than 1.) So put those high school trig and geometry books back on the shelf next to your vinyl Pat Benatar albums. The City is roughly 7 nautical miles to windward from the channel entrance, so you’ll have to sail 7 x 1.5 or 10.5 miles at your boat speed of 6 knots. 10.5 divided by six is about one hour and 45 minutes, your ETE, giving a VMG for the seven miles of 7/1.75 = 4 knots. In fact, you can make it real easy and say your VMG into the wind is roughly 2/3 your boat speed through the water. Not so hard.

But wait. We also have to figure current, as the above assumes slack water. This can get a bit cumbersome but let’s see if we can, again, find a shortcut. Have a look at the current charts at the back of your tide book. Turn to the max ebb chart on p. 57. You’ll see 1.4 knots from behind, then a little over 2 knots of current to the right. This is on an average day at maximum current. To find what the figure is on a strong day, go to the chart on p. 48 and you’ll see the multiplier is 1.5. This means that at max ebb on a strong day, you’ll get 1.4 x 1.5, or a little over 2 knots of help halfway there, and then let’s say 2.4 x 1.5 or about 3.5 knots of being set to the right, which also helps. Averaging those, you’ll have a bit less than three knots in your favor for the whole trip. When we add this to the six knots your boat does over the water, we get a speed of nearly nine knots. The distance sailed is the same 10.5 miles, so now the trip will take about 1 hour and 10 minutes. This is at max ebb on a very strong day.

For a flood where the current is adverse, consult the chart on p. 51, and again adjusting by the chart on p. 48, we’ll multiply by 1.5 for a strong day. We get 1.5 knots of adverse current and then a little less than 2 setting us to the left, opposite of where we want. (The flood difference is smaller than the ebb difference because on average the ebb is stronger than the flood. A subject for another day.) Averaging the 2 with the 1.5, we can subtract 1.7 knots from our boat speed, bringing it to about 4.3 knots. The distance is the same 10.5 miles, so it will take a little less than 2.5 hours to get there. Again, this is against a max flood on a strong day.

The end result is we get a range of ETE from one hour, 10 minutes with a strong ebb, which yields a VMG of 6 knots; one hour, 45 minutes at slack for a VMG of 4 knots; and two hours and 25 minutes against a strong flood for a VMG of about 2.9 knots. For practice you can figure this with a boat speed of 7 knots, or you can try figuring ETE and VMG on your next trip to Drake’s Bay, which is 26 miles across the sea—to windward. The current is commonly less than a knot once you get well clear of Point Bonita, sometimes northerly in winter but usually southerly.

OK, I admit, that was a bit complicated. But you only have to figure this out once, based on the speed of your particular boat, and you’ll know at a glance how to estimate your ETE to the City or Drake’s Bay given the state of the current. All of this assumes constant wind and consistent boat handling, so your figures may vary. Not that you really care, because if you’re sailing, you’ve already arrived.

by Tradewinds Member Art E.

After reading Matt’s post some time ago about depth sounders, and with my practice of spending the night at shallow Ayala Cove, I decided I really needed to know where the the keel ends and the bottom of the Bay begins for each boat I take out.

This simple lead line was made for less than $10. Nylon string, a fishing weight, some colorful duct tape and, for a whopping $1. 57 at Home Depot, an electric cord wrap.

Each time I go out on a boat (even the same boat repeatedly) I turn on the instruments, see what the depth gauge reads, and then slip my line over the side before I leave the dock. For the first couple of depth marks I spaced the measurements several feet apart. But after 10 feet I marked the string every two feet up to 25 feet.

Gives me lots of confidence in the depth of the water everywhere I go in the Bay.

We have all heard about Murphy’s Law, “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,” however, the truth is that Murphy was an optimist, and that was his downfall. There was a lack of preparation and planning on Murphy’s part that caused a test he was responsible for to go totally wrong. Sadly, it’s like that on boats quite often.

Listening to channel 16 on the VHF on a “busy day on the bay” Saturday can be quite an educational experience. Yesterday was a great example. There were a lot of boats out on the bay, too little experience on the part of some of the captains, and a good amount of wind. Added together you have a recipe for disaster. The Coast Guard got called with “emergencies” several times. The one that caught my attention was a 54’ sailboat that had lost all steering. The Coast Guard ran through the normal questions. What is your location? Just South of Angel Island (with the wind blowing from the South). How many persons on board? Seven. Does everyone have a life jacket on? Yes. Are you in immediate danger? The captain responded, rather tentatively, “Not for about 15 minutes.” Vessel Assist came on the radio about this time advising they were in the area and would respond. A few minutes later, the boat safely in tow, the danger was past.

What does all this have to do with Murphy? Preparation, planning, and practice. There are things that can be done to steer a vessel without rudder control.   The sails for example can be used to steer a boat. In this case, the sails were down. Get them up and use them. Trim the main and ease the jib … the boat turns to windward (you can actually do a tack this way). Ease the main and trim the jib … the boat turns to leeward (don’t try to jib this way). Is there something that can be rigged as an emergency “tiller?” Check out books like Chapman’s and the Annapolis Book of Seamanship. Both have some great ideas, and we have copies in the office for your use.

Now to the point of this tip. There are generally things that can be done, however, the middle of an emergency on a 43’ boat is not the time to miraculously come up with a solution. Plan for and practice what you would do. To learn using the sails to steer, take a Capri out and practice it in Marina Bay. Then take a 30’ to 32’ boat out and practice in a safe area. Keep building on the skill … bigger boat … more challenging wind and sea conditions. I have on a couple of occasions sailed back from the San Francisco city front never touching the wheel. Preparation, planning, and practice are what get you through when Murphy’s Law rears its ugly head … and it will.

Sailing ABC  by Marianne Wheeler

A is for Anchor – Anchoring, VI

Anchors hold a boat best when they are allowed to dig in and stay flat on the bottom while the rode runs far back at a flat angle of pull to the bow of the boat. The longer the rode, the more horizontal it can tug on the anchor keeping it down and buried. A short rode will make a steep angle of pull to the bow and tug on the anchor vertically, pulling it out and letting it drag.

The angle at which the boat pulls on the anchor is determined by scope, the ratio of the length of rode let out to the distance from the boat’s bow to the seabed. Usually, a ratio of 7:1 is recommended for anchoring overnight in normal conditions.

To figure a 7:1 scope, add the depth of the water to the height of the bow above the water and multiply by seven. Estimate the scope including the tidal differences for the time at the anchorage.

4:1 scope may be enough for a short stop if the wind keeps down.

With all chain rode a 5:1 scope is sufficient for anchoring overnight in normal conditions.

My friend Salty Clay says it’s a good idea to have more scope than not enough. In this case, more is better. When in doubt, pay it out and don’t be caught in a crowded cove with your anchor up.

This isn’t so much a tip, as it is a challenge. Which boat were you on most recently? Get a couple of blank pieces of paper and a pencil.   Now, draw the boat. I don’t mean an artistic rendering of the boat; I mean a line drawing of her layout and systems.

Put in as much information as you can remember, including:

• Layout of the interior (power switch locations, AC & DC electrical panels, heads, settees, berths, sinks, stoves, etc.)
• Location of thru-hulls (mark the purpose of each of them if you can)
• Location of safety equipment (fire extinguishers, visual distress signals, sound signals, emergency bilge pump handle, emergency tiller, anchors, boat hook, tapered plugs, etc.)
• Topsides layout (cleats, winches, fairleads, standing rigging, etc.)
• Running rigging (halyard locations, sheet locations, reefing lines, outhauls, furling lines, how are the clutches and line organizers set up)
• Oil dip stick, coolant cap, raw water strainer location, primary fuel filter location
• Anything else you can think of

How did you do? This is all information you should know off the top of your head. Unfortunately, one of the challenges about having 30 boats at your disposal is getting to know them as well as you should. In an emergency, knowing where the thru-hulls and tapered plugs are can be the difference between adventure and disaster.

Sailing ABC  by Marianne Wheeler

A is for Anchor – Anchoring, V

Cruising boats that lie at anchor for long periods of time and that are likely to anchor in rocks or reefs often use an all-chain rode. Many modern, larger boats do as well.

One good thing about all-chain rode is that the weight of the chain increases holding power by burying into the bottom and staying down flat so that the anchor remains parallel to the sea bed. Another good thing is that using all-chain avoids chafe on the rode as the boat is swinging, tugging and jerking on the anchor.

On the other hand, hundreds of feet of chain are quite heavy when stored on board and that affects the sailing performance of a boat and sometimes even its safety. My friend Salty Clay says that the weight of the chain, usually carried in the bow, front-loads and disturbs the boat’s balance and handling. Chain is also much harder to haul back on board and may require a windlass, a device that makes life at the bow much easier when weighing anchor.

For day sailing, the ideal rode is often a combination of rope and chain. A length of chain, maybe 10 or 15 feet between the shank and the nylon rope, helps the anchor dig in and stay down horizontally. It takes the brunt of merciless chafing on jagged ground while the nylon rope stretches above it and nicely absorbs shock loads on the boat.

Recently, during the Clipper Round the World Race, a person fell overboard while changing a sail. Why he wasn’t tethered to the boat and why he did not have a personal EPIRB, we do not know. In all such incidents, the accounts are sketchy, and often written by reporters whose closest encounter with the sea is a volleyball game on the beach. Moreover, I am against criticizing the decisions of the skipper when I wasn’t aboard and have only third-hand knowledge of the circumstances. They could have had a spinnaker up, for example; we don’t know all the details. In the end, the rescue was successful.
That said, I thought it might be a good occasion to review why we do not teach the method of COB recovery allegedly used in this instance. The skipper was quoted as saying, “We have a well-rehearsed procedure to mark the position, stop racing and engage the engine.” I have heard this same method recommended in more than one national sailing publication, and I’m certain that some of our students consider this their fall-back option if they don’t quite remember how to do a quick-stop or a figure eight. So why don’t we teach it that way?
Reportedly, it took the Clipper boat 90 minutes to pick up the victim. He survived, although hypothermic, because, fortunately, he was wearing a dry suit. I recommend that my students set 90 seconds—one-sixtieth of this time—as an achievable goal for returning to the victim. If you take the time to find and activate the GPS’ MOB function, then fumble with getting the engine going and dousing the main, it is almost certain you will have lost sight of the victim. The chances of this are even greater if you are the only person left aboard. Driving under power, the boat will not be maneuverable in a breeze unless you douse the main, so it’s not really an option to leave it up. Getting it down takes a lot of time, especially if you want to secure it so it is not all over the deck for another crew to slip on and find their way overboard. You’ve also created two new hazards: one, in the chaos, you may have left a line in the water, which will find its way into the prop, vastly complicating the situation; and two, the Coast Guard keeps statistics of people getting killed or injured by the prop during the attempt to pick them up, and it’s not a pretty number.
In a seaway, the quick-stop method may be the best, although the figure eight is preferred by some. These must be practiced not merely until you think you understand them because in panic mode your “understanding” will vanish. They should be practiced until they are completely automatic and you can’t not do them right. In either maneuver, you’ll return to the victim quickly without losing sight of them. The figure eight, if done properly, will take you back to the COB even if you can’t see them. Don’t delude yourself that starting the engine will make the situation simpler. It won’t. By all means press the MOB button on the GPS. But if your man-overboard practice is up to speed, you shouldn’t need it.