sitearch Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Hi all, it is now (finally) sailing season here in Alaska and I am going out this weekend. Can't wait. But I do have a quick question before I go boating/camping about anchoring on the beach. How do you suggest I anchor my CS on the beach? I intend to pull the boat up on the beach for the night. The biggest consideration here in Alaska is the change in tide. How do you folks anchor on the beach? Thanks in advance for the advice. Bob Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokeyhydro Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Be nice to know the tide schedule and rise & fall. I neglected that detail once and woke up at dawn to a boat high & dry on the beach. EEK! Anchor on beach - I bury the beach anchor in the sand to prevent the ol' midnight stroll feet carnage similar to "bedroom fracture." If I set the boat off the beach to prevent grounding when the tide recedes I'll set an offshore anchor and a beach anchor with the boat floating free of the beach. This may involve wading or a means to let the offshore line free while you drag the onshore line to retrieve the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitearch Posted June 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 Thanks for the comments. I will remember to watch it. I think I will keep the boat in a foot or so of water with a rode to the beach and one off of the stern. At some point I will be high and dry but that will change very quickly here. Because my boat is very light I am only planning to use 2 feet of chain. Do you use more? Bob in Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Niemann Posted June 9, 2010 Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 I use 8 ft of chain and 150 feet of 3/8" line on a 11 lb Bruce at bow (Graham wanted to know if I thought I was anchoring the Titanic) but I have had no problems draging (yet anyway). On stern I have a small 4 lb Danforth with 4ft of chain and 100 ft of line. By the way our tides in Tampa Bay, Florida range 1 - 3 feet. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitearch Posted June 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 Thanks Dale. That is just what I was wondering. I have a 5 lb. Dansforth with 2 foot of chain and 100' of rode. I am buying a 4.4 lb. claw with 2 foot of chain and 120' of rode. I appreciate the information. I don't think Graham even uses chain does he? Our tide here is about 9 feet. Happy sailing and thanks again for the response. Bob in Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Jones Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Bob, I tried letting the boat settle on the beach as the tide goes out but never liked having large ship wakes break on the boat in very shallow water. I also found that pushing the boat back into the water was difficult and an unnecessary risk for a guy with a bad back. Instead I try to anchor in just enough water to handle the next low tide. Regarding anchors, I recently read "the complete anchoring handbook" (2008 McGraw Hill) and recommend it if you're interested in the science involved in anchoring. I tried to look up your anchor sizes but they are smaller than those listed in the book. For my CS17 I settled on 10 feet of chain on a 9 lb Delta (plow type) anchor which is suitable for a much larger boat. I like the compact size of the anchor and don't care about the extra weight. The chain is inconvient but protects the line from rocks on the seabed. That's what it took for me to get comfortable anchoring the boat overnight. I'm not qualified to give anchor advice but having gone through the selection process recently myself it seems your chain lengths are shorter than typically recommended, anchor size probably ok, and rode length reasonable for anchoring in 20 feet or less water depth. Hope this was of some help to you. Enjoy the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Day Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 I hate to keep touting West Marine, but their advisor has some pretty good advice on anchors and anchor rodes. You can find it on their web site www.westmarine.com. You should have enough rode to get a 7:1 scope where you intend to anchor. The first portion of that rode is recommended to be the appropriate sized chain. This is to get the proper angle on the anchor, and it has the added benefit of abrasion resistance in rocky bottoms. They also have a chart to estimate the appropriate size anchor and rode on the web site. I tend to go one size larger for overnights, as you necessarily are not able to watch and sleep at the same time. A size smaller may be OK for a "lunch hook." Just my 2 cents, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lathrop Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 These kinds of discussions always go the same way, with margins of recommended safety always increasing. On boats as small as the CS series, I think most of the recommendations are overkill. In the EC Graham uses a small Danforth, probably about 5 or 6 lb. On the Main trip last year, I borrowed the 9 lb Danforth, 8' chain and rode off my 22' Hunter sailboat and we used that for both Southern Skimmer and Lapwing overnight, tied together bow to stern. I use the same kind of anchor on the Bluejacket 24 powerboat, Liz. For our trip to Canada I added an 11 lb Bruce and 8' of chain just as belt and suspenders. For many years, I used a 12 lb Danforth as the only anchor for a 30' Alberg keelboat along the NC coast, always without serious issues. On the BRS 15, Loon, I fitted a 4 or 5 lb Danforth into a well on the foredeck that will not take a larger one. As far as I know, the current owners of Loon still use that anchor on cruises in the Sea of Cortez and Great Salt Lake. Small and lightweight boats like the CS don't put a lot of load on an anchor. On Lapwing, I don't have any chain but then, I don't expect to be anchoring overnight in hazardous conditions which is why the 9 pounder with chain was taken to Maine.. I would not fault anyone for going further than what I have used but there has to be a reasonable limit somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Turpin Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 I tend to keep a whole assortment of small anchors in the boat, but my favorite beach anchor is a cheap auger-type pet stake. It also usually gets the most comments and praises from other skippers. It looks like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Niemann Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 John, Congratulations on the article in SCA. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Also, thanks for mentioning your pet stake. I have a couple of auger type tie downs which are in my hurricane kit to tie 'Lively' down once she is off the trailer and partially full of water. Based on your comments, I will start keeping one or both in the boat. They might come in handy when beach camping. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitearch Posted June 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 Thanks to all for the great advice. I appreciate all of you. Let me share what happened on our sailing adventure into Resurrection Bay out of Seward Alaska last Friday. We had a nice sail down to Caines' Head under full sails on a broad reach peaking at around 6 knots for about 7 miles where we met up with our Scouts who had kayaked in the day before. We beached the boat with an anchor about 50 feet from the stern boat using a 5 lb. Danfort with 2 feet of chain and rode. Then we ran some rode up the beach to a tree stump about 25 feet from the bow and tied up the boat with the bow facing the beach. Everything seemed fine until the tide started coming in and wow did it come in. To make matters worse we had a 30 knot wind kicking up everthing to boot so the tide was coming in breakers about 3 to 4 foot high. It started to pound the boat with waves curling over the transom and motor quickly filling up the entire cockpit. Amazingly the boat still was floating with the cockpit full of water. After about 6 hours of severe pounding and moving the boat up three times higher on the beach we could no longer move the boat up. We tied it off in three places on the beach two from the bow and one from the transom to another tree stump where we watched as the waves got even worse. We stood by watching until the tide started to go out around 2 am. It was an 11 foot tide that night...the keel was scraped up but everything else was okay. Lesson learned:get the boat out into deeper water and anchor it with the bow facing away from the beach and maybe tie up an additional line from the stern to a tree in just in case it were to break free. Short of getting into a cove or just leaving (which we couldn't do) I don't think I can figure anything else to do in that instance. It was quite a learning experience and I am grateful my boat was destroyed because of it. Thanks again everyone for your thoughts. Happy Sailing. Bob from Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter HK Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 It started to pound the boat with waves curling over the transom and motor quickly filling up the entire cockpit. Amazingly the boat still was floating with the cockpit full of water. One other option that is nice to have is the ability to roll the boat up the beach out of reach of the waves- I use inflatable fenders, the bigger the better. Cheers Peter HK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Frechette Jr Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 About all I care to add to this is to remind you that if you are ever out on an excursion with a writer who is doing an article on your boat and you land on a beach or fort or what have you to break for lunch and talk, don't get so involved with the discussion you forget to set up an anchor on the beach so that the incoming tide liberates your boat and you end up having top call the Coast Guard to come retrieve your boat for you. USCG Dispatcher: "Sir, Can you describe your boat to me?" Well Gee, draw a rhumb line from Fort Gorges to Mackworth Island and it is thew Only Sailboat in the bay with two masts, the sails down in the cockpit and not a soul on board. It shouldn't be too hard to pick out as there isn't any other boat out on the Bay right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Turpin Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 About all I care to add to this is to remind you that if you are ever out on an excursion with a writer who is doing an article on your boat and you land on a beach or fort or what have you to break for lunch and talk, don't get so involved with the discussion you forget to set up an anchor on the beach so that the incoming tide liberates your boat and you end up having top call the Coast Guard to come retrieve your boat for you. You're not fooling us. I'm sure you meant to do that. :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dufour Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Every time I hear something like the stories Bob and Ray just shared, I'm encouraged. I thought Chevy Chase and I were the only ones who did stuff like that. Should that be encouraging or discouraging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Frechette Jr Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 It's sort of like finding bottom with a boat. I only know of two people who have never found bottom while sailing. One never leaves the harbor and the other one is a horrible liar. I can say though I have never in my sailing career ever capsized a sailboat. Yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitearch Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 So right you are Ray. The hardest thing about this experience is that while I was learning a difficult lesson about anchoring and beaching my boat, 14 Boy Scouts were watching me learn it. :shock: All the while trying to hold back the tears as I watched my little baby get kicked all around the rocky beach... I am reminded of a sign I saw on a local church...."Calm seas do not a skillful sailor make" Happy sailing all. Bob From Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dufour Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Wisdom comes from good judgement. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience? Well, that comes from bad judgement. I'm gonna take off from work go get me some experience tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lathrop Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 I can say though I have neer in my sailing career ever capsized a sailboat. Yet. If you sail a small boat near its limits, capsizes are part of the package. My first capsize came early on and I learned not to fear one. When I taught sailing, I insisted that all sailors be able to right their boats and sail on without outside assistance. Of course, its best to sail a boat that can survive a capsize with only minimum danger to the crew. All my small sailboats can do that as well as all the smaller B&B sailboats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Back when I was a climber we had a saying regarding the occasional fall - "If you ain't flyin' you ain't tryin.'" I can report that my centerboard has been used as a sundial before in the middle of Jordan Lake. It looked like a shark's fin sticking up out of the upturned hull. Those Core Sounds even look fast upside down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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