Near anchoring mishap in Montenegro

psneeld said:

Having been in similar situations...from the diagram letting go of the port may have swung you out faster specially had both line been under a lot of tension (good power on)...but I wasn't there and it's hard to tell from the diagrams...but if they are accurate...my experience would have been on letting go the port first..the boat should have quick pivoted...tension on the anchor line would have accelerated the pivot.

Again just something to think about ....as every time/boat is a little different and you were successful...

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Thanks for the thoughts.

I understand the way you are looking at it, but with 35 knots holding me on to the rock, plus increasing chop, the only way I could get off the rock in order to provide the required pivot room, was to use the port line as a spring. If the rock was not there, then yes I could have done it the other way around for sure, but the physical barrier of the rock simply did not allow me to pivot on the stb line.

The physics of the port line goes like this - as the boat comes ahead on the port line, it straightens it in relation to the transom, changing the 45 degree angle to 90 degrees, forcing the stern to stb, which it did, thus creating room between the boat and the rock, which then allowed me to swing to the poorly holding anchor after I cut the port line.

But thanks again for the input, nice to see others thinking about the situation and how to get out of it.

Maybe we should start a thread titled something like, 'how would you get out of this situation'.....?

sailtones said:

Thanks for the thoughts.

I understand the way you are looking at it, but with 35 knots holding me on to the rock, plus increasing chop, the only way I could get off the rock in order to provide the required pivot room, was to use the port line as a spring. If the rock was not there, then yes I could have done it the other way around for sure, but the physical barrier of the rock simply did not allow me to pivot on the stb line.

The physics of the port line goes like this - as the boat comes ahead on the port line, it straightens it in relation to the transom, changing the 45 degree angle to 90 degrees, forcing the stern to stb, which it did, thus creating room between the boat and the rock, which then allowed me to swing to the poorly holding anchor after I cut the port line.

But thanks again for the input, nice to see others thinking about the situation and how to get out of it.

Maybe we should start a thread titled something like, 'how would you get out of this situation'.....?

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Kinda thought this thread was started as one of those "this is what happened to me...this is what I did posts"


So I was just pondering...if you had applied thrust with the rudders hard to starboard or even straight...say half throttle..may be more and cut the port line while applying windlass pressure....

The boat would have immediately surged forward while pivoting to starboard around the starboard stern cleat. As the pivot developed, the engine thrust would have been directed towards the rocks and the boat pushed away as the windlass was further used to help pull of just take up the slack.

But I wasn't there and cutting/relasing the starboard and going ahead hoping the angle and thrust would overcome the wind did work. If it had been 10 more knots of wind though...would it have?

I'm pretty sure releasing the port would have been the safer bet if you weren't sure you had the power or if it were a single engine situation...but I certainly see your logic and am happy it worked for you.

psneeld said:

Kinda thought this thread was started as one of those "this is what happened to me...this is what I did posts"


So I was just pondering...if you had applied thrust with the rudders hard to starboard or even straight...say half throttle..may be more and cut the port line while applying windlass pressure....

The boat would have immediately surged forward while pivoting to starboard around the starboard stern cleat. As the pivot developed, the engine thrust would have been directed towards the rocks and the boat pushed away as the windlass was further used to help pull of just take up the slack.

But I wasn't there and cutting/relasing the starboard and going ahead hoping the angle and thrust would overcome the wind did work. If it had been 10 more knots of wind though...would it have?

I'm pretty sure releasing the port would have been the safer bet if you weren't sure you had the power or if it were a single engine situation...but I certainly see your logic and am happy it worked for you.

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Problem is I was hard up against a rock, so there was no pivot room until I created it in the way I did by springing with the port line.

Problem is I was hard up against a rock, so there was no pivot room until I created it in the way I did by springing with the port line.

Certainly does bring to mind the old saying of "caught between a rock and a hard place."

Monday morning quarterbacking is always interesting to discuss, but you and the boat are OK, which is the bottom line. Using that rationale, you did exactly the right thing.

John

Getting chased out of a bad anchorage is always a risk and often a sure thing. Two years ago we got chased out of anchorage near Kitimat - obviously as a result of my wife's question as to what would happen if the wind shifted to the NE. I said it wasn't forecast, but true to her worries it indeed did. A 2 AM fire drill for all crew and guests ensued.

Normally, with a "right size by the charts" anchor, a stern or Med tie will not hold as the wind builds and shifts to abeam. Bigger is better.

All in all, you did well and at least avoided having psneeld's Med twin show up to pull you off the rocks. Thanks for the timely post, nice to hear a real story and not some re-hash of Manson vs Bruce vs Rocna.

markpierce said:

I'm using a PC using Firefox, and I don't get pictures for the Aug. 30 write-up. I do get pictures, however, on the earlier postings on the blog.

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Same here.
I'm on a Mac using Firefox.

sunchaser said:

All in all, you did well and at least avoided having psneeld's Med twin show up to pull you off the rocks.

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I would have done anything for a tow at the time!

sailtones said:

Problem is I was hard up against a rock, so there was no pivot room until I created it in the way I did by springing with the port line.

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Based again on my experience with salvage and towing....you might have pivoted right away from the rocks using my suggestion (again...sometimes the difference between one route and another is a hairline and I just want people to see the other possibility).

With my suggestion..you could have put the port engine in neutral and still pivoted...reducing the possibility of prop damage on that side to the rocks. Either one engine or two the pivot should have started immediately swinging both sets of underwater gear away from the rocks.

Neither solution necessarily goes the way you want it to and you don't know till you try...

Your's did and I'd love to know if mine would have worked also...again..nice job...it worked but there may have been another possibility that would have been the answer if the winds were even stronger and sacrificing the port running gear was in the cards.

Just food for the masses to ponder.