Anchorage mishap

[Guilhem]

Yesterday I anchored close to an island, which usually gets busy in the summer, but wasn't yet this early in the season. Wind stronger than forecasted, was maybe 20 knots. Depth around 8m (25 feet), I lay out 5:1 scope, and a snubber.
Here comes another GB, the guy anchors right in front of me, probably over my rode, and leaves the boat to get ashore to the restaurant, indicating to me that he would be watching his boat from his table.
Then his boat started drifting towards me. I called the restaurant, the guy rushes in (the restaurant has a tender that they use to pick up and drop off people). His boat is drifting fast, by the time he gets on board and starts the engine, he's on me. I protect my bow as much as possible with a fender and he manages to move forward. Good.
But now comes trouble. He's alone on board, and has to walk down to the windlass to operate it. While he's doing so, his boat drifts back down on me. When I yell "too close", he rushes to the fly bridge (why not downstairs??), motors forward, then put the gear back in neutral, runs to the windlass and raise the anchor some more.
The circus lasts for maybe 20 minutes, he finally has the anchor up.... with my rode in it, of course. I hail the tender driver to ask him if he can help removing the rode, which is too much under tension. They have to work together with a line to suspend my rode, release the anchor down, then release the line. And during all of this time, the guy keeps running up and down, attending the windlass and the engine, drifting close all the time.
In the end, he manages to free up my rode, and his boat drifts now much faster sideways, until my pulpit rams into his saloon window. I keep protecting with a big fender, and this would be the only damage - I'm glad my bow roller didn't catch on his window frame and hooked the two boats together....
- I could not raise my anchor and leave, he was on my rode and this would have gotten me closer
- I could not lower my anchor some more, I was close to the end of the rode and this would just have defer the issue by a few meters, but gotten me too close for comfort from the guy anchored behind me
- I had started my engines to be ready to move, but couldn't really go anywhere
The only thing I basically did was stand at the bow, use a fender to protect our boats, shout instructions when he was drifting too close.
What else could I have done? Dump all the rode, cut the line loose and move away? Try to move the boat sideways to "circle" around him, with my rode forming a U, and wait there until he sorted it out? What would you have done?
Thanks

 

[HTurner]

You could have transferred to his boat and helped him out as he was solo... just a thought....

 

[psneeld]

It is almost impossible to say what I would have done....

I have lots of experience in high tension situations and I have learned that unless I was there to see, hear, smell, feel almost every possibility...then knowing what I would have done, precisely when and in what order is nearly impossible.

I learned that from being a military investigator ad trained aircraft accident investigator.

Be very careful of even reasonably associating many "what I would have done" answers as with as little as one factor different, could change what almost anyone could have done.

Even with pages of information concerning what happened, most eyewitness accounts are sketchy at best till backed by hard evidence (mine included it's just human nature).

So guessing the best course of action is all but impossible at this point.

 

[SteveK]

none of this was your fault, and you called to let him know.

Tell us, in hindsight what you could have done.

 

[rgano]

You did well protecting your boat. Getting aboard his sounds like it would have ensured you took damage. The thought passed my mind while reading this, "Why didn't he buoy his rode and slip it to get out of there. But I wasn't there. Two more thoughts now arise. Had you employed a buoy to your anchor, he would have thought twice about anchoring over you. Last thought is I think if I get into a crowded anchorage I will rig a buoy to the rode at my roller so I can slip it all and get out whether or not I also use an anchor buoy.

 

[High Wire]

We have had endless "How to dump the anchor rode in an emergency" discussions. This would be the time to consider the lesser of two evils. Lose the anchor or crash.

 

[DCDC]

Last June we were anchored in Boca Ciego Bay near Gulfport, FL. for a week waiting on weather to cross GOM to Appalachicola. Good anchorage but a lot of boats, half on moorings, half at anchor. Quite a few with live-aboards and many with no one in attendance.

Weather was hot and humid with frequent rainstorms. I was sleeping in the pilot house as it is cooler and I can see what’s happening around us. A 30 knot squall with lightning and horizontal rain hit about midnight and I noticed a 40’ sailboat off the bow a lot closer than it had been, beam to the wind and dragging down on us. After starting the engines and motoring to port the sailboat dragged by a boat length to starboard. Luckily their anchor missed our chain and the boat stopped dragging a 100 yards behind us as it got into shallower water and the winds eased.

We radioed a pan-pan and notified the Coast Guard, who referred us to the sheriff’s office, who said they would not respond. The next day we called the local marina who manages the mooring field. That afternoon someone moved the boat across the bay.

We would surely have been tangled up if we had not a red and it was just reflex that we chose the best evasive maneuver.

 

[motion30]

There's actually a term for what that guy did. It is called a splash and -There's actually a term for what that guy did. It is called a splash and dash. You should have stayed on the boat for at least an hour to make sure it was stable

 

[Comodave]

I found out something that could be an issue with our new boat’s anchor is that Formula apparently bolts the anchor chain bitter end inside the rope locker, but out of reach so you can’t undo it. It did give me an excuse to buy a new tool, a cordless grinder. Just for this type situation. If I need to release the anchor in an emergency I can use the grinder to cut the chain. I can attach a fender to some small stuff and tie it to the bitter end of the chain. Then I can recover the anchour and chain later after the emergency has passed. I keep about 40’ of 1/4” nylon for this purpose.

 

[Arc]

There is one thing I know could have helped. But it’s an afterthought. I often anchor in a very busy area. I have learned people have no clue about anchoring . They are always on top of me. So I keep a crab float with line on my bow. I clip it to the anchor so it marks the drop point. It keeps other boaters away.

 

[soin2la]

I clip it to the anchor so it marks the drop point. It keeps other boaters away.

Here, with a 15 foot tidal range, all that would do is tell everyone there is a crab float in the anchorage.

 

[Arc]

Yes but boater are always afraid of fouling a prop . They generally stay away

 

[SteveK]

It would be an interesting anchorage if everyone had a float over their anchor

 

[hollywood8118]

I found out something that could be an issue with our new boat’s anchor is that Formula apparently bolts the anchor chain bitter end inside the rope locker, but out of reach so you can’t undo it. It did give me an excuse to buy a new tool, a cordless grinder. Just for this type situation. If I need to release the anchor in an emergency I can use the grinder to cut the chain. I can attach a fender to some small stuff and tie it to the bitter end of the chain. Then I can recover the anchour and chain later after the emergency has passed. I keep about 40’ of 1/4” nylon for this purpose.

i wouldn't wait until an emergency situation to cut the chain, do it at the dock at your leisure and add line to get the chain above deck so you can cut it with a knife in an emergency.
hollywood

 

[Comodave]

i wouldn't wait until an emergency situation to cut the chain, do it at the dock at your leisure and add line to get the chain above deck so you can cut it with a knife in an emergency.
hollywood

I have been thinking about doing that but if I did it right away I wouldn’t have had a reason to buy a new tool. My wife says I have never met a tool that I didn’t need…

 

[hollywood8118]

Yesterday I anchored close to an island, which usually gets busy in the summer, but wasn't yet this early in the season. Wind stronger than forecasted, was maybe 20 knots. Depth around 8m (25 feet), I lay out 5:1 scope, and a snubber.
Here comes another GB, the guy anchors right in front of me, probably over my rode, and leaves the boat to get ashore to the restaurant, indicating to me that he would be watching his boat from his table.
Then his boat started drifting towards me. I called the restaurant, the guy rushes in (the restaurant has a tender that they use to pick up and drop off people). His boat is drifting fast, by the time he gets on board and starts the engine, he's on me. I protect my bow as much as possible with a fender and he manages to move forward. Good.
But now comes trouble. He's alone on board, and has to walk down to the windlass to operate it. While he's doing so, his boat drifts back down on me. When I yell "too close", he rushes to the fly bridge (why not downstairs??), motors forward, then put the gear back in neutral, runs to the windlass and raise the anchor some more.
The circus lasts for maybe 20 minutes, he finally has the anchor up.... with my rode in it, of course. I hail the tender driver to ask him if he can help removing the rode, which is too much under tension. They have to work together with a line to suspend my rode, release the anchor down, then release the line. And during all of this time, the guy keeps running up and down, attending the windlass and the engine, drifting close all the time.
In the end, he manages to free up my rode, and his boat drifts now much faster sideways, until my pulpit rams into his saloon window. I keep protecting with a big fender, and this would be the only damage - I'm glad my bow roller didn't catch on his window frame and hooked the two boats together....
- I could not raise my anchor and leave, he was on my rode and this would have gotten me closer
- I could not lower my anchor some more, I was close to the end of the rode and this would just have defer the issue by a few meters, but gotten me too close for comfort from the guy anchored behind me
- I had started my engines to be ready to move, but couldn't really go anywhere
The only thing I basically did was stand at the bow, use a fender to protect our boats, shout instructions when he was drifting too close.
What else could I have done? Dump all the rode, cut the line loose and move away? Try to move the boat sideways to "circle" around him, with my rode forming a U, and wait there until he sorted it out? What would you have done?
Thanks

if you do it while there is room to still maneuver motor forward and to the upwind side and swing your chain out of his way. if you get lucky the offender may miss you and your chain. Don't run over your own chain.
Hollywood

 

[Guilhem]

Thanks all for the feedback. I see a few useful suggestions.
Transferring to his boat and help: thought about it, would have meant to leave my boat unattended and unprotected, a sure way to take damage, and also the other thing I thought about is that I would then become partly responsible for any escalation of the issue, that his insurance could blame on me.
Floater on the anchor position: nobody does this in this anchorage, just too crowded, and people tend to use too short a scope, so they wouldn't even be bothered by a buoy that appears too far from a boat and would not even think it's part of my rode...
Dumping my anchor: could not be done by dropping all the chain down, then cutting the bitter end of the line, as this would have meant backing into whoever was behind me. Could have been done with a hand-held, full charged-up grinder on dock, probably the best course of action here.
Another option that, in hindsight, could have been doable, was to move all my fenders to port side, the engage my engines to turn the boat to starboard and motor up towards the anchor, hoping he would slip past me.
Maybe the best - but I'm only seeing this now a day after, would have been to tell him to release and dump *his* rode all the way, so that this boat would slide past me. Counterintuitive, as he wanted to free himself to regain manoeuverability and leave, but dropping his rode was a way to regain movement quickly. And he had the possibility to unwind it all.
I could also have decided to move the minute I saw him drop anchor on my rode...
Anyway, nobody got hurt, my boat got nothing, his a broken window, and the people at the restaurant had a good show to enjoy over their lunch !

 

[O C Diver]

I use a small fender ball instead of a crab float to mark my anchor (no confusion). It uses a pulley and weight system so that the ball is directly above the anchor. I am not shy about telling people they're too close to my anchor, before they drop their anchor.

I've never used more than half my anchor rode. From my rough calculation, you had 125' in the water. Would suggest that you double the rode (so you could put more out), even if you have to switch from chain to rope.

Ted

 

[jleonard]

I might have swung my boat to one side or the other to let the drifting boat get beside me, then rafted it up.
Then cooler heads could have untangled his anchor mess so he could motor away and once again anchor hopefully not on top of you a second time.

 

[rslifkin]

I've never used more than half my anchor rode. From my rough calculation, you had 125' in the water. Would suggest that you double the rode (so you could put more out), even if you have to switch from chain to rope.

I take the same attitude. If I even think about using all of my rode in any normal situation, the rode isn't long enough. In my case, I've got about 375 feet usable. The last 100 feet has only been out of the locker when I've cleaned the locker.

 

[backinblue]

I have been thinking about doing that but if I did it right away I wouldn’t have had a reason to buy a new tool. My wife says I have never met a tool that I didn’t need…

You still need the tool to cut the chain but I agree with Hollywood, do it now, not in an emergency situation.

 

[sunchaser]

Here, with a 15 foot tidal range, all that would do is tell everyone there is a crab float in the anchorage.

+1

 

[Portage_Bay]

What else could I have done? Dump all the rode, cut the line loose and move away? Try to move the boat sideways to "circle" around him, with my rode forming a U, and wait there until he sorted it out? What would you have done?
Thanks

Keeping in mind psneeld's most excellent post #3 that none of us can tell you what you should have done, there is no one size fits all answer. What you did and are doing is great. You kept watch and were on top of things during the incident handling it as best you could without over reacting and making the situation worse. You are now evaluating, assesing and considering what you will do when faced with a similar situation in future.

 

[ghost]

Kudos to the OP for having a large fender ready.

What if you just let out all your rode and stop? Create some more room for the guy to work. Then get prepared to drop it completely next.

I like any option I’ve already prepared for, like having the bitter end of my chain already set up to easily drop. Really any option that slows the situation down and allows for more and better thinking. If an obvious solution presents itself, I want to be able to see it and take it. Not get tunnel vision because I’m having to attend to some immediate task at hand, like running to find a float, and some line, and a saw, etc…

I placed a shackle between my chain and rode, so I’d have the ability to free it there. My bridle would hold the chain while I disconnect it. At least, that’s the plan and I’m set up to do that without thinking much. Given my idea to let out more rode and create more distance, I need another shackle at the end of the rode bitter end accessible on deck, removing the need to go below to free the bitter end as it currently sits.

 

[kthoennes]

I almost never single-hand but even so, this discussion is making me glad I have a windlass switch at the helm in addition to the foot switch at the bow.

 

[Hippocampus]

Spent the last decade primarily on the hook. After trying all different kinds of techniques now when someone anchors near me do the following
Take picture of them coming in.
Take multiple pictures of them anchoring.
Get in dinghy take more snapshots of relationships.
Stop by and say hi.

Of course if they’re doing something unsafe like in the original post politely let them know. If they won’t move and reset ask for insurance information and once done leave or reset myself

 

[Shrew]

I'm sorry to hear about such situations. I'm glad there was no injury to people and minimal injury to property.

I've had this happen on several occasions. Here are some things I've been able to do successfully. I can't say whether any of them would work in your situation. Each event is different.

1) I've jumped in a dinghy and run over to the drifting boat, got on board. Fendered as he dragged into an unoccupied two boat raft, and worked the windlass while the solo owner worked the helm.

2) Jumped in my inflatable dinghy and used it like a tug to push the dragging boat enough to have him drag alongside. One time, using two friends in dinghies while my wife and I were on board, we were able to catch the dragging boat and raft it to us as it passed by.

3) Start the engines, dump anchor rode as fast and as far as you can drop back. (Boats typically drag sideways). Turn the wheel over in the same direction as the boats stern. Put it into gear and spring the anchor line to move yourself out of the way. This puts you and your anchor rode behind the dragging vessel and hopefully away from having his dragging anchor sweep your anchor.

Yes, I've done all of these successfully. I've also had a boat right on my bow pulpit. Sometimes there isn't the time or space to do any of these things.

 

[jleonard]

I'm sorry to hear about such situations. I'm glad there was no injury to people and minimal injury to property.

I've had this happen on several occasions. Here are some things I've been able to do successfully. I can't say whether any of them would work in your situation. Each event is different.

1) I've jumped in a dinghy and run over to the drifting boat, got on board. Fendered as he dragged into an unoccupied two boat raft, and worked the windlass while the solo owner worked the helm.

2) Jumped in my inflatable dinghy and used it like a tug to push the dragging boat enough to have him drag alongside. One time, using two friends in dinghies while my wife and I were on board, we were able to catch the dragging boat and raft it to us as it passed by.

3) Start the engines, dump anchor rode as fast and as far as you can drop back. (Boats typically drag sideways). Turn the wheel over in the same direction as the boats stern. Put it into gear and spring the anchor line to move yourself out of the way. This puts you and your anchor rode behind the dragging vessel and hopefully away from having his dragging anchor sweep your anchor.

Yes, I've done all of these successfully. I've also had a boat right on my bow pulpit. Sometimes there isn't the time or space to do any of these things.

Napatree and Block Island keep our skills sharp.

 

[Shrew]

Napatree and Block Island keep our skills sharp.

Unfortunately.

 

[Hippocampus]

If your dinghy is a inflatable you can use it as a big fender. Have done that.
+1 on using dinghy push offending boat out of your path. Have done that and then called harbor master to help get dragging boat to a safe place.