Anchoring in tidal rivers, as many of us must do for much of our cruising, tends to be a messy business, with the hook having to re-set itself on each turn of the tide, and all sorts of gyrations being required to lay extra anchors. Life is much simpler for this yacht, seen lying to a pair of anchors in an open roadstead in the Isles of Scilly. She could, however, be anywhere that she will not be swung by a change in stream.
When you are anchored in such circumstances and it is coming on to blow, the best thing you can do is to load your kedge into the dinghy with its chain and your longest warp, then row away to windward as far as you possibly can before tipping the pick over the side. You should lay it in a ‘V’ of about 30 degrees with your main anchor chain. Now go back on board and heave in on the kedge warp. You will feel the anchor ‘take’, them harden up until you see the warp begin to take some of the strain off the bower cable. You have now given your boat her best chance. It’s easy, it’s non-technical, and it is well worth the trouble. It blew force seven the night after this chap did the right thing, and he was still there in the morning.
