Plot your Course to Adventure

Stern anchor line shouldn’t pass through a deck pipe into the locker.

The time may come when the bow anchor will drag, and the stern anchor will have to be thrown overboard in a hurry. If the stern anchor line is led through any opening like a deck pipe or hawsehole, every foot of remaining line will have to pass through this hole before the boat can get underway. If the line passes through a hawsehole to a cleat, always pass the line back through the hawsehole so it can be released to run free.

On my own boat, I keep my stern anchor line and chain in a bag in the lazarette. The stern anchor is tied to its chock on the boomkin or on deck. When I want to deploy the stern anchor, I have to attach the chain to the anchor swivel with a split pin or Cotter pin.

I deploy the anchor by hand and lead it out by hand until I get the scope I want. I pass a loop of anchor line through the hawsehole, around the cleat, and back out the hawsehole. Now, I have some control.

After the anchor is set, I secure the line to the cleat as normal, but the remainder of the anchor line is fed back out the hawsehole, then to the bag. I tie the stern anchor bag to the outside of the stern rail or pushpit with a slipknot.

If something happens and I must get underway in a hurry, all I have to do is cast the rope off the cleat, pull the slipknot, and it’s gone.

I would like to share an incident that happened to me when I was anchored in Lumut, Malaysia. I am certain these ideas prevented my boat from being severely damaged.

I was anchored up a river in front of a quaint, casual, local yacht club. Boats would normally set with the bow facing against the river’s current. If the wind was fresh and the current light, the boats would swing broadside to the current, or sometimes, they would begin swinging 360º. Therefore, most boats anchored using a bow and stern anchor in order to remain pointing into the current. I followed my fellow cruisers’ lead.

One night, a severe squall hit, with 40-knot winds gusting to 60, and horizontal rain. It came from the same direction as the river’s current. I peered out my portlight to check if I was dragging. I could see the boats on either side were stationary, so I was sure I was okay. Suddenly, horns began to blow. Spotlights hit my boat. The horns warn all boats that someone is dragging. The spotlight is shone on to the boat with the problem. The spotlights were on me.

Stark naked, I jumped on deck. I looked around and confirmed that I was not dragging. Then, the spotlights moved off me, perhaps because I was naked, to a barge full of gravel heading right for me. It was apparent that the barge had broken loose from its mooring up river. It was nearly over my bow anchor already.

I started the engine, cast off the stern line at the cleat, and threw the anchor bag overboard. Then, I ran forward and released the snubber line from the bitts. I released the clutch on the gypsy so chain ran free. Xiphias began moving backward with the wind and current at about the same speed that the barge was coming down on me.

I ran aft and shoved the engine in reverse, then ran forward and grabbed the diving knife I store on the mast. Chain ran out quickly. With no one at the helm, my stern began to move to port. As soon as the rope that was tied to the last link reached the deck, I cut it. I ran back to the helm and reversed out of the path of the barge. It missed me by only a few feet. This all took less than