Choosing an Anchorage

by
JHH5II-13048
One of the two other cruising boats that shared Great Salt Pond with us, lit by the dawn after the blow.
As I write, the still gale force remnants of the Halloween Storm of 2011 are howling in the rigging as Morgan’s Cloud tugs at her anchor and bucks to the chop here in Great Salt Pond at Block Island. I sometimes call cruising, particularly when tired and crotchety, “death by a thousand decisions”. And deciding where to seek shelter with a storm on the way, particularly when far from home and in unfamiliar waters, can be one of the most stressful calls we voyagers are called upon to make. So here is the thinking process we went through and some of the alternatives we considered before deciding to ride out the blow at Block Island.

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  1. Introduction
  2. 4 Vital Anchor Selection Criteria and a Review of SPADE
  3. SARCA Excel Anchor—A Real World Test
  4. SPADE, SARCA Excel, or Some Other Anchor?
  5. Resetting Failures With Rocna and Manson, and Thoughts on Vulcan and Mantus
  6. Some Thoughts On The Ultra Anchor, Roll Bars and Swivels
  7. The Absolute Best Anchor
  8. Specifying Primary Anchor Size
  9. Kedge (Secondary Anchor)—Recommended Type and Size
  10. Third Anchors, Storm Anchors and Spare Anchors
  11. Anchor Tests—The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Silly
  12. Things to Know About Anchor Chain
  13. Selecting a Chain Grade
  14. Anchor Chain Catenary, When it Matters and When it Doesn’t
  15. Anchoring—Snubbers
  16. Anchor Rode Questions and Answers
  17. Q&A: Hybrid Rope And Chain Anchor Rodes
  18. Anchor Swivels, Just Say No
  19. A Windlass That Makes The Grade
  20. The Perfect Anchor Roller
  21. Install A Wash-down Pump—And Save Money!
  22. Anchoring—Kellets
  23. Anchoring—Chain: Stoppers, Termination and Marking
  24. 20 Tips To Get Anchored and Stay Anchored
  25. Choosing an Anchorage
  26. Choosing a Spot
  27. 15 Steps To Getting Securely Anchored
  28. One Anchor or Two?
  29. Two Anchors Done Right
  30. It’s Often Better to Anchor Than Pick Up a Mooring
  31. Yawing at Anchor, The Theory and The Solution
  32. Surging at The Anchor, an Alternative Proven Cure
  33. ShoreFasts—Part 1, When to Use Them
  34. ShoreFasts—Part 2, Example Setups Plus Tips and Tricks
  35. ShoreFasts—Part 3, The Gear
  36. How To Use An Anchor Trip Line
  37. Gale And Storm Preparation, At Anchor Or On A Mooring
  38. Storm Preparation, All Chain On Deck

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John was born and brought up in Bermuda and started sailing as a child, racing locally and offshore before turning to cruising. He has sailed over 100,000 miles, most of it on his McCurdy & Rhodes 56, Morgan's Cloud, including eight ocean races to Bermuda, culminating in winning his class twice in the Newport Bermuda Race. He has skippered a series of voyages in the North Atlantic, the majority of which have been to the high latitudes. John has been helping others go voyaging by sharing his experience for twenty years, first in yachting magazines and, for the last 18 years, as co-editor/publisher of AAC.

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