Ahhh, the joys of Ua Pou

Despite several months based out of Taioha’e Bay (Nuku-Hiva) during cyclone season (as well as month on anchor there during lock-down) - Taioha’e Bay being notorious for larger reflected ocean swells and generally messy conditions at times - we have needed to use a stern anchor only once.  It was there in Ua Pou, anchored off Haakuti.

We were there for the festival and, upon arrival, had to reset 2 or 3 times, eventually using the RIB in lumpy conditions to get the exact position necessary for the stern anchor to hold – the water, although deep, can be astoundingly clear.  The stern anchor was buoyed with a trip-line - as much to encourage folks to not anchor over it in the tight anchorage, as for ease of retrieval.

When it came time to retrieve, using the RIB to trip, it was again in lumpy conditions.  The stern anchor refused to let go of the bottom, and the dinghy almost got swamped, being pulled under in the swell.  This was really quite physical.

With such a good hold aft, we then elected to take in the bow anchor, and hang off the stern anchor - walking the rode to the bow whilst pitching and rolling was not exactly benign line handling.  And then, it was a real challenge to get and keep the bow where it needed to be, the rise and fall of the short swell being >1.8m by this time.  This presents a scary amount of snatch force, which I think would inevitably do some damage to the deck-gear if made off with the anchor directly beneath the bow.  By this time we had concluded that the anchor was probably caught under a rock or ledge.  And we were at the point of either diving onto the anchor, or cutting the rode at the waterline and letting it go.  Diving was becoming less of an option, as by now (after about 1-1/2 hours in the by now midday sun) I was dehydrated and becoming quite fatigued - not a good place to start a work-dive in trying conditions.

Anyway, on the last attempt, with a presuming understanding of the orientation of the anchor, we waited for a break in the swell to make a run in the appropriate direction under low power, to try and muscle the anchor out sideways.  Success, however at the cost of the anchor, which came up with a bent shank.  The release happened without any tension, we almost didn’t know it was clear except that we were making way.  So maybe the shank got bent encountering side-loads whilst anchored (it was pretty rough in there at times), and perhaps that’s why it would not release cleanly.  We’ll never know.

But, the ultimate success was that no-one received any injuries, and there was no damage to the boat or her gear, despite quite high dynamic loads being handled at times.  A big sigh of relief all around.

I’m all ears as to all and any other options, or better ways to proceed - when faced with situations like these, it’s always nice to have even more options in the play-book, especially when “far from the Madding crowd”.  

Thank you, group, for your continued contributions.  What a wealth of experience and information being shared.

David

SM#396, Perigee

Whangarei, NZ

We have used the port bow anchor twice as a stern anchor in the last few weeks here in the Marquesas. I don't love it.

In both instances, I took the dinghy up to the bow and the admiral drops the port Delta anchor (31kg?) and all the chain and rode into the dinghy, leaving the bitter end still connected to the chain locker. I then backup the dinghy to the desired drop location, letting the rode fall out as I backup. Once the 10mm stainless chain section goes over the dinghy tubes, it's a pain to control the drop speed. Then I manhandle that Delta anchor over the side of the dinghy! The rode is then cleated off to the port stern cleat and then run along the plastic channel just outboard of the stanchions on a 54 to the port windlass. Even more complicated is that the stainless rub rail acts like a bit of a knife on the stern rode, so I take another line and attach it to the stern rode via an icicle hitch and put chafe protection on it and use that as a snubber.

What is much more of a pain is retrieving the port (stern) anchor. Unless you happen to get wind that pulls you towards the stern anchor perfectly, you are at risk of wrapping the rode around the keel as you release starboard anchor chain and start backing up. Because I feared getting the rode into the prop, I literally pulled the boat backwards using the stern rode with a half turn on the port stern cleat.

That damn 3 strand rode does not like to fall smoothly down the hawsepipe upon retrieval so the admiral needs to be in the bow locker operating the windlass AND pulling the 3strand down from below. Eventually the rode/chain fell out of the plastic channel and went underwater and wrapped around the keel as the boat went sideways in the current/ wind on the beam. Thankfully I was not using the motor/prop. This happened to us in Ua Pou. 

Here in the Marquesas, sourcing a proper stern anchor setup is not easy and frankly, I don't expect to use it that much in the future, so we'll work with what we have. 

An alternative way to retrieve port/stern anchor is to use the trip line/float and attach it to the dinghy painter and trip then pull the anchor towards the big boat bow to eliminate the risk of wrapping the keel.

What I may try the next time we deploy the stern anchor using the port bow anchor is to either float the anchor using a fender as Nick described or just attach it to the painter and backup, again using a snap shackle or slip and backup in the dinghy to our desired drop position. I think I'll disconnect the port rode from the bow locker so that if we need to leave in a hurry, we can just uncleat it vs. cutting the rode. 

For retrieval, another potential way is to just completely disconnect the rode from the boat, coil it and temporarily attach it to the anchor float we generally use to mark the stern anchor position. Then we'll move big boat over, reconnect the rode and haul it up.

Everything mentioned gets more complicated if its breezy, of course.

In summary, if you anticipate stern anchoring a lot (we've done it twice in 4 years and 27 thousand miles), get a better setup. But based on others' comments, we are in one of the few places we'll seriously need a stern anchor, so we'll find a way to make do with the twin bow anchors.

Will report later on whether my ideas worked.




--
Scott 
2007 A54 #69
SV Tengah
http://www.svtengah.com