Using your ground tackle – Anchoring for Beginners (Part 3 of 4) I was at Man-o-War Cay in the Abacos (Bahamas) and I’d just found the single spot within a sea of mooring balls where there was just enough space for me to anchor my smallish cruising sailboat. It was supposed to blow up to thirty knots the next day. Forecasts in the US east coast and the Caribbean could be off by up to ten knots, so I had to be prepared for up to forty knots of wind. Moreover, the wind was going to shift 180 degrees, blowing

Anchor selection (part 2 out of 3) I spent fourth of July one year at an anchorage in Portsmouth, Virginia. I was anchored right next to a fireworks barge, with scores and scores of boats of all sizes anchored all around me. A random gust of wind blew, only at about twenty five knots. Instantly, about half of the boats started dragging. Some into other boats. Many pulled up their anchors and powered away. Really, no one should be dragging in twenty five knot winds, regardless of whether you have a small skiff, or a forty foot trawler, if you

Anchor Rode Selection – Part 1 of 3 Anchoring for Beginners One day, while taking guests out on the Potomac river, I saw a boat that was dead in the water and drifting towards a concrete bridge piling. Its skipper frantically waved at us. After quickly conferring with my guests, we gave them a tow to a nearby marina. When we approached the boat, we saw a beautiful, stainless steel anchor sitting at the bow of the boat, unused. The skipper of the vessel dead in the water did not know how to use his ground tackle. By the time

One of the most overlooked and forgotten items for boating safety is a sound producing device. For small recreational boats, this typically takes the form of a whistle, often tied to your PFD, a stadium horn attached to a can of compressed air, or a built-in horn on your vessel. Most casual boaters have never had to use this and do not understand that it is an important safety item. It needs needs come up more often you may expect. A story my friend Ed, an accomplished, humble, and experienced commercial captain told me comes to my mind. They were

Photos like this get posted in boating discussion groups with some regularity. The discussion goes like this — Although the sailing vessel has ‘right of way,’ it would be prudent for the sailing vessel to move out of the way of the cargo vessel. This discussion is misguided. Firstly, there is no ‘right of way’ in the rules of the road. Instead, there is a ‘stand on’ and ‘give-way’ vessel. This means that the stand on vessel is required to stay on her course, and the give-way vessel is required to take action to avoid a collision. Only under certain