SEAMANSHIP TIPS: ANCHORING IN A CROWD
All the moorings were full in Great Harbour, Jost van Dyke, in the British Virgin Islands, as cruisers and charterers alike gathered for the full moon party at Foxy’s. Fortunately, there was still plenty of room to anchor. Anchoring in a crowded harbor is enough to give even the most experienced skipper pause, but it shouldn’t—if you know where to look for a spot and what to do when you find it.
Even when I first arrived in the BVI as a young charter-boat captain a few decades ago, Great Harbour was a popular anchorage thanks to Rudy’s and Foxy’s famous hangouts on the beach. And there were no moorings. A grizzled old skipper told me the secret to anchoring in the steady trade winds there was to “drop your hook in the cockpit of the boat to windward.” Meaning, slowly motor up and drop your anchor close abeam of an anchored or moored boat’s stern, and then drift downwind back into the perfect spot to spend the night. Obviously, you’ll have to make sure there is lots of room to leeward of your chosen victim.
When you drop your hook, don’t immediately rev up the engine in reverse; pay out plenty of chain as the boat drifts to leeward, and when you’ve got about four times the water depth worth of chain out, let the boat take up on it, gently and naturally.
After the bow has been pulled into the wind, pay out some more chain, and again let the boat come up on it by itself. When you have paid out your desired amount of scope and you’re happy with where you’re sitting, give the anchor five or 10 minutes to work its way into the bottom before you back down on it.
Rest a hand or toe atop the rode forward of the anchor roller; if the anchor is dragging, you will clearly feel it bouncing over the bottom.