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Angry Anchoring
7/13/03
Blaine Parks
It always
feels good to be underway after an extended stay in one place. And our first
day's sail after leaving Bath, North Carolina for a summer's cruise to Maine
and Nova Scotia couldn't have been more perfect. The sun reflected on the
Pamlico River's coffee colored waters, a light breeze pulling Charbonneau
towards one of our favorite anchorages: Green #23 just off the ICW at the
southern mouth of the Alligator-Pungo Canal. Charbonneau glided into the
anchorage at a little past five o'clock and wound her way around to a spot
between the anchorage's only two inhabitants: a motor yacht and a lovely
wooden schooner. With Janet at the helm and me at the bow, we ghosted up to
a spot we'd picked out for the night's stay. It was the end of a flawless
day, right up until a crewmember from the schooner began yelling at us.
"You
can stop right there," she yelled. "We don't want your anchor in
our f**king cockpit." It was like someone grabbed the phonograph needle
and ripped it across one of my favorite
albums. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was speechless.
I looked around the anchorage to be sure that I hadn't made an error in
calculating our spot. After all, I'd been anchoring in places for the last
three years and had never had a complaint before I even had the anchor down.
No, I was where I thought I was, with what I thought was plenty of space
between the three of us. I looked back to Janet for support, but she
couldn't hear what was said over the din of our motor. I did what any
captain would do in that situation; I waved at the woman - notice I didn't
say lady - screaming obscenities at us and dropped the anchor.
With the
appropriate amount of scope paid out and after backing down to set the
anchor, I attached our snubber-line and walked back to the cockpit. I was
still in shock as I relayed the nice woman's message to Janet. Taking in the
distance from us to the schooner in a quick glance, Janet was as dumbfounded
as I was. If we were too close, had we miscalculated all the other times
we'd anchored? Could we be one of those boats who come in late and always
anchor too close, making our neighbors talk about us in whispers? I could
feel eyes burrowing into my back and turned around to see my new neighbor
glaring at us with her hands on her hips. My ex-wife called this the female
fighting stance; and by the looks of this four-foot square sailor with her
hair whipped tightly into a ponytail, she could easily kick my butt.
The
anchorage at Green #23 is a fairly large area, normally. This time the
anchorage was littered with more than the usual number of crab pots. Not
wanting to have our anchor snag one of these traps - someone's livelihood -
left us with fewer choices on where to anchor. We had picked what we thought
was the best spot given the circumstances. As the sun dipped below the
horizon into another spectacular sunset - one of the reasons we love this
anchorage so much - I turned the events over and over in my head. Of course,
now that I'd had time to reflect on the situation, I was full of snappy
comebacks for Ms. Friendly. She'd really gotten to me. In place of all the
nasty things I could say in return, I took some pictures and thought I'd
plead my case to a more reasonable jury - you, the reader.
Let me begin
by outlining my understanding of the unwritten rules of anchoring. First,
and most important, is the last in, first to move rule. If you are the last
boat in the anchorage, you should in no way encumber any boat already
anchored. If the wind shifts, or a current turns foul, and your boat becomes
a hazard, you are the one who should move to a new spot. Any boats arriving
after you've set your anchor should pay the same courtesy to you. Secondly,
as the arriving boat, you should look at how other boats are anchored before
setting your hook. If the other boats are all swinging to one anchor, do
likewise. If everyone is set in a Bahamian moor with two anchors, set two to
match your swinging radius to your neighbors.
While not a
concrete rule, it is considered rude to maneuver through the field of
anchored boats and drop your anchor in the front. The more courteous
approach is to drop your anchor somewhat offset from the last boat's stern.
Never drop your anchor more than one-third of the way up another boat's
stern. Doing so may leave you bumping in the night if the wind switches,
which will leave you in the position of having to move, based on the first
rule above. The goal is to have all the boats in a position where they have
adequate room to swing without worry and can have some privacy within their
cockpit.
That brings
us to the distance between boats. The best of all scenarios is to have the
anchorage all to yourself. When two or more boats share an anchorage, we try
to leave a minimum of a three boat-length distance between ourselves and the
other boats; it's not always possible, but that is the goal. We don't want
to be any closer to the other boats than necessary. Everyone sleeps better
with a wider buffer area between the boats.
There are
times when we've had to really squeeze into an anchorage. If you cruise for
any length of time, you'll find yourself in the same predicament. In these
situations, we will normally motor up between two of the aft-most boats and
drop our anchor between them, in line with their stern. That places us an
equal distance from, and behind, both boats. We have cruising friends who
break this rule with constant abandon, believing instead that if they anchor
right on top of a known cruiser, they leave no room for anyone else to
anchor between them and the experienced cruising boat. We don't advocate
this line of thinking, but it does work for them.
While not
related to distance or courtesy, I should also mention that every other boat
is watching as you anchor, especially the ones nearest where you drop the
hook. This is where having hand signals and a highly polished technique
really pays off. If you can glide into an anchorage, drop the hook, and back
down to set it securely - all without a single word spoken between you and
your helmsperson - you will gain an instant nod of respect and be given the
benefit of the doubt when you may be a little close to others. Why? Because
you've shown some practiced skill at anchoring. Come in the anchorage
screaming commands and resetting the hook three times and your welcome will
resemble the one we received from our friends on the pretty schooner.
Though, I assure you that we came in as quiet as a mouse and looked like
seasoned professionals. (I shared a complete step-by-step anchoring guide in a
previous article -- Mother
Nature's Humor)
So, I now
return to my dilemma. Was I close enough to realistically offend the
obscenity-spewing crew aboard the schooner? I think not. I would suggest to
you, the jury, that I followed every rule I've learned in our more than
18,000 miles. We slid in without so much as rustling a bird from its perch
in the nearby trees. We measured our distance with great care to find
ourselves between the two other boats, closer, if at all, to the powerboat. I
waved and smiled to our neighbors as we arrived. The powerboat returned the
gesture and I thought the schooner was doing the same until I realized that
there was only one finger waving at us. Despite all the yelling and finger
waving, I never yelled back. (Don't I get points for good behavior?).
Click on Photos for a
Closer Look
I believe
that the only verdict you can return in this case is that I am innocent. I
am simply a man accused of a crime that was never committed, against a
victim who chose to vent her life's anger towards other nice boaters, like
Janet and me. To protect you from the abuses we suffered, remember to follow
the rules for good anchoring. And if you find yourself anchored near the
Schooner Mary Harrigan, out of Norfolk, Virginia, please pass along our
kindest regards; perhaps by signaling them with something that has
international understanding like the one-finger wave they used to welcome us
to Green #23, ruining an otherwise perfect day.
We'll see
you on the water - but don't anchor too close!
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