The art of anchoring, why do so many people find this difficult? We as seafarers have been messing about on boats for centuries, big boats, small boats, boats that have crossed the oceans, all have to stop and anchor at some point, we have it it our blood, so why do you see so many people with rubbish anchoring techniques?
I notice the poor sailors particularly in the summer time when the Mediterranean is a little busier, quite often we will be resting at anchor enjoying the sunshine and blue water when suddenly "have a go Pedro" blasts up to within 20m of me on his new 40 foot Astondoa with two shiny stainless steel anchors, screeches into reverse sending waves crashing against my hull to upset my idyllic afternoon relaxation, you know the type, more dents on his Spanish car than a West Indian steel drum, he then proceeds to move backwards and forwards for 10 minutes whilst his mate stares over the bow into the 4m of water gesturing frantically until they find what they think is good anchoring ground. Then you hear the almighty clatter as he presses the anchor down button and lets out enough chain as if he were in 25m of water, bangs it hard into reverse as if his life depended on it, just to bed the anchor in, he then spends the next 20 minutes waiting for the boat to settle as it moves in a massive arc around its anchor point. Phew! can we all now settle down please even though I think Pedro is invading my personal sea space, oh no, out comes the rest of the family and proceed to start throwing every inflatable toy you can imagine overboard........ but then, thats another story.
Now, back to the art of anchoring,
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