Anchoring

Catalina Direct Discussion Topics / Catalina 22 Discussion Area / Anchoring / mooring mistake ......
 
 
Author mooring mistake ......
George
Georgetown, SC

Boat Name: Blu Notes

Model/Year: C-22 1982

Hull No. 11184

Hailing Port: Georgetown, SC
11/24/2005 8:07 AM Pacific Time

Well, I am one lucky Catalina 22 owner. Lucky in that I am fortunate to even have my boat. I made a novice mistake when I engineered and sat my mooring. I fabricated 80lb anchor and 15' of chain plus two danforths ran to the chain "bahamian style" should have been OK in 10' of water.

NO WAY, not nearly enough scope for a mooring. The scope on the anchors was sufficient at 4:1 and the boat held well for three weeks. Then came 40kt wind gusts and late in the evening I noticed something weird, my boat was moving and rocking but ever so slowly. In the early morning the high winds came and moved it 400 yards, almost into the entire shrimp boat fleet and blocking the channel.

The combination of high tide and high wind lifted the boat the entire length of chain thus lifting the 80lb mooring pot in the process. Luckily, I did not hit another boat in the night.

I relocated the mooring the next day and fabbed up a 150lb. mooring anchor with LOTS of scope to prevent another shift.
By attaching a weight on the chain near the top of the mooring ball, this insures the scope is taken up in low wind and rests on the mooring point.

Danforths do not hold well in muck. Plows work much better.
I have engineered a neat "plow anchor" using a 5gal paint bucket, hydraulic cement and galvianized eye bolt. Not something you would want to haul around all the time, but this easy cheap solution works great in river muck where regular anchors struggle.
Uwe Behrendt
Rutland Vermont

Boat Name: Joyful

Model/Year: 1977 C22

Hull No. 7200

Hailing Port: Plunder Bay Orwell VT
11/25/2005 6:20 AM Pacific Time

Thanks for the advice; we in the north lakebeds don’t often run into that problem, so it pays to learn from other sailors when you venture out of our homeport. Our problem on lakebeds is a snagged anchor, which most of the time means a lost anchor. But we also don’t require as much weight, although the shifting wind is always an issue.

Uwe
George
Georgetown, SC

Boat Name: Blu Notes

Model/Year: C-22 1982

Hull No. 11184

Hailing Port: Georgetown, SC
11/26/2005 6:27 AM Pacific Time

Uwe,

There is a good anchor called a hydrobubble "bubble anchor" that just might solve your problem. It is a "plow type" but can be converted and has a mechanism to "unlock" the anchor if it does bind to a bottom object. I bought one and plan to use it this spring during overnight camping.

http://www.anchorconcepts.com/
JC
SW Florida

Boat Name: YOLO

Model/Year: 1973

Hull No. 2421

Hailing Port: SW Florida
05/08/2007 3:14 PM Pacific Time

Geroge with all those anchors on one chain - I'd be willing to bet the anchors ended up fouling each other.
 
 
Anchoring
Catalina Direct Discussion Topics / Catalina 22 Discussion Area / Anchoring / mooring mistake ......