The Sailing Roundup brings you the latest in sailing news, trends, gear, events, and training.
Editorial:
Search for anchoring information and you’ll likely find article after article discussing the virtues of an anchor, windlass, or other gadget. Get a few sailors together and inevitably someone asks, “What anchor do you have,” launching a long debate. But if you don’t have a good system of communication for deploying, setting and raising your anchor, it can turn into a yelling match or worse, lead to an urgent dragging situation.
Practicing strong communication skills often gets overlooked in favor of learning the technical skills, such as reefing or navigating. And because it doesn’t seem hardcore or rugged, it is neglected at many sailing conferences. But practicing effective communication techniques will take your sailing experience, safety, and enjoyment to the next level.
It is nearly impossible to yell over engine and wind noise, so many people opt for expensive headsets. But we’ve been using good-old hand signals for years, a process that is more than a few gestures. It’s an entire system.
This system has one critical guiding principle — the person at the helm (helmsman) is in control, making and executing all decisions regarding vessel maneuvers, based on all available information. The bow person’s (bowman) role is to relay information to the helm, effectively becoming an extra set of eyes and ears.
I’ve seen it and I’ve heard it — people trying to drive the boat from the bow. It usually goes like this… “ok, come ahead, keep coming ahead, good… Ok, STOP. STOP! Reverse! Reverse!” This technique is doomed to fail. The bowman should be focused on the anchor and the chain, not boat traffic, wind, current, VHF chatter, and the myriad of other things the helmsman must focus on. Additionally, the helmsman will have a delayed response to verbal commands.
Being able to hear someone more than 25 feet away isn’t reliable. So our anchoring communication system is nearly silent. Always. We come in calm and quiet. It’s beautiful. It’s poetic. And our neighbors never stir when we slip away at 0430.
There are two steps:
Give clear and succinct information. Continue giving the signal until you have confirmation that the other person sees it.
Acknowledge you’ve received and understand the information by repeating the signal.
Hand Signals For Raising Anchor:
Haul Away
The bowman positions him/herself at the bow, watching the helmsman waiting for the signal to haul away. This is simply a thumbs up. When the bowman sees a thumbs up, they repeat the signal and then begin to haul away the anchor.
Chain Direction & Angle
The direction the chain leads indicates the direction to the anchor. The angle of the chain indicates how much strain is on the chain. With these two—direction and angle, the helmsman can make decisions about how much rudder angle and throttle is required to steer towards the anchor and simultaneously relieve strain on the windlass if needed.
Up and Down
The final stage of “hauling back” the chain is traditionally known as “short stay” or “straight up and down.” This occurs when the chain left out is nearly equal to the water depth. We give the signal for “anchor up and down” by raising one arm vertically up and down right next to our head, almost scraping along our ear. The helmsman responds by repeating the signal to indicate he/she has seen it.
Anchor Off the Bottom aka Anchors Aweigh
When the anchor is breaking out of the seafloor, your windlass might bog down a little. In sticky mud the bow of the boat may even dip. The break-out can be subtle. Getting to know when your anchor has broken out is an acquired skill. Once the anchor is free, the boat is adrift and the bowman must let the helmsman know. An alert helmsman will be aware of the boats movement and the hand signal will serve to confirm that you are both aware of the drift, and on the same page. The hand signal we like to use is a downward pointing fist rocking back and forth. We think this looks like a swinging anchor. The fist represents the anchor that is free from the bottom to swing on it’s chain. This is known as “anchors aweigh” Many people confuse this term and often misspell it as “anchor’s away,” They think it it means “to drop anchor.” To avoid confusion, we call this “anchor off the bottom.”
Eyes on The Anchor, or Anchor Sighted
When the anchor becomes visible just below the surface we indicate that by pointing to our eyes with our pointer and middle finger of the same hand. Sometimes, we’ve done this so quickly it looks like we are flashing the peace sign.
Anchor Aboard
The final signal lets the helmsman know that the anchor is aboard and he/she can proceed at normal speed. For this signal we touch fingertips to shoulder. We hold this position – like all other hand signals – until the helmsman sees it and repeats the signal. This, like all our other signals, only requires one arm leaving the other arm free to hold onto the boat and/or the wash-down hose.
For more on this subject see the original blog post here.
~ Ben
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Wow! So much great reading! I always look forward to the Roundup. Thank you Ben and Teresa