Have you ever found yourself in an anchoring situation...
with not enough swing room?
maybe in an anchorage, crowded with too many boats...
or you just got word that there's a blow on the way.
You need to boost your anchor's holding power...
without the hassle of a second anchor!
What now, Skipper?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know that the angle of the anchor rode to the bottom makes the most difference in your sailboat anchor's holding power? Keep that rode down low near the sea bottom and your anchor will grip the seabed like a barnacle on a piling.
In a crowded anchorage, or with shoals nearby, you may be unable to put out enough scope--the ratio of anchor rode (rope and chain or all-chain) for each foot of water. Average scope can be defined as 7:1, or seven feet of rode for each foot of water.
If you are unable to put out this much scope, increase your holding power with a simple weight and line combination. Attach a weight--called a sentinel--to a strong, light line and send it down the anchor rode. This puts a bend in the anchor line to help keep the anchor dug in (see illustration above).
The sentinel method was used long ago on wooden sailing ships. They would use a large, heavy lead weight with a ring-bolt on top.
The weight was shackled over the anchor chain and eased down the anchor chain with a line. The weight of the sentinel pulled downward on the anchor chain. This increased the anchor's holding power.
Rope-to-Chain Anchor Rode Sentinel Rig
Today, you can use an easy modification of the original sentinel with weights you already have aboard your small cruising boat. Follow these five easy steps:
1. Gather heavy chain, shackles, or lead weights. Put them into a canvas or nylon bag.
2. Attach a large snatch block to the rope rode so the snap shackle points down.
3. Attach a strong line--as long as the anchor rode--to the becket on top of the snatch block.
4. Open the block's snap shackle and attach the weighted bag's handles.
5. Lower the sentinel. When the line becomes slack, pull it up a few feet and cleat it off.
All-Chain Anchor Rode Sentinel Rig
With all chain rodes, you can often anchor on shorter scope than combination rope-chain rodes. In protected anchorages, the weight of the chain will keep the rode near the bottom. In less ideal situations, use this sentinel method:
1. Make up a stainless strop of flexible wire rope 12" long with an eye in each end.
2. Loop the strop around the chain anchor rode and shackle it to itself.
3. Shackle the bag of weights to the strop shackle.
4. Attach a light line to the top of the strop.
5. Lower and position the sentinel along the rode as described earlier.
Captain John's Anchoring Tip
How much weight should you use on any sentinel rig? Tests on a 100 foot yacht showed that a 25 to 30 pound weight increased anchor holding power by 50%!
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Captain John
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