Worst Anchoring Experience

OK, how 'bout it?

In my case there are so many to choose from, but the very worst was one night at Rebecca Spit in Drew Harbour, BC. It was our third night there waiting out bad weather, and the anchorage was getting more and more crowded. It looked like there was a spot right next to us, but nobody could get their anchors to hold there, so we had a parade of people dropping the hook, dragging it around for a while, and then moving on. Good show, but kind of predictable.

We went to shore for a walk, and then dropped by a friends boat on the way back. We were chatting about how bad people are at anchoring when we saw our boat drift by.

Into the dinghy, on the boat, start the engine (within 10 feet of some angry-looking Canadians), go back to the same spot, set the hook again, double check the set, triple check the set, done.

About that time a guy rowed up in a dinghy with the story of how our 35# plow on all chain dragged after soaking for two nights. He'd "seen the whole thing."

A boat had tried to anchor next to us, and had dragged their anchor right over ours when they tried to set with the "let's plow up the anchorage until it sets" technique. When they finally gave up and pulled up their anchor, they pulled up ours too. THEN THEY JUST DROPPED IT AND THE RODE IN A PILE AND TOOK OFF. We anchored in 15' with 60' of rode, but the slope was such that only a few boatlengths away the depth was 40', so 4:1 scope became 1.5:1 scope in a hurry.

The moral of the story? Well, now we use an anchor buoy in crowds, and we're not shy about pointing out to people that there's no reason for them to get between us and the buoy... ever! We also try to ask someone who looks fairly seasoned to keep an eye on our boat if there are yahoos about, and offer to do the same for them. What else can you do?

Now that I think about it, I wonder how many other people "drag anchor" this way.

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