Nearly everyone who is cruising anchors out every night.  Anchorages can be small and crowded, large with space for all who wish to anchor or my favorite-off the beaten path where I am the only boat there.  Since there are no lines like in a parking lot, anchoring becomes a free-for-all where everyone chooses the best spot still available.

However, there are a few basic rules everyone needs to observe to prevent entanglements and bumps in the night that wake everyone up in a panic.

1. Only anchor near boats with anchor rode types similar to yours.

When entering an anchorage and looking for a likely spot to drop the hook observe the boats around you, what type of anchor rode are they using?  All chain or are they on a rope chain combination.  You need to find a spot where everyone in your immediate vicinity has the same anchor rode.

Why, because when the wind changes direction, especially when it goes 180° those on all chain will more or less just swing around and face the new wind direction, while those on a rope/chain combination will shortly drift to the end of the nylon.  Thus, if you, on all chain anchor in front of someone on nylon and the wind at 15 knots swings 180° you will turn to face the new wind direction and stay relatively put, but the guy on rope/nylon who had been behind you is going to swing around to face the new wind direction and then the light nylon rode is going to allow him to move to the end of it in fairly short order running into you.

On the other hand, if you had anchored behind the guy on nylon/chain when the wind swung around you still would have stayed put while he would have moved away from you.

2. First boat in.

The first boat into an anchorage or those already there when you enter dictate how and where you can anchor.

HOW-If the boats already in the anchorage are on one bow anchor then you need to do the same-if boats already there are anchored bow and stern then again you need to do the same or move far enough away from other boats you won’t interfere with them when you swing with tide or wind.

WHERE-the first boats in get to pick their preferred spot, ya can’t just barge in, anchor on top of someone else and ask them to move or anchor in a different manner. Well, you could but it will just be an argument that isn’t going to go well.

When I anchor and there are other boats around and I end up close to someone else I always ask myself the question “if I was that guy over there would I be happy with me here?”.  If my answer is no and there is room to do so, I move.  If there isn’t any room or if someone just appears to be unhappy with where I am anchored I will get in the dink and go talk with them or do so over the VHF.  In communicating I find that once they know how much chain I have out, they are usually comfortable with my staying put.

Sometimes another crews only concern is that you haven’t dropped anchor where you are going to interfere with their anchor.  In the tropics, I find the easiest solution here is to snorkel and see where their anchor is in relation to me or use a view bucket from the dink then communicate what I find, usually that does the trick and everyone is happy.

3. Big Empty Anchorage

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I love to find remote out of the way places that I have all to myself or only have a few boats anchored in them.  Keely and I just like the peace and quite, the solitude and just the sounds of the natural world and if the weather does go bad we don’t have to worry about what other boats may be doing.  Much less stress.

Now sometimes big anchorages do have a limited area for anchoring.  One small area may be sand and good holding the rest may be solid rock or coral and won’t hold anything or maybe only a part of the anchorage is protected from a given wind direction.  In that case I and everyone else must live with the anchorages limitations.

On the other hand, you sail into an anchorage with gin clear water, a mile long crescent shaped, powder fine, white sand beach with no wave action. The bottom from one end of the anchorage to the other is sand in 20’ and there is one other boat anchored there.  DON’T sail up to their stern and drop your hook, the spot they chose to anchor in isn’t any better than any other in the anchorage, let them have their privacy!  I think this is one of the most annoying things anyone can do, come into a large anchorage and then anchor right on top of someone who is already there enjoying the solitude!

4. Anchor Lights

With the exception of mooring fields if you anchor at night you need to have an anchor light, placed where it can be seen all around.  Today, that is usually at the mast head but If you have ever sailed into a crowded anchorage at night or been motoring around in your dinghy you know how hard it is to see the boats 50+’ below those little white lights.  In addition to the LED light at the top of the mast which turns on automatically at night I like to hang a lantern from the rigging just above the height of the mainsail cover.  It provides light on deck, lets other boats see my boat and provides me with a target to aim for when returning home in the dink on a pitch-black night. The light I use also has a red function so I can turn that on when I know I am going to be returning in the dark to give me an even better target to aim for.  When your boat is lit at the masthead like everyone else and there are 200 boats in the anchorage it can be difficult finding your boat in the crowd.

5. Anchor Buoys

With the exception of an anchorage with a known foul bottom the use of an anchor buoy, especially in a crowded anchorage is frowned upon for a couple of reasons. 1.-Dinghy’s running around in the dark can foul their prop in them and 2.-sometimes other boaters will assume they are mooring buoys and tie up to them tripping your anchor which causes you and them to drag down onto other boats and start a nasty chain reaction of dragging boats.

In places where there is a known foul bottom as in some of the wilderness anchorages along the ICW or in Charlestown SC where old mooring cables lay on the bottom use a buoy that cannot be mistaken for a mooring ball and clearly mark it with “NOT A MOORING BALL”.  Make sure your trip line is long enough to allow for high tide plus a few feet so it won’t trip your anchor by accident.

6. Anchored Day Shape

A navigation rule not enforced in the US but frequently followed else where requires that when anchored in the daytime you display a black ball in the rigging where it can best be seen all round.  Generally, where there are a lot of boats anchored everyone entering or transiting the area knows most boats are not moving.  On the other hand, when anchored along-side of or close to a channel those transiting the area may question whether you are moving or anchored.  Displaying a black ball will tell everyone “I am anchored”.  I’ve had engine failure in a busy channel with shoals on each side and had to anchor in the channel while I fixed the problem.  Displaying a black ball everyone went around me without questioning whether I was moving or not, occasionally someone looked irate but a crewman yelling “engine trouble” stopped any misunderstandings and many were sympathetic to our problem.

Anchoring done right is a relaxing way to stop and visit, it should be enjoyable for all.  Courtesy goes a long ways everywhere.