swinging at anchor

[Crowbar]

28 ft voyager- While at anchor with a 7 knot or so wind and no current, the boat swings 50 degrees left and right. I tried turning the rudders hard over with no effect. I'm thinking about deploying a small sea anchor off the stern. I'm getting dizzy. Any ideas?

[jsinton]

Yeah, you could put out a stern anchor. I've done lots of that, it works pretty well keeping the boat in one place in a big blow. Do you have it on a bungee?

[RGrew176]

If you do try a sea anchor let us know how well it does or does not work. I'm curious. My gut feeling is that a sea anchor would not work where there is no current.

[tomschauer]

with a single bow anchor and no snubber system, your boat will swing with the wind and the current. Point it where you want it to be and deploy a stern anchor.

[CaptBob]

We often drop a stern anchor to stop the swing during the day, Sounds kind of strange, but we've been using a 30 lb kettle bell on a line just tossed off the swim platform. It dosn't really "set" but seems to dig itself in and slow the swing considerably. We are mostly mud bottom, and I think the bell kind of sinks in and grabs, kind of like a mushroom would.

Source of the post with a single bow anchor and no snubber system, your boat will swing with the wind and the current. Point it where you want it to be and deploy a stern anchor.

So that begs the question, as I've assumed the swing was a product of our windage (mostly) and current, will a snubber reduce the swing, and why? I tie my chain to the cleat with a chain stay to get the stress off the windlass, but I have no snubber in play anywhere. If it would help, i'm off to amazon to find one!

[km1125]

Tie another line to your rode and pull it offcenter to a side cleat. The boat is swinging like a pendulum or a rocking chair. You want to disturb the "even-ness" and let the wind or current favor one side or the other rather than be equal on both sides.

[CaptBob]

Source of the post Tie another line to your rode and pull it offcenter to a side cleat. The boat is swinging like a pendulum or a rocking chair. You want to disturb the "even-ness" and let the wind or current favor one side or the other rather than be equal on both sides.

Well duh. That makes so much sense , I am now annoyed that I didn't think of that. i am almost hoping for some wind this weekend so I can try it out! In hindsight, we have already proved that, anytime we have someone rafted on us, we do not swing. When they leave, off we go! So apparently either tie the rode or another boat to the side to reduce swing!

[pepmyster]

Just bought another foldable anchor , the one we had before was for our 28 foot cruiser, too small now. We always used a stern anchor when on the hook. I now have an 18kg anchor with 50 feet of 3/8 inch anchor rode. I know it should be 5/8 but it's only for the stern. Going to try it this week-end.

[thisDave]

Previously, we were in a 366, and now a 570. In both, we experience extreme sway while on anchor, commonly 90-120 degrees every few minutes. First thing we do is make sure the rudders straight.

We normally use a bridle on the front cleats. I was able to slow the swing by tying one side of the bridle to a midship cleat, following the suggestion above. I've also tried a 4ft drogue which really slowed the movement, but didnt reduce the arc.

Suggestions? I'm open to new ideas.

[Phrancus]

Underlying logic is that the sterndrives are the turning point with the bow being pushed sideways. Were you able to take the drives out of the water, the swinging would be different. With a longer anchor line it also changes but does not stop.

Introducing one side to be pushed more than the other makes sense like described. A water anchor would not help as much as the turning point it still the rear of the boat and you need good current to keep it under pulling pressure.

The snubber to choose the pushing side to the boat by the wind or an added anchor to change the turning point are the solutions I believen. Note: use the rear anchor also to make the profile asymetrical otherwise you still have a changing force to the boat by the wind.

With a bit of trial you can find the most effective cleat to tie the rear anchor to so you get the right air flow through the boat and keep it that way during the stay. I also like it because I can position the shades more effectively when the boat stays put.