PocketShip.net

The last couple of years I have done the Texas 200. It has required some overnight anchoring. For the most part we pull our boats up on the beach and jam an anchor into the ground and we are done. One camp we could not get very close to the shore due to shallow water. I just hoped out into knee deep water with my anchor and jammed it into the sand. Seemed to work fine and I slept well.

I did these anchors with no rode. Should I have rode and how much? Also I am taking two anchors with me this year for safety and am thinking about using two to eliminate some swing.

Any and all anchor knowledge that you guys can provide is very welcome. I don't know if I have just been lucky or am just worried about nothing. Thanks.

If the water is knee-deep, I guess the Pocketship was touching the bottom, or just barely? I guess you wouldn't need much scope, if any, at that depth because there wouldn't be much sideways force on the boat anyway.

When you beached the boat, did you have any issue with waves? I ran the bow into a sandy shore on the lake that I sail on, and the wake from motorboats pushed the boat sideways and then just pounded it into the sand. I think I should have used another anchor to force the stern into the water (perpendicular to the shore). Is that what you did?

Craig, one night last year we (the whole fleet) had trouble with a giant powerboat (ship). It soaked a bunch of the open boats and pushed me a little sideways, but I didn't have any problems like those guys. On that beach, I was not able to get the boat grounded. It kinda was up against the beach. As much as I tried to get the anchor line tight slack would develop and the boat was floating about a foot or so off the shore. Every wave made the bow bump into the sand. Rough night. If I had had two anchors I would have pulled the boat off of the shore and anchored the stern to keep the boat from going forward. I bought another anchor for this purpose and a bit of safety too.

I think Ill go rodeless again this year. One week till I start.