Help with windless anchoring - 10 Meter International

jhalb · Post by **jhalb** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:31 am

This was my first time using a windless. First of all it was very windy and the river was raging but I tried it out anyway. Setting the anchor went OK but when I was ready to reel it in I couldn't tell what was going on. I put the boat in forward to go toward the anchor. I couldn't see where rode was untill the boat turned 90 degrees. When the achor was finnally up I noticed the shank was bent about 15 degrees. ( #16 galvanized fluke) Any tips?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:00 am

Though it's good to power up towards your anchor while your windlass is pulling in the rode, you need to be careful not to over run it. You really just want to bump the boat in and out of gear to get some forward motion then let the windlass keep a little tension in the rope as it comes in. Remember that your boat in gear moves forward much more quickly than the windlass can pull the rode in.

The reason your boat turned 90Â° is because you passed your anchor before it was pulled free from the bottom and it put the brakes on for you, big time if it bent your anchor. Been there, done that.

Hope this helps,