Anchoring on a bareboat yacht charter involves such skills as picking a good spot away from coral bommies and other underwater hazards... knowing the water's depth... how much the tide will rise and fall... and the contour and type of bottom (that is, coral or sand); and knowing what the weather is going to do... Read and understand this section and you'll anchor your bareboat without problems.

Picking a good place to anchor on a bareboat charter

To know where to anchor, you need to familiarize yourself with a chart of the area. If you are organizing a yacht charter around the Whitsunday Islands, the area's bible is "100 Magic Miles" written by David Colfelt... If you are taking bareboat sailing holidays between Bundaberg (Fraser Island) and Tweed Heads (Northern NSW) your reference is "Beacon to Beacon" by Ken Brown and George Daniels... From your chart, you will be able to determine the water depth and the type of bottom to find a suitable anchorage.

For comfort, you want to find an anchorage protected from the prevailing forecast wind and wave direction. For safety, look for

• Enough depth (4 metres) to avoid the danger of grounding your bareboat but not so much depth (11 metres) that your anchor can breakout.
  
• Sufficient room for your bareboat to swing in all directions.
  
• A quiet location out of any channel.
  
• A location protected from waves and strong winds.

Finding the lee

Very few bare boat anchorages are protected in all wind directions, so your first step is to note the current wind direction and review the coastal waters forecast available on your VHF radio.

A good, protected anchorage for a bareboat charter yacht is in the lee of the wind - that is, the adjacent land blocks the force of the wind and waves. If the forecast is for strong, southeasterly breezes, for example, you want to look for bareboat anchorages to the north west of an island or land mass.

Alongside a lee shore (shore facing the oncoming wind and waves) is the most dangerous place for an anchored boat. If the boat anchor slips at all, you may find your bareboat getting washed up onto the same sandy beach you were sunbathing on earlier...or worse. Anchoring along a lee shore is like standing in the middle of a road - you may be safe for awhile, but your odds aren't so good. And always remember...and this is the tricky part... that if you suddenly face a 180-degree wind shift, your nice, protected anchorage can quickly become the lee shore.

Watch your depth and avoid underwater hazards

Because charts indicate the water depth at mean low water (low tide), picking a spot that will be deep enough for your boat should be easy.

No boat anchor works well in rocks, so you definitely want to avoid them. Nothing is worse than getting your anchor so stuck on an object that you have to go swimming or even cut it away.

Fortunately, in places like the Whitsunday's, public moorings are being placed at popular anchorages. Because tying your bareboat up to a mooring buoy is infinitely easier than dropping the hook, life is now much easier at a number of popular Whitsunday anchorages.

Dropping an anchor onto a coral reef causes significant damage to this priceless feature of our tropical oceans... don't do it... it's illegal.

Getting ready to anchor your bareboat

The key to anchoring is waiting to drop the anchor until your bareboat is dead in the water and just beginning to drift backward ... similar to picking up a mooring. Keep in mind that the easiest way to go backward on a sailing yacht or motor yacht is under power - but make certain before you start any manoeuvring that your tender has been brought up short so the rope can't foul the propeller.

Approaching your bareboat anchorage

Always approach your anchorage against the wind or tide whichever is the stronger. (Note the direction other boats are facing and approach from that direction).

1. Have a crew member forward, wearing Polarised sunglasses, and looking for reef. Coral bommies can appear suddenly from deep water, and you'll often find isolated coral heads (bommies) outside the main reef line. The usual colour from above the water is yellow/brown. A coral reef is best seen with Polarised sunglasses at low tide
2. Approach your anchorage from several boat lengths to leeward so that you are not looking into the sun. It will be hard to see the reef if you are looking into the sun because of the sun's reflection on the water...if you are, go out again and approach from a different direction. If necessary do a slow circle around the spot you intend anchoring to check - and then approach your anchorage with your bow of your bareboat into the wind and tide.
   
   After 3.30pm reef areas become difficult to see as the sun becomes too low to show the difference in colour between shallow and deep water.
3. Slow your bareboat down and stop right over your desired anchoring point. This spot isn't where the boat will sit; it's where the boat anchor goes....your boat will lie downwind (or down current) of this position. As the wind or current shifts, your boat swings around your anchorage (hopefully without dislodging the anchor) in a 360-degree circle.
4. Give the signal. The key to anchoring is waiting to drop the anchor just as the boat is starting to go backward. Because the best judge of when this happens is the skipper, the crew on the bow waits until told to "drop anchor".

the lens on the left is polarised, the right lens isn't...

Remember that it is usually a charter requirement that you are anchored or moored by 4.00 pm... Your vessel is not covered by insurance if you are underway after 4.00 pm unless it is with the express permission of your charter company. You may leave your anchorage anytime after sunrise.

How to anchor your bareboat

Tie the tender close to your bareboat so its painter (towing rope) cannot get caught around the propeller, then proceed slowly and with care.

Your depth sounder should be reading 4-11 metres of water, and the position you've chosen to anchor should allow you to swing a full 360 degrees (with approximately 35-40 metres of anchor chain out) without hitting coral or any other obstruction. Once in position your vessel should be stationary before the anchor is lowered to the bottom. (Motor/s out of gear and idling).

The anchor winch operates on your 'domestic' batteries and uses a lot of battery power, so select your anchoring position carefully, you only want to drop your anchor once... dropping and pulling your anchor up repeatedly in a short space of time, will considerably reduce your battery charge...and pulling the anchor chain up by hand is a lot of hard work.

While the following can change from bareboat to bareboat, it is a procedure commonly followed when bareboat chartering -

1. Remove the locking pin over the anchor chain...then release the pawl at the base of the winch, use the foot switch to apply power to the winch if necessary (if your boat doesn't have an electric foot switch to run out chain, you will do so manually).
   
   Using the foot switch, run out a small amount of anchor chain, then manually lift the anchor clear of the anchor roller and lower (letting the cable roll over the anchor roller).
   
   
2. Then using the foot switch slowly let out approximately three quarters of the amount of anchor chain you intend to drop (say 30 metres)...you must let go carefully and reasonably slowly, so that your anchor is not buried under a heap of chain, which might tangle.
   
   
3. Let the wind or current take your bareboat backward while laying out anchor chain until the chain goes taut and the anchor sets. (If necessary use your engine to get the vessel moving slowly astern...but first check your bareboat tender is tied up short.)
   
   
4. Gradually release more anchor chain until the required amount of chain is let out, at least 40 metres.
   
   
5. Then using the foot switch slowly let out approximately three quarters of the amount of anchor chain you intend to drop (say 30 metres)...you must let go carefully and reasonably slowly, so that your anchor is not buried under a heap of chain, which might tangle.
   
   
6. Once you are sure that your anchor has bitten in, use the snubbing line already fixed to the bollard or cleat to secure the chain...then let out chain until the snubbing line takes up on the bollard or cleat. Your anchor winch is not made to take the strain of the your bareboat at anchor.
   
   The rope snubbing line is tied off with the 'grab claw' attached is used to take the weight off the anchor chain and winch.
   
   This snubbing line not only takes the load off the anchor winch, but because it runs back over the bow roller it also isolates your bareboat from the sound of the anchor chain rumbling over itself or scraping over a rock bottom.
   
   
7. With the snubbing line taking the strain... release more anchor chain from the locker, and then use the illustrated 'tug-boat' hitch to secure the chain to the bollard or cleat.
   

   Your anchor rope or anchor chain cable should never be made fast in a way, which could tighten and be difficult to let go. The 'tug-boat' hitch shown is the correct way, and is safe and easy to undo, especially with chain.

   The anchor chain is turned around the bollard. A length of chain is passed under the standing part and then looped back over the top of the bollard.

8. Finally, allow your boat anchor to set as the vessel swings into the wind and current...and unless wind and current is strong your chain should now be hanging vertically into the water.

A rough guide to determine if you are correctly anchored is that your bareboat should be 3-4 boat lengths from the position you first dropped the anchor. The distance from the point where you have dropped the anchor to your boat, is also the radius of your swing as the wind or tide moves your boat around. You may move in full circle, so it is important to make sure there is no shallow water, reef or bommie within the circle of your swing.

The circle of your swing

Allow room for your boat to swing around the anchor.

Avoid crowded anchorages, where you're restricted in the amount of scope you can let out. In a high wind, one of these neighbouring boats may drag its anchor - possibly into your boat! A boat at anchor swings with the winds and current, so make sure that your boat is free to swing in a circle around the anchor...Your radius of swing is approximately 80% of the scope out. i.e. If you have 40 metres of chain out your swing will be about 32 metres. Another vessel within your swing radius, provided it is 3-4 boat lengths away,...should not present a problem, but be aware that a motor cruiser and catamaran swing to the wind... while a 'keeled' yacht swings to the current.

If you start swinging too close to another boat: Some bareboats "sail" around quite a bit under anchor, powered by the force of the wind on the mast and hull. You can't do much to prevent this movement. But if you're swinging too close to another boat, either due to this "sailing" or a shift in the wind, someone has to move... Conventional etiquette says the boat that anchored last has to move, but if no one is aboard the other boat, then you just pulled the short straw.

Two sets of transits should be taken after about 15 minutes when your boat has settled down to her anchor, each one at approximately right angles to the other.

This will help you decide if your bareboat is dragging in any direction. Transits do not require the use of any instruments and only involve sighting of two shore objects, well spaced, which are in alignment when the boat is in her correct position.

Any shore objects can be used...an isolated rock, a sandy beach or an island in line with a distant prominent hill are typical. The front object should be fairly close to the boat and the far object well removed. The farther the two objects are spaced apart, the quicker they will indicate any dragging of the anchor.

The dotted line boat shows how these marks would 'open' if she has dragged. Note: In gusts of strong wind there would be a bit of give and take causing the marks to shift in and out of line a small amount.

Check your bareboat anchorage position again after 20-30 minutes... be certain your boat anchor is not dragging.

It is a little more difficult at night if you are tucked away in some remote bay where there are no lights, but except on the darkest of moonless nights, there will usually be something on the shoreline and something on the skyline which can be aligned as a reference point. As your bareboat swings with wind and tide... keep track of your position relative to other boats in the anchorage.

Don't use stars, moon and other heavenly bodies as transit objects because they move with the earth's rotation.

If you are being affected by strong wind, tides or in a storm, if you are not in a protected anchorage, let out more chain as this improves holding. But don't let out so much anchor chain, that you will end up on the beach or against another vessel... If you have a second boat anchor, you may want to set it (see "Doubling up: two anchors," later in this section) if you get caught out on your bareboat charter in really nasty weather.

Currents and coral

It is worth remembering that you will escape the strongest currents in mid channel or in open water. If you stand on a high hill you will clearly see how the currents run fastest close to the islands, and this is also where you will expect to find fringing coral. The current or tide also flows fastest during the middle of the tide.

Your chart marks areas of coral - treat these as a guide or indication. Do not attempt to take your bareboat into areas of coral unless you can see the bottom clearly. Coral can be seen best when the sun is directly overhead, and it is a clear and calm day... Polarised sunglasses help considerably, if the chart shows you are approaching an area of coral and visibility is poor, give it a wide berth...plan your daily trips so that you arrive in areas where there is coral reef at low tide... when the reef is easily seen.

Digging in for awhile

You can check that your bareboat anchor is set and holding in a number of ways:

• By holding the anchor rode (chain) with your hand, you can sometimes feel the boat anchor bounce over the bottom. When the anchor digs in, the bouncing stops, and you can feel the chain stretch and contract as the boat surges.
  
• With the bareboat idling in reverse, you may be able to see the bow dip when the flukes of the anchor take a grip on the bottom - but before doing this secure the anchor chain on the bollard or cleat so as not to damage the anchor windlass.

If you feel jerking motions, your boat anchor is dragging along the bottom.

If your boat anchor keeps dragging, you can try any of the following techniques to get the anchor to set:

• Let out more scope. Your boat anchor is probably skipping along the bottom, and with more scope, the anchor will lay horizontal and can dig in.
  
• Rev the engine of your bareboat in reverse to try to set the anchor - If you keep dragging, you may have to pick up your anchor and try again.
  
• It could also be that the flukes have tangled in the chain.

When your senses tell you that the boat anchor is holding, try to confirm that by watching landmarks or a range. By sighting through two objects, you can establish a line sight and watch your position to ensure that you're not dragging.

Your bareboat swinging to wind or tide

In many anchorages there will be a strong movement of tide which may swing your boat on her rode through at least 180 degrees every six hours or so. Shifting wind conditions may do the same thing.

Whatever the cause, the effects of swinging back and forth in opposite directions will be to loosen the boat anchor and risk pulling it out of the seabed. If this happens, the chances are it will grip again in the opposite direction...but there is always the risk that it may not bed down firmly and your bareboat will drag.

This is why it is important to have sufficient length and catenary (sag) in the rode... because if your bareboat is able to move freely, the load on the line will be comparatively slight... Under normal conditions with 40 metres of chain out your bareboat will only exert a load of about 200 lb. (80 kg) at the boat anchor.

At anchor your bareboat keeps up a series of swings and surges to and fro. At the turn of the tide the cable slackens and is dragged over the seabed before pulling from the opposite direction, and at every sudden change of wind the direction of the pull is altered. Because your anchor line is chain it will rumble and clank over the sea floor each time you change direction and it is easy to imagine that the boat anchor is dragging... and perhaps it is.

To check if you are dragging...the best way is to go and look...if you are dragging you will see and feel the chain tighten as the strain comes on the anchor, then it drags with a rumble, whereupon it goes slack, then tightens and rumbles again and so on... This sequence can also happen if your boat has swung at the turn of the tide and is taking up slack, so don't be fooled. Place a hand on the chain and feel the tension and the rumble.

The alarming rumbles heard while anchored at night are usually caused by the chain dragging over itself at the turn of the tide. At 1... the boat is lying to the flood. At 2... the ebb is carrying her downstream over her anchor and the chain is rumbling. At 3... she is riding to the ebb and quiet again.

If wind and tide are in opposition your boat may shear around and rumble half the night...use a rope snubbing line and you will almost eliminate this noise...you will be shown how to secure this snubbing line during your bareboat briefing.

Other anchoring methods

This section covers the more advanced methods you may need to leave your boat secure. These methods would almost never be used when bareboating, the only possibility would be if sudden and extreme weather conditions developed so quickly you couldn't get to an 'all weather' anchorage. So if you need to get creative and use two anchors we illustrate the methods...you would only do this under guidance from your charter operator. Or you may find that you need to tie up with your stern close to the shore... If you have a charter yacht in the Whitsundays you have to use this method at Palm Bay.

Doubling up: two anchors

For increased security from dragging, two anchors are better than one.

Mooring the boat with two anchors can help decrease dragging and swinging. The most common example is setting two anchors in front of the boat so that when they dig in, the anchor lines create an angle of about 45 degrees... This method is good for really rough weather which is coming from a fixed direction, because each anchor takes about half the load of the boat's pull... A side benefit is that you can use less scope for the same holding power but keep in mind that the more scope, the better for rough conditions.

Setting double anchors is kind of tricky. The best way is to set the first anchor normally and then send your tender out with an anchor and rode to set the second one. Make sure that the tail of the second anchor rode is securely fixed to your anchor bollard first!

Anchoring at Palm Bay, Whitsunday's

Anchoring a bareboat "stern-to" Docking in the Mediterranean style enables you to tie up with your stern (back end) close to the shore...when the water is deep enough. If no moorings are available and you must use your anchor, simply pick your spot off the shore and then drop your boat anchor the appropriate distance straight out from shore... Then back the boat in slowly, as you would in open water, until you get close to the shore.

On a charter yacht in the Whitsundays you will only anchor this way at Palm Bay... and here you will tie up to a mooring and then secure your stern line to the shore under the supervision and direction of Palm Bay staff.