Re: Anchor watches (re my March 14th adventures)

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Hi, Y'all,

So...

We're at anchor, with the toplight lit and the cockpit lit up, and various of our redlighting below illuminating (if you're close enough to see them) the windows in very faint red. We're not in an anchorage, designated or not, but we're lit according to the regs, along with other lighting to make us more visible.

We should be standing watch based on all the responses to my last log posting.

Oh, ya, let's just add in that we're dragging slightly, so our position isn't constant, but there's nothing we can run into, and we are confident in the bottom such that we know we won't move anywhere fast, nor dangerously, so we don't bother with finding a more suitable bottom - this one just lets us move a bit - to make us not move at all.

It depends a bit on the location. But, "not in anchorage" and "dragging"? Yup, there should be a watch. Plus, "dragging" means "not attached" so how can you be sure that you won't suddenly let go altogether? OK, if you know its soft mud, maybe its not bad, but even then you could simply set a second Danforth (or Fortress), and if that doesn't stop the the drag, you have a real problem.



We should have constant watch standers, right?

Or, we could be hove to with handkerchiefs of sail up, anchor lights lit, etc., as above, and drifting slightly in an area where we can't run into anything, and there's no traffic due to the area... You'll see, on review, that such was the case which generated all the bonhomie in response to my log,

My jaw dropped when I first read your earlier post (as did my wife's when I told the story), but it seems you dig yourself a deeper hole with every defense. Here you're claiming you don't need a watch because "no traffic is due in the area"! How can you possibly be guaranteed of that, especially near the largest inlet in the area?


If we're anywhere there's traffic, or we're under way, we have 24/7 watch, regardless of where we are, or how deep it is...

Drifting 20 miles while you slept is not "Underway"??? Elsewhere you claimed it was slower than 2 knots, so are you really claiming you all slept for over 10 hours with no one on watch??? I can't imagine getting any sleep in that situation - at the very least I'd be checking the position and horizon every hour or so. But with three adults on board, what's the problem with a watch?

And how did you get into this situation? By going out for the day with no plan beyond "we'll just get close to land and toss out the anchor." Never mind that within a few miles of the inlet there's several towns and a number of well known anchorages. But you'd rather risk the lives of your family by making believe that you're exercising "contingency planning."

Sorry Skip, this is not normal behavior. Your defense sounds just as lame as your previous claims that all your problems are caused by bad weather forecasts or faulty charts.
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