Learn to Sail for Newbies - Is Your Anchor Rope Ready to Rock?

If you want to learn how to sail with confidence, you want to prepare that hunk of metal that lives up at your bow--your boat anchor--ready to go the instant you need it.

And for that to happen, you need to start with your anchor rope ("line").

Anchor line forms that all important umbilical cord between your boat and the sea bottom.

Follow these easy steps to give you worry-free security and confidence that your boat has what it needs for sailing safety.

Anchor Rope Needs to "Run Free"

Make sure your anchor line stays free of kinks, hockles, and knots, your anchor will not work for you. Get your anchor line ready so that it feeds out over the side of the boat smooth and easy. Pull out 10 fathoms of anchor line out of your anchor locker. One fathom = 6 feet.

To measure each fathom, stretch your arms out as wide as possible to the side as your hold the line between your hands. Each stretch = about 6 feet. Sailors use this method and its accurate and fast. Stretch your arms out ten times and you will have 60 feet of knot free anchor line ready to go.

Coil Your Anchor Line Like a Sailor

Make sure you coil line so that it will stay free of twists and hockles (knots) as you "coil down" (coil a piece of line onto the deck or into a locker). Grab that part of the line nearest your anchor locker, or where the line has been tied off to a boat cleat. You will coil toward the bitter end (farthest, loose end) of the line.

With three strand anchor line, coil clockwise in round loops 18" to 36" in diameter. As you make the circle of the coil, twist your wrist a quarter-turn to the right just before you finish the circle of the coil. This prevents twists and helps the coil lay flat on the coil beneath.

With double-braided line (the cover has a smooth, snake-like appearance), do not use the final quarter-turn. Instead, all the double-braid tomake its own shape as you coil it down. Most often, this will resemble a large "8". Double braid has a natural twist unlike three-strand, so you want to allow it to coil down in a natural way.

Once you have your line coiled down, it will be ready to run, free of knots and twists--and your anchoring will go smooth and easy.

Check the Joint and End of Your Anchor Rope

Inspect the line where it attaches to the anchor or to your anchor chain. Make sure that you make an eye-splice (or bowline knot in a pinch) to join the anchor line to the chain or anchor.

Next, dig all the way down beneath the anchor line and make sure that the far end (bitter end) has been tied off to the ring-bolt (a strong bolt with an eye). More than one sailor has been embarrassed when the anchor went over the side along with all the line because it hadn't been secured.

Learn how to sail the right way when you know how to keep your boat anchoring gear in tip-top shape. This will give you the confidence you need to be ready to stop you boat for the night, take a lunch break, or rest if you're tired--on the hook--worry free--wherever in the world you choose to cruise!