High and Dry

Last night, we anchored on the side of the ICW during high tide with a shorter scope than we usually do. Our standard is 7:1 scope in all chain rode, but after hearing a lot of negative comments about using too much chain, we decided to go a bit shorter.  

The YouTube consensus on our videos is we should anchor with 3:1 scope. We chose to shorten scope but not that drastically, so we anchored with 4:1 scope. That night, at low tide, we dragged anchor so I let out more scope, bringing us back to our standard 7:1.  

Well we moved from our deep anchorage onto a shallow spot and grounded us. Now, as the tide goes out, we are heeling over.  

Our only option at this point is to wait for the tide to come back up and get us floating better so we can raise anchor and get out of here.  

Salt Water vs. Fresh Water

When cruising, you need to pay special attention to your waterline to make sure that you are not overloaded as this will have negative effects on your sailing performance. 

Not only is the weight of the cargo you are carrying important, it is also important to consider what kind of water you will be sailing in, as this will affect your waterline. 

Salt water is much more dense than fresh water, meaning that it can displace more mass with the same amount of water. Basically, when you cruise in salt water, your yacht will float a bit higher out of the water than if it were in fresh water. 

In our current and sad state where  Wisdom is so grossly overloaded, we are sitting a bit deep in the water. Before we left, we painted over the boot stripe with bottom paint, effectively raising our waterline by six inches. While the paint may make it all look normal, the hull has cut in waterlines that will not move with a bit of paint play. The cut in load water line is currently 4 inches underwater, meaning that we are 4 inches overloaded. Being how our hull is designed to take 1000 pounds per inch, this means that we are 4000 pounds overloaded with junk that we feel is important to bring with us on this voyage.

Now, since we painted over the boot stripe with bottom paint, from a distance, it merely appears as if our yacht has no boot stripe, as the bottom paint protrudes about 2 inches above the waterline, making everything look normal and fine. 

That was in salt water atleast. When we entered the Waccamaw River, however, we transitioned from salt water to pure fresh water, and the effects on our waterline were dramatic. When rowing around our boat in the dinghy, I thought something was terribly wrong because the bottom paint was now a full inch under water! 

That's right, the boat sunk a full 3 inches when we entered the river. At first I thought this meant that our bilge was filling with water and we were slowly sinking, but upon inspection the bilges were all dry. Then it dawned on me, we were merely floating in a less dense fluid and therefore were less buoyant. Panic postponed, we simply had to adjust our course to make sure that we don't bump into the bottom, as we are now drawing an extra 3 inches.  

When we float at our designed water line (DWL) we draw 6'2". When we are cruise ready (and severely overloaded) we draw 6'6". When we then enter fresh water, we draw 6'9". This is something to keep in mind as you plan your voyage on your own yacht, your draft will change based on how you overload your vessel and what salinity you plan to cruise in. 

Cape Fear and Heading South in the ICW

The ICW, also known as "the ditch" is a narrow cut of water that runs along the East Coast of the United States. It is famous for being long, straight, and boring. This all holds true, but it does offer one huge advantage, you get to stop for a good meal and a good nights rest every night!

The waterway is rather narrow, and when heading south after Cape Fear, the tide becomes rather dramatic. 6 foot tides are common, and that means that a lot of water will flow through the inlets creating a very strong current.  

We decided to continue heading south through the ICW instead of going offshore for two reasons:
1. It's really cold outside in January.
2. Weather in the ICW is not important. 

Rather than going offshore from Cape Fear to re-enter at Georgetown, we decided to continue mucking along in the ICW because of winter weather.  

Today, we had sustained winds of 20 knots with gusts over 35 knots in the ICW while the waves were only around 3 inches tall. Yes, flat water and 20+ knot winds! Oh, and it was in the low 40Fs today too. 

When we passed the inlets, we could look out at the ocean, where the winds are stronger since there are no trees or houses blocking the wind, and the waves out there were massive, from the mouth of the inlet to as far as the eye could see. The ocean looked like a sea of white caps, while we continued on peacefully in the calm and tranquil waters of the ICW. 

The best part of it all, when we get tired, we simply pull over to the side of the channel and drop the anchor. This lets us relax, eat, and sleep well knowing that we are safe and sound. If we were offshore tonight, we would be freezing as we struggle through the night watch, hoping to reach the next inlet. 

While the ICW might seem like a cake walk, it does have one strong feature that will dictate any motion you try to make: the currents. It is common to see a small wake form behind your anchor chain as it exits the water, as the current will be ripping through the waterway. If you have the current in your favor, you will cover many bonus miles that day, while if you are fighting the current, you will face an uphill battle. 

Be sure to check the tides to decide when you will move and when you will anchor, as the currents will be your biggest concern in the waterway.  

Once you leave Southport at Cape Fear, you will only have four inlets to contend with, and only 3 of them are serious inlets. This means that once you pass the last inlet (Little River Inlet), you will have over 60 miles of gorgeous waterway with no more inlets creating confusing tides. Everything will be easy to calculate as you make your trek with the tides all the way to Georgetown! 

Marking Mooring Chain

As previously discussed, we prefer to use paint to mark our chain at designated lengths. For the anchor rode, this is a simple color band system that gets painted onto the chain to mark its length. 

The problem is, a mooring chain for a Bahamian Moor uses an anchor at either end and the boats rode hooked into the middle of it. So, we don't really need to know how many feet we are, but instead where the ends and middle lay. 

To identify this, I used red paint for the ends and middle. 

Now, we know that the red ends receive an anchor, while the red middle is where the shackle attaches the main rode to the system. These areas are well demarcated, but the mooring chain is also 200 feet long, so there seems to be a red section every 100 feet. When pulling this behemoth of a chain up, we won't be able to use a windlass, so we will find ourselves nipping the chain and hauling it up with a cockpit winch, one nip at a time. This is a rather slow process, as we can only pull up around 1 boat length each nip, so I added some green markers in the middle area. Sort of a morale booster for me when I'm working!

These big green marks are located about half way between the shackle and the anchor, so when we see them, we know we are getting close to the hook! That should help boost my morale as we continue to nip the chain onto the deck! 

Marking Chain

Anchoring with chain is simple enough, the weight of the chain provides a wonderful catenary curve which will ensure a proper and horizontal pull on the anchor, when anchoring with sufficient scope. But how do you know how much chain you have let out?

The solution is simple, all you need to do is mark the chain at designated points, that way when you see the mark you will know how much chain you have let out! 

Now comes the hard part, how do you mark the chain so that you can easily see it while not having it be in the way of the windlass gypsy? Some people sew tags onto the links, but these can get fouled on things if they are too long and they are easy to miss as the chain rushes out of the roller and into the water. Another option is to stick little rubber inserts into the links, but these are time consuming to install and tend to fall out of the chain with time and use. Another option is to paint a long section of the chain with spray paint, but this will wear off as the chain drags along the bottom. 

As you can see, there is no right way, and any method you use will result in the need of maintenance to keep it operational for you. 

I have gone the route of painting, as it is quick and easy to apply, and when it wears off, I simply spray it again. The paint I have sprayed on the bow anchor rode is currently three years old and still visible, but not as apparent as it was when new. 

You will find that the paint closest to the anchor will wear the first, but the paint further away will stay in better shape. The 20 foot paint is pretty much gone, the 40 foot paint is barely there, but the 60 foot mark and on is still vividly visible. 

If you choose to paint your chain, be sure to write down your color combination, otherwise you might forget the system if you don't anchor for a while. 

The system we use is simple: 

20 = Black
40 = Yellow
60 = Green
80 = Red
100 = White

So, 140 feet would be a White Bands and a Yellow Ban. 

Since 200 would be two white bands, I simply add a short green stripe to indicate the 200 foot mark. This makes it easy to distinguish when we cross the 180 and into the 200 foot mark.