Oops!
Stories and Lessons from
BoatU.S. Marine Insurance Files
TOPIC: "ANCHOR ANGST"

A BoatU.S. Member was fishing with three friends off Catalina Island, California on a 24-foot anchored boat when they all noticed a dark cloud moving toward them from the Pacific. They continued fishing until a series of six-foot waves started pounding the hull, came over the transom and overwhelmed the bilge pump. While three of the anglers started bailing water, the captain decided the time had come to turn on the engine, pull the anchor and head home. Let's say things didn't go according to plan.

The engine was flooded with water and wouldn't start. Realizing they needed help, a call was made on the VHF to the TowBoatU.S. Dispatch Center, which sent a boat to assist. But the relentless waves were showing no signs of smoothing out and the 24-foot boat was tossed into the air as the seas started to build. As the boat pitched up, the cleat holding the anchor was torn out of the foredeck and more water started coming in. The towboat arrived and put a number of pumps to work as the wounded vessel was brought back to shore.

A similar situation occurred when a boat anchored from the stern took a few rogue waves over the transom and the single bilge pump, along with the crew members and their buckets, were unable to keep the water from coming over the gunwales. TowBoatU.S. was also contacted in this claim but the submerged boat needed a variety of repairs once it was out of the water.

A number of lessons can be learned from these two BoatU.S. Marine Insurance claims:

1Don't wait for sea conditions and weather to turn bad before having a discussion about whether or not to head for a safe haven. If the marine forecast calls for a "chance of heavy winds/thunderstorms" then that's the time to have a thought-out plan about what to do (what's the closest harbor or protected cove, who does what during heavy seas, are life jackets close at hand if not already being worn, what direction do you want to absolutely avoid if visibility becomes obscured, i.e. rocks, shoals, sunken objects).

2 If conditions are severe in open water, it's usually safer to keep moving rather than anchor with the hope of "riding it out." By keeping the boat in motion, you are able to point the bow at an angle into the waves and make headway, albeit slow headway, while the storm passes.

3 Anchoring means the boat will point directly into the seas but the common wind shifts in storms have the potential of turning the hull sideways to waves. This is dangerous because the waves will easily come over the side and possibly overwhelm the bilge pump. Anchoring also means the boat will be lifted by each wave, possibly putting extreme pressure on the bow cleat as happened in one of the claims.