Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for your comments ❤ Just wanted to reassure everyone that, while we've had a run of challenges on RR2, since these episodes were filmed we've been finding our feet and our confidence has increased hugely, which you'll be seeing in the episodes due to come out over the coming weeks. We've had some EPIC sailing and honestly have just been loving life, which is a huuuuge relief because for a time there, things were really tough. But the main reason for this post is that I've noticed a few comments saying we're being negative or creating unnecessary drama, and I just wanted to address that quickly. When we first started filming our lives, we made a pledge to always be totally honest about depicting the reality of life onboard. It's not always easy and it's definitely not always glamorous (actually, it's never glamorous onboard RR2!). We are also unashamedly ourselves on camera. We don't put on an 'act' or a persona and we don't pretend to be feeling something we're not. And yeah, when we're having a tough time, that means we talk about it. It isn't because we're attempting to create drama. Unfortunately, we genuinely were struggling during this time. I honestly wondered whether we could manage this boat on our own. It was a lot and the teething pains were very, very real. I don't see the point in pretending otherwise, even though some of the comments (a tiny minority! Most of you are amazing!) seem to think we should have been doing just that. For better or worse, pretence is just not something we're capable of. But we've also had a lot of comments from sailors who have had similar experiences to us, and who have expressed their gratitude for accurately portraying the challenging nature of transitioning from a relatively small mono to a relatively big catamaran. There's also been many of you who have had similar incidents to this episode where our boat was found a mile out to sea, and can understand how harrowing that experience was. Reading these comments has been so reassuring that we are not alone in struggling sometimes, and we really appreciate it. Okay, onto the good news!! As of next week's episode, we start to turn the corner and that steep learning curve begins to plateau out. We've got lots of incredible sailing (seriously. The best sailing we've ever had. Not an exaggeration) coming up as we head to the islands of the Koh Chang archipelago in Thailand, before making our way south towards Singapore. I'm VERY excited about what's to come and I hope you are too! With love and appreciation, Nick & Terysa
It all looked 100% honest to me! A very close call and handled well. It won’t happen again, that’s for sure. I had a near miss while diving and that experience was extremely dramatic and quite a teacher!
Like the couple on 'Intrepid Bear', you come across as authentic cruisers that others can relate to. RU-vid is stuffed full of those with perma-smiles and/or false emotions determined to display how courageous they are and how they're 'living the dream'. Its the human story behind the sailing that provides much of the real interest so please just keep doing what you're doing.
Its not drama to show people how wrong things can go so quickly. Being honest is important but i.m sure some don.t want to see the reality of living on the sea can be dangerous. Im glad everything worked out well and i hope your info can help others!
It's great that you were able to determine what went wrong and share this with others. I prefer to see actual water depth rather than what's below the keel, which correlates to what is shown on charts. Another thing some people forget is to also add the height from the anchor roller to the water into their depth calculation. Total depth used to determine scope should be anchor roller to the bottom of the sea floor at max high tide.
The Bridle should be one-third of your boat length as a general guideline. The scope should be (Freeboard + Depth) x 6 to estimate the Rode's length. It is crucial to include the freeboard distance and not just the depth. The chain's length will be the Scope - Bridle. I lost a dinghy 30 years ago, anchored at the beach, and found it 8 months later. ;-)
Happy to see at good ending. Boat ownership and cruising is a learning process. Getting to confident status with your ground tackle just the same. We have all dragged over the years and had the odd dingy end up down the beach by morning. Shake it off, laugh about it. It usually takes 3-5 years to get to know a new to you boat. You might also think about entertaining on your boat after dark. Small decisions seem to be large decisions after the sun sets. Happy cruising. Love the videos.
Noël here. 20 years on my Outremer 45. I agree with most of the other comments. Except : Do NOT give up your 8mm chain! If your anchor is modern, it works through its geometry, dimensions and pull angle, not the weight of the chain, which is only useful to create a curve and becomes useless once the chain is bar-tight. Paying out scope is much more efficient at lowering the pull angle than hauling a ton of chain on a catamaran. Calculate proper scope (Hypotenuse) from the ideal pull angle designed into your specific anchor. If no clue, start by assuming 10 degrees. So: keep your high strength 8mm, and pay out the proper scope, increasing scope if high winds or tide forecast. Add freeboard to depth sounder set on true depth. And if leaving the boat, dive first to check the anchor. An oversize anchor helps to sleep well. I carry Spade 35kg (20kg was recommended), 2 dyneema shackles for bridle arms to chain, Extra long bridle if storm (30m 18mm nylon). I "lost" the cat twice already : Turkey, sand over shale; French Riviera, short scope "just for an hour" because of proximity to fish farm. Plus the dozen times I dragged anchor while onboard... You both reacted well. You learnt from it, and thereby taught many of us in your audience. It did not kill you, so it made you stronger. Bon vent.
In the Military, the " Event-Oriented After Action Debriefing "is a factual review of events, and individual and unit reactions to those events. It is an opportunity to sit down with fellow soldiers, reconsider what occurred, and draw lessons for the future. In essence, this is precisely what you two have done. Brilliant. Sharing hard earned wisdom.
If that’s the worst thing that’s happened to you sailing , you’ve had it blessed ! Chain aboard is chain doing nothing , unless your aground or in a confined anchorage let the chain go , that’s what it’s there for !
These kind of episodes are so valuable. If just one sailor uses this experience to put out enough chain and not drag, then it is worth all. Thank you for sharing. I hope to see many more episodes that show how you both thrive on your boat!
Great episode and I honestly feel very bad for you. There are many "rules" we have developed after 7 yachts and 32 years of coastal and ocean miles. 1. Statistically most bad things occur at night so we generally don't leave the yacht if its blowing 20kn+ late arvo unless you visit someone else's yacht in full view of your yacht. Never rely on what other people do with their dinghies on the beach that you can do too. Your dinghy is too heavy to haul up the beach. I'd be very nervous with your heavy dinghy. It should be able to be hauled up the beach by both of you to avoid any waves that may arise when you're not there to see passing boats etc. 2. If you know you will be returning to your yacht after dark, carry a torch, radio, wear lifejackets, flares. You were not wearing lifejackets that I could see when you stepped back onto your dragging yacht and there are numerous stories of falling into the ocean when getting back onboard. 3. Nick for the scope calculation, you also need to add the distance from the waterline to your bridle attachment to the depth of water for your real true scope. If it's 1.5 meters of height to the waterline and the high tide is max 6 m, that would make it 7.5 meters so you need 7.5m x 7 scope in 20kn+. 4. Your anchor and chain are too light for the windage of RR as others have said. Go one size bigger on the ultra with 10mm chain. 5. Keep Sentinel in your pocket with alarm notifications on when you are away from the boat. We keep our Sentinel running 24/7 and phone is never turned off. 6. Keep a notebook in your helm area when you debrief with all the things you've learned from these events as next time you may not remember the things you've been through. We have laminated check lists for eg. " Electrical Storm Preps", "Marina Departure and Arrival", "Dragging", etc as a person's mind can go blank when in a crisis and it is very comforting to have these. We're all dealing with our homes, a valuable asset, so we believe there are risk limits and what others do is up to them but this is our protocol. I do wish you both all the best always.
You’re absolutely right that the scope is the distance from the anchor roller to the bottom at high tide. In addition to what you said I like to carry a fibreglass roller tape measure with a weight on it to double-check that the depth sounder is reading accurately. Just drop the weight to the bottom and when it goes light you know you’ve hit the bottom and you can directly measure the distance to the stem.
I agree with your point that their dinghy is too heavy. If they simply adore their heavy Highfield + big outboard then I would suggest they buy a 2nd smaller dinghy with a much lighter 2-3hp outboard for occasions when they know they must pull it a long way up the beach. And keep the Highfield for calm days when they can leave it at anchor in shallow water and wade ashore.
Sailing consists of hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Don't feel bad, it happens to all of us. We almost lost our 70' boat when a cold front came through in the middle of the night with 60 kt gusts. We dragged over 500 yards and almost went aground. Glad you are all OK. After what you went through, I would have gotten the whiskey bottle out as well.
Hi Guys, I can see it's already been mentioned; however, I find a lot of people use depth of water to calculate scope, when it should be depth of water PLUS the height of the bow sprit (or snubber anchor point) above the water. (Think of a triangle) In our boat that's 1.5m. This can make a big difference to your calculations. I also always use the depth of water at the highest high tide during the time we are at anchor to determine depth of water in the calculation. Due to the rough conditions you were in, there may also be some wave "lift" factoring in here, temporarily but repeatedly raising your height above the sea floor and possibly un-setting the anchor. Keep up the great lifestyle. We're jealous.
Guys this is a terrific "war story", ex padi instructor here, we were taught that relating such a snafu was one of the best possible instructional tools....And you have done so. I for one will never, ever forget it. And we're all still here to tell the tale! Beats living in a chuffing block of flats eh? 😅😅 Hang tight..xx 🤗🤗🤗
Good point, Soggy! Dive debriefings on goofs can be pretty dark. Glad everything turned out well, and lesson learned. 7:1 scope is a minimum requirement, and should be lengthened appropriately as conditions dictate. That said, we have anchored many times with 3:1 while staying with a boat.
nobody dead, nobody hurt , nothing damaged . pat yourselves on the back and learn from the experience .you worked well together and did the most important thing and got yourselves out of the hole i have only dragged once . found a nice anchorage off the welsh coast . few beers something to eat and went to bed . woke up with no land in sight in any direction. You asked for comment on possible changes . I think 8mm chain is a bit light for a boat that big consider either uprate to 12 mm or try using an angel weight in a blow to increase the catenary effect of the chain you have . keep posting the vids an inspiration to me and many like me .
Hi guys. We are also full-time cruisers on a 45’ catamaran. What you experienced is an absolute nightmare, and we have so much empathy for you. What a terrifying experience, and you handled it well. Some suggestions based on our experience. Not sure what kind of anchor you have, but the reality is that the anchors that come with most catamarans are simply not big enough to be counted on. We upgraded to an oversized 40kg Rocna with 12 mm chain. Our anchor is meant for a boat bigger than ours. (The boat came with an ~20kg Delta when we bought it new.) Yes, it adds weight and barely fits in the bow roller, but it is worth its weight in gold. We know many, many other cruisers on catamarans our size who have done the same and upgraded to an oversized modern anchor style (like a Rocna or Mantus) to have better holding power. You are also 100% right that backing down with the bride at 2000 rpm with both engines should set the anchor, but we have done this and had it hold firm, only to dive on our anchor and find it’s been barely dug in on a small amount of sand over hard ground, or in one instance it was hitting a rock, and that was all that was holding us in place. We know you can’t always dive on the anchor for a multitude of reasons, but it’s been eye-opening to us that sometimes even when it feels like the anchor is rock solid after backing down, the reality is that it's not, and we just can’t see it. On scope, you are right about factoring in the extra meter of water that shows because of the offset on your depth sounder. Also, to help us add extra scope in areas of the world where we have had high tides, we have configured our B&G MDF at the helm to show the tide graph. This lets us easily see at a glance when we drop anchor if we are at low or high tide, and how much scope we need to add. Cheers to you both for continuing to show the reality of both the good and bad of what it's like to live out here on the water. It can be so brutal and hard at times!
+1 for the oversized anchor. You'll be happy to have a bigger anchor especially in a crowded anchorage. Anything to increase your confidence in setting your anchor is at least worth consideration.
I agree. It’s not the weight of the catamaran which is lighter than similar size monohulls with full keels, it’s that the windage is much higher on a cat. Enough wind and some swell or decent waves and even a well set anchor will dislodge. Heavier chain and upsize within limits on the anchor can make a huge difference.
Fully agree! Bigger anchors, thicker chain represent very little more effort with a modern windlass, worth an extra few hundred pounds to carry. Also, looks like it was a pretty empty anchorage. My opinion is if you’re alone, why not put out more scope? In a crowded anchorage you want the same as everyone or you have problems, when there’s nobody around (to notice you’re dragging OR to swing into) why not go out further? Another two minutes to recover and a way better time ashore at the bar! For the dingy, why not tilt the bow up in the davits and spray it out with the wash down pump or stern shower?
Very entertaining. An overly dramatic narrative of two (older) millennials, emotionally overwhelmed by first world problems. In fact I strongly recommend this video to anyone currently dealing with the very real problems of wars, hunger, floods, unemployment, crime and everything else that's daily in the news. By the 11 min mark, you will be rolling in laughter. Its not much, but it might give you a wee bit of relief.
Hearing you cry in the background broke my heart. 😢. I can’t imagine the terror of the moment or the harrowing experience you two experienced. So glad the boat is fine and you both are too. Hello from Atlanta Ga. Wishing you calmer days.
When you're wise enough to admit to making an error it tells me you can handle you're boat. The way you supported each other when needed tells me your love can overcome any obstacles. Put it behind you and keep moving forward !
By posting this experience you have literally probably saved many others from dealing with the same thing! Thankful you both are safe and were able to save your boat. You did a great job on something that could have happened to anyone.
a good life lesson of how anyone< even the experienced sailors mess up.. click bait it isn't. just a moment in time most sailors who do survive, have a good story to tell. @@SailorAllan
We've sailed full-time 4 years on a 47' catamaran, and I appreciate the trauma of this story. Since you're looking for feedback, I would only add that I was very *surprised* to hear you're using 8mm chain on a boat with so much size and windage. I don't think it's sufficient, especially at 5:1 so consider upgrading. (We used an 38kg Mantus anchor with 100m of 12mm chain, and while it adds some weight up front it's negligible to get a good night's sleep.) My heart sank with your story, so I'm glad it all worked out. Fair winds!!
The 8mm is high tensile and actually has a higher breaking load than the 10mm. That said, I would option the 10mm for a cruising catamaran as it will certainly lay flatter on the bottom getting it to dig in better. The weight saving isn't huge either so in my opinion not worth the extra cost to save a few kilos
The fact that the 8mm is high tensile is not the issue, its beside the point, the point is that 10mm or 12mm has the added weight which is the thing which keeps the chain on the bottom and the pull on the anchor horizontal which is how you get the anchor to bite into the seafloor.@@SailingNoRegrets
@@gregorykennedy6869 That's true in light winds, but in a cyclone for example it doesn't mater if you are using chain or rope, it will be straight from your bow attachment point to the anchor. The scope length determines the angle to the bottom and then the anchors design with the blade angle to determine if it beds in deeper, or just pulls out. Chain in this scenario is just abrasion resistance to survive rock and coral damage. The argument of catenary action to buffers a snatching pull is valid in light winds, but when it gets loaded up it's just straight again and the scope ratio is the most important consideration. I'd always thought the same until I read a comprehensive anchor comparison and set article in Cruising Helmsman magazine which made me think about it differently. I can tell you that a large number (if not majority) of these new boats have optioned for the 8mm chain.
@@SailingNoRegrets the weight of the chain and the holding power of the anchor, in Newton, needs to be more than the force the wind and the current can put on the boat. As long as you have that you will not drag. I have the approach that the weight of the chain needs to be more than the forces of the wind, i.o.w. the anchor does not even need to do that much. I have a heavy chain (4 kg / mtr) and we sometimes have 500 kg (or more) in shallow water if there is a storm. The chain won't be lifted off the ground and the anchor prevents it from being pulled backwards. We are not going anywhere. If you search in the reactions you will find an explanation of the way to calculate holding power.
I'm not a sailor but I really enjoy watching your videos. My first take on seeing this video is that you have probably saved 100 boaters in the future. I would imagine many people are going to watch this and learn a great lesson.
I am a sailor and I stopped watching these videos a while back because of the click baity titles and the confected drama. How about they get back to taking us to beautiful places and enjoying sailing
It is putting it right that matters. I had an 11-meter cat that I lived on for 5 years. 4 on anchor. I picked up a contract and was away for 16 months with liveaboard neighbours paid to keep an eye on and check it. 2 weeks before I finished the contract a fishing boat anchored over my chain. Long story short he snagged my anchor and pulled it out, untangled his but just kicked my 40 meters of chain and CQR off the side of his boat. It turned into a ball and chain hanging under my boat and couldn't set for all the chain wrapped around the shank and flukes. My friends woke to my boat being gone. A quick search found it 2.5 miles down the coast run aground. They recovered it on the tide...it had mini keels for beaching. They towed it back and anchored her up then phoned me the news. I flew back and 2 days after I was in the water taking GoPro videos of the hull as I scanned under the water line for damage. I climb back on board and sat in the saloon to view the video. But I decided to watch it while I had a beer...walked 5 steps down into the galley and was standing in water to my ankles! The floor hatches were floating off and I pulled things away looking for the breach. A gash 50 mm by 500 mm was discovered on the inward side of the starboard hull. I couldn't stem the flow and had to abandon ship. I called for help and escaped with my luggage and a backpack of laptops and tech. I rolled the dice and lost. But here I am in my new 40 foot STEEL monohull writing this comment. Boating is the most exciting thing you can ever do, but with the caveat that within a millisecond, it can be the scariest thing you can ever do. Like you, I live.
I'd expect the fishing boat knew what would happen when they kicked the tangle of anchor and chain overboard. One can only hope karma repaid them in spades...
I’m really glad you’ve analysed it in the cold light of day. Us skippers are always making mistakes and you’re awesome for owning up to yours. You’re still the best sailing channel 🤜
Woah for real? I'm so excited. Jane Devion strategy has normalised winning trades for me also. and it's a huge milestone for me looking back to how it all started
Same thing happened to us but we were on the boat. Keith awoke in the night to pee and looked out the window and saw our buddy boat’s anchor light way off in the distance. That’s when he realized our anchor had come completely off the shelf, and we had drifted 2 miles out to sea. Luckily, there was only open ocean behind us, and not rocks or other boats. I can imagine your terror seeing your boat floating away! (Cue our theme song “Let it Float Away”) 😂😢 Glad you guys got your boat back safely.
Did I hear you say you use 8mm chain? I would be starting there, a boat of that size should have 10mm but I would be using 12mm. Never went below 7/1 unless your short of swing room. And catamarans are more prone to dragging more than a mono. I remember the catamaran "Top Gun" they could not anchor it in anything over say 15k as it would sail off its anchor. I am a retired Master Class 5 skipper and Fishing vessel skipper. So glad it all turned out ok Cheers Bruce.
you sir are a star, you gave Terysa the comfort cuddle she needed ( as can be clear from her voice) at the most appropriate time while you both are trying to understand what had just happened to your home/livelihood.; thank you for explaining this most stressful moment.
Nick and Teresa, thank you for your brutal honesty! It is really refreshing! I am just going through my skipper's courses now and thought this is a wonderful lesson to put away in the tool chest. Being an ex-military pilot, we were always taught to do an After Action Review (AAR) on all incidents so that everyone learns immediately from an incident, before the full investigation. A good sailor, like a good pilot, is compelled to analyse all incidents and learn from them. I think you guys and everyone that watches this video will have hade learnt a lot from this incident. Thanks again for sharing and being totally honest.
Anchor dragging while onboard is bad enough, but the shock of boat gone on return from shore! Oh SH1T 😮 … in that single moment your heart and mind stop for millisecond, the body freezes and expletives abound! Relieved the seas allowed you to board and bring her back in - that’s the first priority. Super glad you shared your experience and the reason for the drag - all sailors keep learning and learning from each other - complacency is one of them and you’ve owned up for the benefit of all of us - thanks Nick. T - you’re amazing, resilient and so capable - good teamwork.
Hi to you both, you're absolutely right. Also, due to the fact that catamarans do wonder a lot in elevated winds. Anchors such as Delta, spade and Rocna and Danforth are susceptible to the vessel lurching from side to side and tend to break off the sea bed. The CQR anchor is more forgiving due to its hinge which breaks that sudden jerk. I had that experience on a Leopard catamaran I was skippering in Corfu. I took my guests ashore shopping and watched my vessel take off towards Albania, I chased it and got onboard while she was well out at sea. The same happens to monohulls with these particular anchors. Anyway, I thought you did well there and got out of it unscathed. Keep sailing and carry on regardless. Isaac
We anchored off a beach and swam a short distance to the beach to meet friends. Being distracted by friends, we suddenly realized the boat was dragging at a fast pace. My husband swam after the boat. It was a great distance and I was terrified he was going to drown. Thankfully he made it safely. This was off the coast of Cape Cod, Ma. I am thankful you both are safe as well as your beautiful new boat!
😮 Sounds very like what happened to the Wandering Hillbilly..they have a FP motor cat.... They were hitched up to a known mooring ball ..they swam to the beach 🏖️ in daylight but the ball broke loose. Their boat ended up ashore it missed the main rocks ...but punctured the one hull at the chine a hole the size of a brick ... but the waves got up before they could get it off and it bounced on the sand ... Bent the rudder and prop blades punched the P brackets through the hull bottom 😬.
Besides the technical side of this story I am wondering if you guys waisted too much time on shore drinking Leo and Chang beer and bearing in mind having constant 25 knots wind you needed to be more alert based on the existing wind conditions. You should have chosen a restaurant where the boat was easily being seen while enjoying the “Phat Kaprow Talay” Good that everything went well at the end. As we say in Thai “ Chock Dee”
Thank you for sharing your story! So glad to hear all is well. Your sharing as well as others stories here in comments are so very appreciated and inspiring!
As a boater I feel for you. I’ve dragged once and it’s not always possible but I stay with in sight of the boat in wind. That’s my personal rule. I don’t expect others to do this, but it helps me mentally when I miss something. I’m glad it was an off shore blow and you did a very good debriefing. ❤🇨🇦
Everyone has dragged anchor. Live and learn. Regarding the dinghy, when you have breaking waves on shore, don't beach it. Anchor the dinghy and wade in or if the depth drops off bring an extra line so you can motor to wading depth, push the dinghy out to the anchor. Retrieve the dinghy with the line that you had secured to the dinghy and the shore.
I’m a motor-head and rarely anchor in over 20ft of water and only on calm days around the Florida Keys and Bahamas… But what a Grand Lesson for me anyway!! Been boating for close 50 years here in Florida and only lost our boat once… we were all in the water…. 3- Children 6-12 years and my Bro Inlaw…. Who shed his scuba and swam after the boat… once you lose one… it certainly IS all about the recovery!! Fabulous example on proper anchoring strategy!! Thank YOU for sharing!! God Bless!!
Don’t forget, you also need to add the bridge deck clearance or the height that your bridle is attached to above the waterline as additional water depth
New Boat, new learning curves. You both done very well. take this as a learning curve and get yourselves back to being the good sailors that you are. Always enjoy your channel.
As my granddaughter used to say when she was little “Grandpa. Every day is a school day “. You know she was right. You’ve done that bit of learning, no damage was done so don’t beat yourselves up, be thankful, move on, continue to be vigilant and you’ve cracked it. You are priveliged to have this lifestyle, so enjoy it and carry on sharing! Well done! Keep it up, we enjoy it
I have heard captains with stories very similar to this. You have Sentinel, you kept your wits, you recovered your home. Be proud of yourself for being capable sailors and now that you've had time to recover I hope you can laugh about your mistakes like the solid people I know you are!
Nobody was hurt or killed, the boat was recovered and you took the time to figure out why it all happened. Thanks for sharing! We have a small cat with a 3ft draft and we typically anchor in 10 feet or slightly less. We always put out 100’ of chain unless in a crowded anchorage (which we try to avoid). Thanks for sharing this with everyone, we can all learn from our mistakes and those of others.
Hello Nick & Teresa! Thanks for the very openhearted episode, showing one of the real aspects of sailing.... it can bite you in the ass. I don't have nearly the experience that you guys have, but 20 years of (solo) sailing including an 8-month trip from Holland to Canaries to Azores and back also offered me quite some learning experiences. And I can remember a manoeuvring mistake when I just got this boat as if it happened yesterday. The damaging gybe sailing downwind with far too much sail. The close shave with going overboard sailing solo. And the list goes on... I don't beat myself up over it, it doesn't scare me away from sailing but it is humbling and it gets processed and added to my experience... The video fragments of the hapless event show the tremendous amount of control that both of you have individually and as a team. Kudos! Having a 11 mtr mono hull I am also using 8 mm chain with a sturdy Rocna. Giving the size of your cat, I would for myself consider heavier chain. Please keep on sailing & keep on sharing! Thanks! Fair winds and following seas! Ron PS. And yes, checking the possible keel offset on my boat will be the first thing! PPS. Driving the Dutch motorways I might make myself believe that it is safer... I don't...
You two are a very very special couple in that you both have each other's back, are kind and empathetic to one another in humbling and terrifying experiences. You are honest and transparent, which says so much about each of you. Show yourselves grace, hug your boat! I'm not a very religious person in a traditional way, but there is some extra special energy in the Universe keeping an eye on you guys! It's also a show of good karma. Fair winds, and thank you for your vulnerability in sharing the real stories with the world.
It's amazing that the simplest mistake can cause such a huge drama and could have been much worse. Don't beat yourselves up , you both learned from what happened and now will always remember what scope you need when anchoring somewhere else. Thanks for the video. much love to you both.
Best SRR video I've seen yet! Not only did I get a good technical understanding of a serious anchoring issue that is well beyond "anchoring 101", but I also learned one of my favorite new sayings: "fitfully dozed". But beyond that the best part of the whole thing was the candid footage taken just after you had secured your boat. The emotion in both of you and the way that how Nick fully supported/built up Terysa when she was feeling low and vulnerable was a beautiful demonstration of not only your dedication to each other, but the kind of relationship that this kind of lifestyle breeds and requires. I love it!
Just watched it as well. If you never dragged an anchor, tapped the bottom, kissed a dock, either you’re a liar or haven’t sailed enough. Thanks for the update!! You survived!!
Felt like being critical , but you just learnt a good anchoring lesson . My heavy weather anchoring system I've used on yachts I've owned is a two meter length of very heavy chain I shackle to the anchor chain at the scope distance and then pay out more scope until the heavy chain is just above the bottom , your anchor line stays a lot more horizontal and shackled chain acts like a shock absorber. One time during a storm I actually had five other boats all tied to my stern as they all kept dragging and I wasn't going anywhere !
Fortunately, at 3 am I woke up when I started dragging. Otherwise, my boat would have ended up on shore. I also didn't account for an extra high tide and a keel offset. Guaranteed you won't make that mistake again. I haven't since that night. Now I put out 10:1 no matter what.
The most important thing is that you and your home are all safe and well. The next thing is you understand what you did wrong and you will make sure it doesn't happen again. Also very important is you owned your mistake, it always take a big man to that, and to take full responsibility, most people will blame someone else and turn themself into a big victim. I always look at mistakes as lessons to learn from. The best thing is, you will both come out better sailors after this. I really wish you both the very best on your new adventures, I really enjoy watching your videos.
For that very reason I have always made it a point to avoid using a keel offset on any of my depth sounders. I alway want to know the depth from the surface (actual depth). Also I didn't hear you mention allowing for the height of the anchor roller above the water because that would add another meter to that needs to be factored in. You guys have a ton of experience. This shows it can happen to anyone. Swimming the anchor may have enabled you to see that you didn't have enough scope. Such a beautiful boat. I woke up one morning with my boat on a beach. Fortunately, I was able to start the engine and between the engine and the windlass, I was able to self rescue. You guys just helped a lot of people learn from your mistake. Thanks for sharing and I'm very happy it wasn't worse than it was.
Welcome home! I'm really glad you are all safe. Yay, new boat rules about every subtle nuance, safety first.😊 Great learning experience, be proud, and stay cautious. Love you both. Five observations for the list: 1. a cat's vast windage needs to be added directly to the anchor's blade surface area. 2. Anchors often foul out. 3. Anchors drag into adjacent substrate. 4. High wind and big chop can easily rip an anchor out of good sand. 5. High winds make reseting unreliable. This lesson requires "the experience," sorry. Also, I am embarrassed to admit that I messed up, I chased my boat lights, and I am part of the team. 😔
Don't forget to add the bridal height above the water, probably about1.5 m for your boat. So 6m water depth + 1.2 + 1.5 ~ 9m. That being said, we would routinely anchor with 4:1 scope with 45knt of wind in Croatia. We had an 85# mantus, 10 mil chain on a Leopard 46. Only time we ever drug in 2 years was after anchoring at night and hitting sea grass instead of sand and stern tying to shore in Kotor, Montenegro when the anchor just dug further into the mud, never really dragging, just cultivating the bottom ;) Glad you got your boat back. Don't forget, adventure happens when things don't go as planned. -SV Roundabout
One usually marks the chain with 1-2m slack for the distance from deck to the water to compensate the bridal, also the slack chain behind the bridle adds weight and improves the angle of tension.
Should not have 8mm chain! At least 10mm as need the weight of the chain to hold the on the sea beard to make it pull straight on the anchor. Yes happened to us just the same
In terms of anchor scope, also remember freeboard - the calculation is to the bow rowler NOT water level. So if you are working from your depth sounder offset and out by 1.2m - you might be missing another 1.5 meters to the bow rowler. Add in your mistake with springs and your calculation might be out by as much as 4 meters which is very, very material. Remote anchor watch with loud audible alarm would have course saved the day. Bottom line, the boat was fine and if you could not got it with the dinghy, as long as AIS was on you would have got it with the help of a friend.
Scope is to the water line, not bow roller. Any adjustments you have to make for offsets or height of bow roller all are made for the scope to be in the water……. 😊 we mean the same but look at it totally different 😂
I agree with RichardPhillips, that scope is measured from bow roller to bottom and calculated from there. I don't understand "made for the scope to be in water".........@@chrisdickinson1762
@@chrisdickinson1762 Correct. And don't let the selling skipper do a depth offset ever again. set it correctly, then put a big-ass note inside the bridge. You can also have two memory settings on your depth finder, one for the 1.2M offset and one for spot-on and you can toggle back and forth, BUT PUT THAT BIG-ASS NOTE in the bridge like I said. We call it the BAN (big-ass-note). It can save your big ass and your big brain all at the same time (as my friend used to tell me).
Don't kick yourself, as Capt Ron says "If its going to happen, it will happen out there". We lost a chartered boat once in a storm. Anchored in < 10ft of water, had 100' of rode out. Storm came, and waterspouts started forming and we checked everything one more time, and ran to shore in the dingy for cover. An hr later, the storm passed, and as we came through a mangrove creek to the bay, the boat was gone! We found the boat hours later, in the dark, a 1/4 mile from where we left it!! (thankfully with no damage ) That was nearly 30yrs ago. I still use 10:1, but I always outfit boats with an anchor 50% bigger than what I should. 20ft water + 3-5 ft king tide and storm surge = 25ft x 10 = 250' of rode to hold.... you can never have too much out IMHO
Wow, I think you expressed very eloquently the gravity of the situation at the time and how you managed to break it down and identify the fault which is so important going for the future. I’m not a catamaran expert however I’ve sailed a few and windage is always a big issue. You made comment about 8ml chain and I would consider investigating a heavier gauge. The other point that struck me and it wasn’t mentioned in your video as whether you had life jackets in your tender. We are all guilty of going ashore for dinner or drinks at night without them, thankfully you have a massive dinghy that can cope with those conditions. If you had a small dinghy with an electric motor you would not have stood a chance of getting anywhere near the boat. I for one will certainly look at efficient ways of storing more safety gear in my tender when I go ashore. Just in case… great video well done for keeping it real
Really happy you got your boat back in time. Definitely traumatic, especially at night. We sail in areas where tides are much bigger (5-6 meters), so we're used to account for them in our scope calculations but even then it's easy to get it wrong. Since you asked for comments, all I'd say is in shallow water, unless you're in a crowded anchorage, it's not worth the stress in my opinion to cut it close on the scope. If you have the space, and the chain/cable, and not hindering anyone else, in rough conditions it's more useful in the water than in the locker. Lastly, we don't currently have an offset on the depth meter, and I was considering putting one in next season, but I think you just convinced me not to!
Just another story for your memoirs. Lesson learnt, keep moving forward. You both handled the situation well, you figured out what the problem was and know the solution now. Experience is the best teacher even though at the time it can be unpleasant. Keep up the great work, being real and transparent is hard, however we appreciate that about you. 😊
That is the sign of a true leader. Nick figured out the problem and took responsibility of the issue. I’m so happy you were able to get your boat back. It’s important that you aired this in public so others might learn from your mistakes. Not everyone would. I think you both did a spectacular job recovering the boat in what had to be a scary black ocean you were having to endure while getting to your boat. Lesson learned, life is good and enjoy your boat.
I appreciate you guys sharing this. A bit lost for words like you guys were. Hope you guys are feeling a lot better now and the joy of sailing surpasses all negative energy you got from this experience. Thanks for sharing the cause of the problem, a learning experience for everyone and closure for you guys. Best wishes!
The ocean reveals all. I know, from watching both of you from the beginning, that you two are among the best cruising sailors on You tube. I have seen you , countless times, deal with all of the calamities that can befall a cruising couple and work your way through them with the grit and humility it takes to learn your lessons and keep going. Nick, you are usually very proactive and cautious about everything but this time you got a little to comfortable. All things considered, it's understandable. This mishap will serve like all the others, to make you better safer sailors. Keep learning, be proactive and keep going!
We are full time cruisers in Australia on a 47ft Cat. We have a 13mm chain and 40kg anchor. We have never dragged (except once when the anchor had caught a T-shirt from the sea floor). Your 8mm chain is basic for any boat. For the size of your boat, it seems massively undersized. You need to upgrade the chain to at least 12mm. Also, maybe adjust the offset to only be the difference between the depth sounder and the bottom of the keel. So what is displayed is the depth under the keel, which is what you need to know. If the depth displayed is 0, your keel is touching the bottom! Our offset is 0.8m, yours seems too big. Adding 1m to the depth displayed for scope calulations when anchoring maybe a good idea, but with a heavier chain and anchor, less crucial. We like your videos!
I always remember the saying of an experienced cruiser friend who said " You're only 1 sunken beach towel away from dragging anchor!" So, test your set regularly & don't assume just because it was OK 3 days ago, it's still OK.
15:10 so strange that so many of us know what a strong couple you both are and that you share such a powerful moment with us and yet we are strangers. On a lighter note, your lesson brought me back to my ASA course when pulling into my first ever anchorage and, figuring out tidal swings, scope and doing the math. Thanks so much for sharing.
You guys are awesome! Thank you for being truthful, Nick taking full responsibility and not leaving anything out of this video. Your story is critically important to us all and shares how even the experienced sailor can error. As Cruisers living aboard for 8 years we have plenty of stories, and a great anchor story, although we did not lose our boat. With your permission I will share your video with my clients. Remember there is always good that comes from adversity. I think you shared it, and the acknowledgement of the "team" that you are! Thank you!
Hi Nick and Teresa, so sorry to hear about this episode with all its dramas and I'm so glad you were able to retrieve your lovely boat. You've asked for comments, so if I may I add my 2cents worth: I know you carry the anchor alarm App and I was interested to know why that wasn't alerting you or if it was was it just not loud enough or was the noise at the hotel too loud to hear? So it might be an interesting time to look at the purchase of a watch that mirrors alerts on your phone because a watch will have HAPTIC feedback on your wrist that will clearly be felt over the noise in a pub or club that you might be in. I often have the need to have my phone on silent for a number of reasons, and all circumstances, and my watch frequently lets me know of all notifications I need without being intrusive in those environments, and when the phone is on silent, which means I never miss important notifications. In addition, as a scuba, instructor and diver of 37 years, I have worked on a number of dive boats over the years, I've noticed that they will often add 9 kg weight into the anchor chain about halfway along /down, so that the raising of the hulls will be dampened, and will help the anchor stay set on all scopes, particularly shorter ones. I realise that you thought you'd had a seven times scope out and were in this instance (albeit in all previous cases) were incorrect, but the whole idea of the scope is to add that extra weight, which stops the hulls lifting the anchor, and it also helps reset an anchor if the boat swings, or turns when the wind changes. The beauty of adding this 9KG's of weight into the anchoring system means that even if your scope is correct, it still helps reduce the need for "the chain" to do all the work. And if your scope calculations have been incorrect. The extra weight is helping keep the anchor set and you're not solely reliant on the chain doing the whole job. I understand this will add complexity to the anchoring process, and possibly even put extra stress on the windless, but I do believe it to be worthwhile and can be organised a couple of ways. You could add the weight as you anchor as usual, but on a very short scope. Once the anchor has hit the bottom and then pay out the extra scope once the weight has been added, so the windless is not supporting the anchor and the 9 kg weight at the same time. So you might say let out 3 1/2 times the scope you need add the way and then pay out the other 3 1/2. The second way you might do this is anchor pay out the seven times scope that you wish, set the anchor, and then as you're going assure in a dinghy you take the weight out free dive down 2 1/2 m to the anchor chain and clip it to the bank chain as necessary. To help carrying the 9 kg weight to the chain so it doesn't pull you straight to the bottom, you could use a small airbag which has a valve so that you can slowly decrease the air in the bag. This would allow the bag to carry the weight until you're in the correct position to descend. Then letting a small amount of area will allow you to dive down and take a certain amount of while you attach it before ascending to the surface. A reverse of these techniques would be necessary to leave anchorages. Again, this is adding complexity, but maybe a whole lot easier and will get peace of mind in the long run. I hope those two suggestions could help. You'd need to check first if the anchor alarm App is compatible on which ever watch purchase that you decide to make, but I feel that that would be a real safe advantage, because sometimes sounds and notifications on phones are less noisy or volumes can accidentally changed with side buttons, and can easily be missed in loud environment. I think I remember you both using using iPhones so I would suggest one of the Apple Watch family that would enable this. But you need to make sure that it's compatible with the app. It may mean that you need to go to a Garman or Samsung for the app to work, I don't know you need to check on that. I hope my ideas help. Thank goodness that you were able to retrieve the boat. I can tell you that this is not the first time I've heard this story as other sailors have had similar issues. I even know one case where the skipper had to swim 2 k's in the same current his boat was in to retrieve his boat in open seas. Very traumatic. Fair 💨's and following 🌊's.
Here was my take on watching this before the explanation. When you two recovered the boat and got re-anchored, you recorded your and Nicks conversation. Nick was certain that something didn’t add up. I felt then that he would not rest until he figured out the missing piece. Great job to the two of you for handling the emergency and good job Nick for putting the pieces together. Sail on RR2 !
You guys did amazing. It can happen to the very best! I would think for sure another boat crossed your chain and pulled out your anchor with theirs. Here in the med it happens all the time as many inexperienced charters don't know what the hell they're doing. Terysa your composure during the crisis was amazing! Not only you were handling things but also concerned about Nick and trying to aid his process. I would be going mental... you guys rock.
You are doing things correctly. You got your boat back, took charge of the situation, and made sure that you and your family are doing better. Afterwards, you studied what happened and will take action to prevent this in the future. The stress is a reminder of the importance of KNOWING what the situation is and how to handle it. Get better, learn and turn this into a "win". This can't have been easy, but take heart... You are winning!
Sorry this happened to you guys. Thankfully no one, or the boat was damaged so it makes it a great learning opportunity. I think you’ve done a great job recovering and analyzing what went wrong. The only thing I may add, is to consider paying out a larger scope ratio as a general rule. This may help cover any unanticipated circumstances in the future.
Guys!! What a traumatic experience. So glad you’re ok, RR2 is ok and thanks to your amazing teamwork you got her back and have learnt from this. Reading the other comments it sounds like you’re not alone and you sharing your experience will help someone else hopefully avoid that in future ❤
I fell for the clock bait lie. You didn't " loose the boat" but you did have a great learning experience. Just please keep it honest and don't lie to the viewers. Glad you are safe.
Glad no damage was done over this incident. What anchor(&weight) did the cat come with? Anchor drag is one of the worst feeling. The first thing our delivery skipper told us was to upgrade to the biggest anchor that fits. Went from a 23kg delta to 44kg delta and 100m of 10mm chain.
Very similar to our story including the ongoing stress, so thank you. I blame the modern roll bar anchor, completely choked with weed and mud, unable to reset. Short chop, maybe passing boats. Lagoon 380 so known to hobbyhorse. Scope at high tide probably 4:1, but still dragged over a mile in shallow water when 10:1. 12mm chain. Wind light. No damage to the boat, only the crew.
Don't forget the height of your bow where the chain comes out!! That adds 1 more meter in your case I guess. That could mean 3:1 ratio easily. Height equals water depth at high tide plus the bow height from waterline and that needs to be multiplied for the correct angle. Glad you got your vessel back with no damage / harm. Valuable lesson for everyone. Hope you remain positive and enjoy the cruising life! :)
Whilst going through an event like this your bodies will have released a huge amount of adrenaline that links to our fight, flight and freeze responses which can be really helpful or a big hinderance depending on the situation. You guys looked like you handled that really well as a team. Afterwards as the adrenaline leaves your system you will have side effects such as; feeling of sickness/vomiting, shaking, dry mouth, emotional, hyper focus on negatives. You can then have some physical and psychological trauma afterwards so when retelling/thinking about it afterwards your body/minds relive it and dump on you again. Nothing to be ashamed of. Keep taking care of each other, talk it through when you feel the need to. If either of you are still having a hard time with it in a months time (sleep, appetite, unbidden thoughts, anger, fretful dreams etc) to the extent it’s really impacting on you and it’s not improving then maybe think about gettting some more professional advice. Big hugs and great that your take away is to learn and improve as that’s inspiring!
Rather than denial, recognize if you begin to demonstrate a pattern of obsessing over details, running through the events and imagining different actions/reactions. You _can_ prevent this natural reaction from becoming pathological. Maintain good sleep hygiene with mindfulness/meditation and even "soothing sounds" or boring audiobooks at night. Get exercise and limit alcohol. Voice a reasonable amount regarding the event but give your body and mind time and space to put some distance between you and this event before pretending you understand everything about it. Glad you are safe. Take care of yourselves in the near and medium term and keep on enjoying your lives!
Just so glad that you both survived and the boat of course. Thankful you have learned a very valuable lesson from the experience. Once you come to terms with what happened, you have to forgive yourself for the mistake but never forget it, and hopefully remember your love of sailing.
Seriously great moment watching you two support each other in a stressful spot! I see more couples break in stressful boating situations probably then anyone and you two crushed it great job!
Could not believe my eyes when I saw the thumbnail... Thank-you for sharing, hopefully fellow sailors can take something from your learning experience.. Love how you both work together, Nick good on you the buck does stop with us Skipper's. Take care fair winds following seas.
Your boat is now the size and complexity that someone should always be on board even at anchor. People dont leave mega-yachts unattended, but leave cal 30's for days. You have crossed that line now. Be careful what you wish for.
What a great lesson. I've not sailed anywhere that the tides are that drastic, so, I will be doing the math twice in the future. Once chartered in the FL Keys. Picked up a mooring at Alligator Reef and went diving. Surfaced to find the boat nearly a mile away. When we returned to the boat found the eye of the mooring line and a frayed end still tied to our chartered 38' monohull. So glad you were able to put a cause to the event such that you will be able to comfortably anchor in the future. Thank you for the lesson!!!
Can't imagine coming home from dinner and my house is no where to be found. Absolutely great recovery there you two. You did make a big mistake but I love the way you own it. You did recover your boat in one piece. Along the way, you were extremely diligent with your safety. You did determine exactly the cause and I am now 100% positive you will take every step possible to make sure it never happens again. Great teamwork. Watching the two of you vulnerably work through your trauma on camera was pretty inspiring.
We had pulled into Charleston to wait out bad weather. A catamaran came into the anchorage after us. I was complaining about how close he parked to us. My husband said it was fine. Then his boat was 4 feet away from our bow and swinging toward us. We called him on the radio… no answer. I don’t know if the Captain went into town or went to sleep. We were shining our light in his window. My husband pulled up some of our chain. Then we ingested our bridle in our Winless. Our Winless was frozen. We started swinging toward a derelict mast less boat on a mooring (we are a 50 ft. Catamaran). I kept pushing us off that boat with the boat hook. Finally my talented husband freed us from our own bridle and we pulled in our anchor. No damage to the derelict boat… that we created anyway. In the mean time, the boat who nearly hit us swung over to another catamaran and they were pushing it off. We were lucky it was raining and not that windy. We spent 3 hours after that in the middle of the night trying to find a spot to re-anchor and rethinking our choices. Now, years later, I am glad we didn’t give up. A brilliant man once said, “Life is like a car, you should have a big windshield and a small rear view mirror.” In other words, focus on the future and don’t beat yourself up about what goes wrong in the past. Easier said than done. Stuff happened to all of us. It is how you handle adversity that it important. You guys are top notch.
Arm chair skipper here as well. You are both awesome intelligent people, and you had an experience that added to your sailing experience. Don't let it get you down, you have your boat, you are both safe, and your experience has increased. We love watching your experiences and even this stressful one was good to watch as it increased our knowledge. Keep on sailing....
I don't have an Anchor story, however I do thank you for sharing your story because when we DO finally get our boat, I do know I will be paranoid enough to consistently ask about the anchor... LOL... I am extremely happy you were able to get your boat back... And now you have a LOT more knowledge and spreading that knowledge to others. Just know you both are amazing!
The most important thing here is your safety! What a series of traumatic events. To have to this happen when you spend so much time working through the details of sailing is very destabilizing. I’m glad you were able to find an explanation and solutions. So many have made the same or other mistakes. As you can see, you are not alone ❤ Here’s to a fresh start. Hope you enjoy RR2!! You are both amazing
How to set your phone to silent except your anchor alarm: I think you have an iPhone, In general settings there is a setting called “focus” which allows you to toggle silent, driving mode, airplane mode, but more importantly make your own custom “personal” mode. Initially intended to allow you to reduce notifications to only relevant apps when you’re working for example, you can make your own custom focus, call it “anchor alarm” for example where you silent notifications from all apps except the sentinel, app. You can turn it on and off from the control centre. Hope this helps you and others
Teresa, Nick, there are so many factors when it comes to anchoring. It’s what makes sailing so hard yet rewarding in the end. Your experience with depth offset is so real. I’ve always set depth to actual from waterline exactly for that reason. When the depth says 2m, you know the water depth and there’s no mental math or confusion for captain, crew or guest other than remembering what’s safe for your boat given the wind, waves, current, tides, scope, anchor, and chain for your location. Simple, right! No, not in the least, but we never stop learning. You’re safe, your boat is safe, and you and your viewers have learned more in the process. Fair winds…loving seeing you guys getting accustomed to your new boats and sailing again. Any meet ups planned in Thailand?
I'm glad you found your answer to what went wrong in this event. Mistakes happen and learning from it puts you ahead of the game. It will also help teach others who could potentially do the same thing. Because you're willing to be open and honest about the wins and failures you are giving a gift to the entire community. I think the most important thing here is how you each reacted to the emergency and then supported one another after.
I’ve been watching you guys for years and love your videos. As a fire investigator I deal with people who’ve literally lost everything, sometimes loved ones. I’m also a sailor and fully aware of dragging anchor. You didn’t lose your boat. More importantly, you guys are ok and you’ve debriefed yourselves and figured out what you did wrong. Suck it up! This is cruising. Where are going next? Can’t wait to watch!