Stern Anchoring

In the Sea of Cortez, stern anchoring was never required.  The anchorages were will protected from swell, and they weren’t very crowded.  So, our first opportunity to try it was in Chacala, our second anchorage on the mainland.  The reason for needing a stern anchor there was the fact that the point was not very predominant so swell would wrap around and enter the bay at a different angle than the wind.  So if you don’t stern anchor you end up with the swell hitting you on the beam, which just isn’t very comfortable.  There are many ways to to effectively get your stern anchor out, and we elected to go stern anchor out first.  So, we picked our spot on Lady Carolina’s port side, turned Exodus into the swell, and dropped the stern anchor.  Brenden’s job was to pay out the stern anchor rode, while Alex’s job was to man the bow anchor.  I was at the helm, and Tim was directing, and going wherever needed.  As Brenden let out the stern anchor I moved Exodus slowly forward into the swell until we were at the point we wanted to drop the bow anchor.  Then, Alex let that go, and I backed up slowly until we were were tightly set between the two anchors.  The trickiest part was backing up, because Brenden had to then pull in the stern anchor line at just the right pace so it wouldn’t foul the starboard propeller.  He nailed it.  This was one of those times we were very thankful for our extended crew.  Alex and Brenden are showing how they are capable of contributing as well as any crew member we could have on board.