2.4 Ground Tackle, Anchoring & Mooring
Key Takeaways
- Know common anchor types (stockless/patent, Danforth/fluke, plow/CQR, mushroom, grapnel) and match holding method to bottom.
- Scope is rode length ÷ depth (including freeboard/hawse height as applicable); typical fair-weather teaching values about 5–7:1, more in heavy weather.
- Hawsepipe leads the rode; windlass heaves and veers chain/line under control.
- A drift lead (anchor ball/lead line on the bottom) going taut and leading forward indicates the vessel is dragging toward the lead.
- Mooring line names: bow, stern, forward/after springs, and breast lines; fouled anchors need planned clearing, not blind powering.
Ground Tackle on the Master 100 Platform
Ground tackle is the anchor, rode (chain, line, or combination), connecting shackles, and the deck machinery that deploys it. On inspected small passenger vessels, anchors are COI equipment: right size, ready to let go, and not welded into a museum display under spare life jackets. Q160 tests types, scope, dragging signs, windlass/hawsepipe, mooring line names, and fouled anchor sense.
Anchor Types (Recognition Level)
| Type | Holding concept | Notes for small commercial craft |
|---|---|---|
| Stockless (patent) | Heavy, stows in hawse; relies on weight + fluke bury | Common on larger vessels; some small ships/ferries |
| Danforth / lightweight fluke | Broad flukes dig in soft bottoms | Excellent mud/sand holding for weight; may foul in rock/weed |
| Plow / CQR / similar | Plow point resets after veering | Popular all-round boat anchor |
| Mushroom | Deadweight / silt bury over time | Moorings more than lunch hooks |
| Grapnel | Hooks wreckage/rock/cable | Recovery tool; poor general holding in sand |
| Kedge | Lighter anchor for warping/kedging off | Classic seamanship term |
Exam items often ask which anchor is stockless, which is best associated with stowing in the hawse, or which light anchor has large flat flukes (Danforth-type). Match the description, not the brand marketing name alone.
Rode, Scope, and Setting
Rode may be all chain, all synthetic, or chain leader + nylon. Chain resists chafe on the bottom and lowers the angle of pull; nylon adds spring.
Scope = length of rode paid out ÷ depth of water (include height from waterline to bow roller/hawse when the stem asks for "depth of water + freeboard/hawse height" or similar).
| Condition | Typical teaching scope |
|---|---|
| Fair weather, good holding | About 5:1 to 7:1 |
| Heavy weather / poor holding | More than 7:1 as sea room allows |
| Short scope | Higher angle of pull → anchor breaks out easier |
Worked example: Water depth 20 ft, freeboard/hawse allowance 5 ft → use 25 ft as the depth figure. At 5:1, rode ≈ 125 ft; at 7:1, ≈ 175 ft. Always leave room to swing and check the chart for other vessels, cables, and shoals.
Setting technique (exam + practice): ease the anchor to the bottom (do not freefall onto a fiberglass deck chock), pay rode as the vessel moves astern slowly, then snub to dig the flukes. Back down gently to set; take ranges/transits or GPS to verify you are not dragging before you walk away from the bow.
Hawsepipe and Windlass
- Hawsepipe: the tubular lead from deck/windlass area out through the bow for chain or rode. Keep it clear of gear that could jam the run.
- Windlass (or capstan): powered or manual machine to heave in and control veering of chain/line. Use the brake and wildcat/gypsy correctly; never leave feet and clothing near a walking wildcat.
- Devil's claw / chain stopper / riding pawl: devices that take the load off the windlass once the anchor is out or housed.
On many Master 100 boats the "windlass" is a horizontal electric unit on the foredeck—still respect its SWL and clutch.
Detecting Drag: The Drift Lead
A classic seamanship check: put a lead (or similar weight) on the bottom with a light line, nearly up-and-down, while at anchor. If the vessel drags, the lead line will tend forward and become taut as the boat moves downwind/downcurrent over the lead. If the lead line stays slack and up-and-down, you are holding relative to that bottom mark.
Other drag clues:
- Changing bearings to fixed objects ashore
- GPS anchor alarm / expanding track
- Vibration or jumping rode as the anchor skips
- Unexpected shallowing toward a lee shore
If dragging toward danger: start engines, heave or slip as planned, re-anchor with more scope or better bottom, or get underway. Do not wait for the stern to find the rocks.
Mooring Line Names
When made fast alongside, lines have standard names. Learn them so orders are unambiguous on a passenger-vessel deck:
| Line | Runs | Primary job |
|---|---|---|
| Bow line | Bow to dock forward | Keeps bow in / controls forward motion of bow |
| Stern line | Stern to dock aft | Keeps stern in |
| Forward spring (after bow spring) | From bow area leading aft to the dock | Stops the vessel from surging ahead |
| After spring (forward quarter spring) | From stern area leading forward to the dock | Stops the vessel from surging astern |
| Breast line | Nearly athwartships from ship to dock | Holds vessel into the dock (limits stand-off) |
Memory aid: springs run diagonal / fore-and-aft and fight surge along the dock; breasts pull in toward the pier. Many Q160 items simply ask which line prevents the ship from going ahead while docked (forward spring / after bow spring) or which line is breasted athwartships.
Lead lines through chocks, figure-eight on bitts, keep turns neat, and use chafe gear where the line bears on metal. On floating docks, tend lines as tide changes freeboard relationship.
Fouled Anchors
An anchor may foul on cable, rock, coral, another rode, or its own chain (a turn around a fluke). Responses, in principle:
- Determine how it is fouled before full-power heaving that only sets the hook harder.
- Heave short, change the vessel's angle with engines/helm, and try to walk the pull out along a free direction.
- Use a trip line if one was rigged to the crown (best practice in known foul ground).
- As a last resort, slip the cable with a buoyed bitter end for later recovery—know your company's and COI equipment rules before abandoning ground tackle.
- Never send an untrained passenger to the foredeck during a fouled-anchor evolution in a seaway.
Master Scenario: Lunch Anchor on a Head Boat
You Master a 65-foot inspected head boat in 30 ft of water over mud, light wind. Depth + bow height ≈ 35 ft. Pay about 5–7:1 (175–245 ft) of rode, set with gentle sternway, and fix a transit on two shore marks. Stream a drift lead: if it goes taut and leads forward, you are dragging—pick up and reset before the fishing crowd notices the lighthouse getting larger. Coming alongside later, put out bow, stern, both springs, and a breast as needed; springs control surge when the ferry wake hits.
High-yield Q160 anchors & mooring list
- Scope ≈ 5–7:1 fair weather; increase in storms
- Drift lead taut + forward = dragging
- Hawsepipe = rode lead; windlass = heave/veer control
- Springs stop fore-aft surge; breasts hold in
- Fouled anchor: change angle / trip line / planned slip—not blind full power only
Those five themes, plus anchor-type recognition, are the core of this Deck General slice for ONC06.
In fair weather with good holding ground, a commonly taught scope ratio for anchoring is about:
While at anchor you put a drift lead on the bottom. The lead line becomes taut and leads forward. This most nearly indicates that:
Which mooring line is led nearly athwartships to hold the vessel in against the dock?