Who says you can not teach an old sailor new tricks?!?!
We have had to do just that, to enjoy anchoring in the Tuamotu Atolls of French Polynesian. Not sure if any of you guys will get out this way, but I thought I would share some ANCHORING tips for the area. You can never stop learning!
The rich waters of the lagoons of the Tuamotu Atolls produces some of the most wonderful hard corals. They grow just about anywhere they can get a hold and enough sun light, and as the waters are so clear here, everywhere is scattered with coral heads!
Great for snorkelling and diving, but a nightmare for ANCHORING. Every sandy spot , shallow enough to anchor in, is scattered with coral heads. Some are pinnacles that reach close to the surface, some twisted forms a few metres high and others short and doomed.
If a boat anchors in 10m of water and drops 30-40m of chain they will quickly decimate hundreds of years of coral growth. If that is not enough, the 20-30m of chain on the bottom will surely get wrapped around, under and through loads of coral heads.
We have heard real stories from fellow cruisers that have needed divers to get their chains free. Terrible stories of boats riding out a windy spell and watching in horror as the waves get up, but the chain to their bow gets shorter and shorter with each wind shift. Some boats have run short of chain and done damage to their bows. So what can you do?
FLOAT YOUR CHAIN
As long as you have a good anchor, this is the only way you can safely anchor in most places in the Tuamotus. You just use floats or fenders to suspend the chain above the coral heads so they can not get wrapped around.
Sounds easy? But there are a few things you have to get right from the start and there are a few mistakes we made you can learn from.
FIRST STEP patience. You can not rush in after a sail and just drop the hook at any good depth. You have to have a ‘look about’. The biggest shallow bommies will be obvious. You are looking for a clear sandy spot well spaced away from them. You also want to look at the margins of your sandy spot. You want to avoid any coral pinnacles or larger big tall coral clumps close by your sandy spot. Lower small coral heads are fine. It may take a little time to find a good spot, so be patient.
SECOND STEP. Drop the hook and set it with double the depth. If the water is clear, you can check that the anchor fell in the middle of your sandy spot. My humans like to jump in with a snorkel and a mask to check on the anchor, chain and coral head heights. If you are not happy, lift anchor and try some where else. You will sleep better if you know your anchored well!
THIRD STEP. Happy your anchor is set with good enough turning space? Now slowly lift back up 1/4 of the chain you dropped and hook on the first float. Then continue adding floats 5-10m apart (depending on depth) as you let out your scoop.
Easy and you are all safe and soundly anchored now.
TIPS WE LEARNED
First step. You have to have patience and be willing to look around to find a good sandy spot and to make sure the anchor lands in the middle. It is the hardest part!
Floats. We first used fenders, but had a few problems. First the fender lines got wrapped around the chain and were difficult to untie. We shortened the fender lines by making a loop knot and used clips that fit through the chain. The hooks were great as they were so easy to clip on and off.
The fenders continued to cause problems. They were compressing under water, getting sea growth on them and a few even started to take on water. As soon as we sailed to the Tuamotus we found an abundance of pearl farm buoys on the shore lines. We swapped out our fenders for these and have not looked back.
Keep the spacing between the buoys short. Depending on the depth and how many buoys you have we try to keep them 5-7m apart. Our chain is heavy and we seem to need them that close together, especially near the anchor.
The close spacing also seems to stop the chain tangling in light shifting winds.
Despite the spacing of the buoys, they do sink when the wind gets up and the anchor chain is pulled tighter, giving you the angle you want to keep the anchor bedded.
Hope this is interesting for our family and friends and helps out anyone heading this way.
