To ensure that your mooring is well maintained, you must follow a few rules. The 6 steps below are essential for a good mooring. They are valid for motorboats as well as for sailboats.
1- Ready to get wet?
The crew member takes the anchor out of the anchor locker and installs it in the davit. He lets it hang vertically from the bow without letting it drag in the water. Be careful, it is at this moment that the anchor can bruise the gelcoat of the bow.
2- Wet!
The boat is motionless. On the helmsman's orders, the crew member lets go of the chain to put the anchor on the bottom.
3 - At the peak!
This time it is the crew member who informs the helmsman that the anchor is on the bottom and that the bow is at the peak (vertical) of the anchor.
4- Let it go
A mooring should not be a pile of chain on the bottom. For it to hold well, the chain must be unrolled flat as the boat moves backwards. The crew member lets the chain run out when the boat asks for it. If there is no wind, the coxswain can use the engine in reverse to help the boat move backwards.
5- Heads up
To ensure a good hold of the anchor, the anchor must penetrate the bottom. While it was previously simply placed on the ground, the crew member blocks the anchor so that the boat pulls on it and the anchor sinks.
6- Adjusting the chain length
Once the boat is back in line with the wind, the chain is let out to adjust its length according to the depth of the mooring.
