When The Ship Is Sailing, How To Properly Use Anchor 

Most of us know what is an anchor but do you really understand how does a ship anchor work? 

 

Anchoring a boat properly important when you want it to remain in position, at first, whenever a vessel has to stay afloat in a stationary position on water when the engines are turned off, the anchor is cast into the sea so that the vessel does not drift unnecessarily from its position due to water currents.

 

Now we will discuss how a ship can be anchored , actually , this process can be followed for both small boats and ships even with slight variation.

 

At first , we must find a location to anchor the ship , normally , the location is selected by the pilot or captain of the ship. When he informs the crew about where exactly the ship must be anchored then accordingly the ship is anchored as per the directions given.

 

The ship must start to slow down and then move into position ,normally , the ship or boat can slow down the speed by reversing the thrust and get into position where it can be anchored easily.

 

The anchor must be dropped once the position is reached . There is a loud sound generally when the anchor of the ship is dropped , due to the anchor is very heavy , so the chain and anchor will makes a loud sound and there is a huge splash of water too. Normally , if the boat or ship are more larger , the anchor should be more heavier.

 

The anchor must reach the sea bed. The crew has to make sure that the anchor has reached the sea bed before they move to the next step. The anchor is generally attached to a rope or a chain.

 

After the full length of the anchor has been dropped , the ship or boat must go reverse ,it will ensure that the anchor digs into the sea bed. The reversing in ship is also called going astern. Once you do this the ship will be anchored completely. This is the same process that can even be followed for a boat. One must ensure that the boat is anchored tightly otherwise there can be chances of dragging.

 

When the anchor gets digged in the sea bed, it ensures that the ship is stable. This process may take anywhere between fifteen to twenty minutes. This again depends on how deep the water is.

 

We hope you have got a good idea of how a ship anchor works. Anchoring a ship or a boat of any size is a very important function that must be done with a lot of care. Similarly the process of taking a ship off the anchor is also a critical process. In this process the anchor must be removed from the sea bed slowly and the same has to be rolled back. Only when the whole anchor is rolled back the ship can move on.