That's called "kedging". I vaguely recall reading about a similar operating involving a big square-rigged ship where two boat teams would alternatively each carry a kedge anchor ahead of the ship. One would lower their anchor and have it heaved in by the ship's crew while the other would range out ahead and set theirs, repeatedly "walking" the ship forward.
It works best with two anchors so you can hold what you gained with one anchor whilst setting the second one. I just barely did this in the mid 1960's off a beach just north of Marblehead Mass. I was crew on my mom's second ex-husband's Triton, a 28' aux sloop. We had stopped for lunch off a beach and he decided to motor in very slowly until we touched the sand instead of anchoring. At the time it was calm and the water flat. While we were having lunch we failed to notice the wind pick up onto the shore until we suddenly realized we had to get out of there. We started the engine and went full astern but the keel apparently had made a hole in the sand and we were not moving. The boat was bow-in. Holding onto the backstay I threw out a small Danforth as far as I could and took a strain on it with the jib sheet winch. Then I threw another on the other side of the boat and took a strain. We had no dinghy. I tried kedging us off but both anchors were out the same distance and as I winched up to them they both pulled out at the same time as I approached them and the scope was reduced. I tried the same thing twice and failed each time. I tried again and got one hooked, then another, but did not pull in the rodes.. By this time the seas were significant and the boat was flopping from side to side. There was a motorboat with divers down anchored less than a hundred yards away. We made distress signals with arms and freon horn but they completely ignored us and eventually pulled anchor and left us there bouncing on the beach.. One of my first impressions of motorboaters that thankfully has been much moderated by more positive encounters later on. Our Skipper had called the Coast Guard in nearby Gloucester and they got underway to rescue us. In preparation of their arrival I rigged a bridal to attach their towrope to our two jib sheet cleats. I waited on the stern, clinging to the backstay with bridal loop in hand praying the kedges would hold until help arrived. The CG arrived and backed down toward us. All this time the wind and seas were gradually strengthening. The CG made the first heave, but the line fell short. While they were pulling in the line to heave it again, one of my kedge anchors pulled out of the bottom and all the strain went on the second anchor. . Just as the CG sailor heaved the towline the second time one of the three strands of the remaining anchor line parted. I grabbed the tow line and put a quick sheetbend into the bridal just as the second strand parted. The CG boat started coming ahead. Just as the next sea arrived the CG had a strain on our bridal. The sea lifted our stern toward the beach and exactly at that most critical moment, as our boat started to turn sideways and broach, the towline pulled our stern away from the beach. That very sea that almost put us on the beach lifted us and suddenly we were afloat again. It was incredible, and remains so to this day, just like in the movies. It could not have been more "in the nick of time"! Two or three seconds later and we would have been on the beach! I remember how suddenly everything became serene once we were afloat again. >From bashing on the bottom and flopping from side to side with each sea, to bobbing gently in the fall afternoon sunshine motoring away from that pretty beach. I didn't know it then of course, but it was my high point with the Coast Guard. Things went gradually downhill from there. They wouldn't do that rescue these days, they don't rescue vessels, just call a tow boat. Now they would wait until we were on the beach, perhaps with some of us crushed under the boat, then send someone over to fill out some forms so they could fine us. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.695N 081 38.484W > > > In the ICW we once saw a guy in a trawler who was throwing out his anchor and > then pulling the boat up to it over and over. We asked him if we could help and > he said No. I don't know - maybe it was some kind of workout that he wanted to > do or something. > _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
