ANCHOR READINESS

An anchor at the ready and a crew trained to use it are important boating-safety protocols.

There's a viral video making the rounds on the internet depicting a boat that lost power, then drifted onto the rocks at a coastal inlet. While from afar it's always hard to say what went wrong, and often harder to accurately state what might have saved the boat, the incident prompted a discussion among our team that led to writing this piece about the dual importance of keeping your anchor ready to go and your crew ready to anchor. The ability to stay in one place will often save the day.

First, make sure your anchor is ready to deploy. Drifting toward rocks is not the time to be untangling hockled rode.