Since our last post we have spent most of the time at anchor so I thought I would devote this latest bit of news to what we have learned from these days (and nights) spent on the hook.

 

Pro: Staying at anchor is free and you gain exclusive access to some of the most beautiful and unspoilt locations.

 

Pro: When other people are also at anchor around you they become an invaluable source of information, second-hand books and entertainment as you form a mini community for the brief period that you are together.

 

Con: When bad weather rolls in it will result in sleepless nights of hourly anchor watches, fingernail biting, constant re-lifting and re-dropping of the anchor if you’re worried that you’re too close to another boat, in too shallow water, not holding properly etc. The sleepless night quickly becomes a “Batten down the hatches” day of being stuck inside the boat.

 

Pro: Staying in a marina can be a bit like staying in a boat carpark. And it can be filled with the El Dorado ex pat brigade of filthy rich yachties. We are not-ies.

 

Pro: A second anchor equals a good night’s sleep. This is particularly true if one of the aforementioned new anchor community friends is kind enough to help you put it out and gazes at your main anchor (a bugel) with envy as you point out that your CQR is your secondary one. (Smug? Us?).

 

Con: When entering a tricky / busy / shallow anchorage it is imperative to pay good attention to the warnings given in the pilot book about what state of tide in which to enter rather than ignoring this good advice and ending up going aground for the night…

 

Pro: No queuing for the loos at anchor.

 

Pro: A lot can be accomplished in the days when you are sitting out bad weather at anchor. Plus, you have the extra reward of a trip ashore once the weather clears becoming a great grand sort of treat which you feel newly deserving of.

 

 

These few little pointers were learned at anchor in Alvor. I attach a bit of the up and down winds we were dealing with:

1