May 12, 2024
… even when anchored too close to the reef!
This was a place called Luk Panenteng. This was our second time trying to anchor here. It’s either too deep (300+ feet) or too shallow (less than 3 feet). I guess we were a little desperate this time. We found a spot about 45 feet deep but too close to the reef to put out enough scope¹.
All would have been fine if not for the ripping current that runs through here. We drug anchor but fortunately, it was along the reef and not into it. We had a very tight anchor alarm zone set that woke us up at 3AM. We saw that the anchor grabbed and after a bit of watching and worrying, went back to sleep.
The picture above was taken at the change of current as the boat was turning. I was shocked to see how close to the reef we got, but I guess no harm, no foul.
-Rich
1. We usually try to anchor with about 5 or 6 to 1 anchor chain to depth ratio. That would have meant 225 feet of chain. When in deeper water, we feel like 3:1 is okay. That would mean 135 feet of chain. If we got a squall blowing us towards the reef, that would let us hit. Instead, we only put out 120 feet of chain.
If you add our 3 feet of freeboard to the 45 feet of water, that makes a ratio of 2.5:1. This is really not enough scope and that’s why our anchor drug at current change.
