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For many of us this is a normal practice, but i found that many cruisers are lead by 'fears' of what can happen if they don't put the boat on hard while they travel back home for several weeks or months..

the fact is that insurance companies will argue or even NOT cover your claim if the boat was mooring or put in a yard if you don't get a specific written coverage for that particular case/yard. they cannot argue if your boat was at the anchor. I dont let insurance companies rule my life. if they dont match my requirements, i just look for another company. there is a fact that US flagged boats are hardly covered by foreign companies like Pantaneus or other...and if they do a coverage they put many restrictions on it. in my present policy the only restriction are the waters of Somalia, the northern passage and the south pole, areas not suited for my boat anyway.

in my case , i am against expensive and monthly payments that erode our budget, so my point of view changed after I met a sailor who left his boat for 6 weeks in Bermuda to travel back to Europe. A sort of 'click' in my head changed my points of view.

After reviewing all the information that sailor gave to me, i decided try it out as well, and make the learning curve that gives me peace of mind. Its advisable to review your insurance policy before you attempt to leave your boat alone at the anchor for several weeks or months as is in my case.

BAHAMIAN MOORING - The version that works for me

1. first I look for the proper place, and figure out where the possible bad winds can come from.. normally i plan this several month in advance looking for the right place... in our case was Luperon in Republica Dominicana where we spent 2 months during hurricane season.. and then Chaguaramas (at the TTSA club) in Trinidad&Tobago out of the hurricane path. we let the boat for 5 month unattended here, we hired a club worker to take a look and call us if necessary.

2. study the currents, tides and possible surge (up to 20 feet in some areas) in the case of a mayor storm. you can get the surge even if you don't get the full storm. this is important to set the length of the chains.

3. The Bahamian mooring can have 2 , 3 or even more anchors, but in my case i rely on our 2 heavy Bullwaga's. we set both anchors in the desired direction liked both with a 150 ft long chain (we got that for free from another cruiser who was buying new one, we just took the rotted end and kept the good part) . Before you lie down the chain I attach a heavy swivel in the mid and another chain that will make the direct link to the boat, so you have a sort of "T" shape. I also mark my anchors with small buoys-  6 inches foam (those you are catching with your rudder while traveling on the ICW). i mark my anchors because the boat will have a different swinging radius as other boats in the same anchorage and to make noticeable to others that there are 2 anchors set. it also helps at the moment you want to retrieve the whole system. so I put a fine but strong 1/4" rope to heave the anchor when time comes.

I also secure the swivel-to-boat chain with a big ball fender in the case it drops to the water. I have a 20 ft stainless chain for this that I use for daily anchoring. from the end of the chain i attach 3 lines to the boat: 1 main heavy line to the center that will support the main shocks and 2 secondary lines each to one hull that are there "just in case" if the main rode chafe for some reason. I protect the lines with used fire hose ( I don't know the name in English, but those are the hoses for fire fighting, you get them for free in any fire department from your neighborhood), and are made from a very strong fabric. I prefer this more than normal PVC hose since they are easy to bend and secure to the lines). I was learning in a hurricane course we made in Miami that normal plastic bags will work as fine as the best chaffing hose, since they slip easy. and it really work fine as i found out!!

once you have all pre- attached , I start my motors and try my system at low throttle at first and then at full throttle (forward and backwards and in all directions) , wen I am happy with the lengths of all 3 lines, I make the final  settings.

the first time I tried  that I made a sketch to think about each detail. once decided It took me 3 or 4 hours to set all properly. the second time was just 2 hours. I just used the dinghy the first time, then with the previous experience I have set it all from the 'mother boat" .

One side advantage from this Bahamian mooring  is that the boat swings into the wind.  we let 2 open port holes in the front cabins and 2 in the rear main cabins protected by buckets cut into halves and screwed in a way that no rain will come in even in the case of a heavy storm . we tried the efficiency of this natural airing system by burning incense sticks and observing the air flow. when we came back to the boat there was absolutely no mold in the boat. 

if needed i can make a sketch and post it here.

cheers

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THANKS ALEX  That anchor treatment is worth a try.  I have the epoxy, Nev has the wire brush, and we have colloidal silica.  But the coral sand is kind of sharp so I expect this will be an annual event for us to paint and repaint the anchors. 

GALWAY BAY, the pump can be run both ways.  They suck and shunt away a lot of sand etc from the tiny channel used only by dinghys going to and from the dock in this shallow water area and they blast holes for dock posts and for the helix. It is quite a cobbled up contraption, but it works well for them. 

You might also consider to ad a float and a shock absorbing chain. It works well. See sketch. Cheers.

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