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Anchor Buddy, Shoreline, Stern to or Bow to for small boat?

When anchoring near shore for boat in lake camping or beach picnicking, what are the pro's and con's of anchoring stern to or bow to the shore?

Stern to seems to offer the advantage of ladder and swim platform access with the disadvantage of a more difficult backward maneuver, but the advantage of not having a line to tangle in the prop.

Bow to offers the advantage of a less difficult forward maneuver with the disadvantage of climbing onto the bow or swimming around to the stern.

I'm new at this so I'm probably overthinking the scenario, but I have to teach my wife how to drive the boat (don't ask) and anchor it for her upcoming camping trip. Our little 18 footer bowrider has an anchor buddy that I bought for the occasion and 100 feet of rode attached to 6 feet of chain and a danforth anchor and 30 feet of line for tieing to land.

Shoreline is gravelly with near shore submerged rocks.

Insomnia, the source of imaginary problems and fanciful solutions.

Bryan
Jul 11
2006
Thanks Jim, John, Wayne!

Will try stern to first.

Bryan
Jul 12
BTW, I know my depth finder works! --

***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****

John

JohnH
Jul 11
Always anchor with the stern to the shoreline. If waves start to kick up you don't want your stern facing into them.

Approach the beach area until you are in about 5 feet of water. Raise the outdrive somewhat. Turn the boat, drop anchor and back into beach until you are in 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water. Turn off the engine, raise the outdrive to the trailering position and attach a stern anchor (while doing so pull on it hard to make sure the bow anchor is set).

Now enjoy the day If you plan to keep the boat anchored overnight make sure you have as close to a 7:1 scope on your bow anchor line that you can get and the anchor is firmly set. You will also need to keep your anchor light on. This will drain the battery so consider a separate, detachable battery powered ("AA" cell) one similar to this: http://tinyurl.com/ljtkw

Jul 11
I should also add.if you plan to keep it anchored overnight, move it to at least 3 1/2 or 4 feet of water.
Jul 11
Stern to the shore is the preferred method in my experience. Use a small anchor off the stern to the beach, or tie off to a tree on shore if available.

There are a number of advantages, not the least of which is having the bow pointing towards exposed water, and using the stern ladder to get off the boat in shallower water.

Wayne.B
Jul 11
   

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