Florida Anchoring Strategies

We thought some of you may be wondering how we decide where to put into port and where to anchor.  Since we are committed to attending church services on Sundays, we look online to see where local congregations are located, then find a nearby marina in our guidebook. We usually go into the marina on Saturday so we can fuel up, go grocery shopping, do laundry and see a little of the town.  It works out nicely that we can find the telephone number online for the local Bishop and the nearby congregation.  Thankfully we have been able to find rides to church every Sunday or we walk, if it is not too far. We love being able to meet new people and we are so appreciative they are gracious enough to give us a rides.  Currently, we are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida still waiting for a decent weather window so we can cross to the Bahamas.

"Little Lara" at anchor in Fort Lauderdale

With respect to anchoring, which we do most of the time, where and how we anchor depends a lot on the weather.  After listening to the weather forecast on the marine radio or viewing it over the

Online Weather Report

internet, we consult our marine charts to find an appropriate anchorage that provides adequate protection from both winds and the waves.  We want to ensure we do not end up on a "lee shore", which means that the wind would blow “Little Lara” towards the shore rather than away from it.  So we keep a very close watch on the weather forecast which includes wind direction and speed, as well as wave height, direction and period (how close together the waves are together).  Another thing we check the charts for is the sea floor: sand, mud, rock, coral, grass, etc. Our anchor holds very well in sand and mud, but not as well in other types of bottoms.  Once we decide where to anchor, we must decide which anchor to use, whether to use an anchor bridle, and whether to use one or two anchors. Typically, we use the "Delta"  anchor.  It is our primary anchor and has served us well in all types of weather, and in sand and mud.  When the weather becomes more severe we use an anchor bridle which is two anchor lines attached to one anchor.  This setup keeps "Little Lara" from swinging from side to side.  We have yet to set two anchors, but "Little Lara" is equipped to do so if the need ever arises.  We would use this setup if there was extremely strong winds or currents.

Delta Anchor

The reason anchoring is on our mind is because recently  we have been in some very unsettled weather.  We anchored in what should have been some great locations only to have the wind clocked around to come from a new direction. This past week we were up most of one dark and stormy night making sure the anchor did not drag, like our neighbors to windward, who dragged and had to reset their anchor twice!  Fortunately, we have on board a GPS with an anchor alarm that alerts us if  “Little Lara” moves beyond a predetermine number of feet from where we originally set the anchor.

Ugh, gotta love those quiet, secluded Fort Lauderdale beaches!

We are disappointed the weather has not been more settled to allow us to cross over to the Bahamas.  With cold fronts coming through every couple of days, the wind and the waves have stirred up the gulf stream to what has been described as a “rip current 30 miles wide”.  So it's nothing we want to mess with … so we may not be leaving for now.  “Plan B” is to head slowly south towards the Florida Keys, and if a suitable weather window opens up we will head offshore and ride the gulf stream north to the islands mon! Otherwise, we will enjoy southern Florida and the Keys.  Looking for fair winds and gentle seas.