More on Anchoring

It is interesting that sailing and anchoring have so many parallels to life. For instance, if we don't pay attention to our charts while sailing we might go aground... potentially with disastrous results. In life if we wander aimlessly without regard to civil laws and/or the commandments of God, we will find ourselves in disastrous circumstances. 

Different types of anchors

While sailing if we follow our charted course, and pay close attention to the advice of wise people who have traveled these waters before us, we have peace of mind and confidence we will arrive safely at our destination.  Similarly in life we will have peace of mind and confidence as we heed the word of God and his prophets, as well as church leaders, and trusted family and friends.

Imagine the size of the Queen Mary's anchor!

We have had only a couple of instances while anchoring where the anchor didn't stay where we dropped it.  The first time was years ago when we were new to sailing and clueless about the need to put out enough “scope”. There needs to be enough line and chain between the boat and the anchor to ensure that the boat is pulling on the anchor at a narrow angle, which makes it dig in deeper rather than pull out.  Since we didn't put out enough line, the anchor didn't have a chance to dig in properly.

Anchor Scope

In retrospect it was pretty comical watching the boat pick the anchor up off the bottom each time a wave lifted the bow and we drifted wherever the wind and waves pushed us along.  Luckily we were on the boat at the time. We figured out pretty fast that it is important to put out a length of rode (rope) and chain that was at least five times the depth of the water in calm weather and more when there are significant wind or waves. 

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Another time the anchor didn't hold was years ago when we were in the Bahamas. We had left the boat at anchor and gone ashore only to come back hours later to find our that our boat had moved!  Thankfully the anchor had dug back in as it dragged across the bottom.  We came to understand that anchors don't set well in thick sea grass or in thin sand over smooth rock.

Now each time we drop our anchor we take the time to make sure it is firmly set with good holding and we back down hard so the flukes dig in.  As we think about anchoring and how this applies in our lives, it is apparent if we aren't careful to make sure we are anchored to gospel truths, we can be blown onto the rocks of deception.  If we are firm in our testimony of Christ, the storms of tests and trials in our lives may still blow but we can be at peace knowing that we will not be in spiritual danger.

Safely at anchor at the end of the day

We hope your life's anchor holds fast and is deeply set ensuring you are safe and secure to weather life's storms.  Fair winds.