Originally Posted by Ontheboat
Originally Posted by Christo
[quote=Alec Atteberry][quote=Ontheboat]Alec,

Most of the anchorages have Turtle grass and the boats anchoring there for years before the mooring balls hardly had any effect on it. If you dive the anchorages today you’ll see large circles of sand around the mooring balls where the balls movement 24 hours a day had destroyed the grass.



OK (this may need a separate thread): first time in the BVI's. FIRST NIGHT! We anchor off of Peter. Now, mooring balls are foreign to us. We anchor 100% of the time. So, we get settled. 3 young kids. Good anchor lay. Eat dinner. Kids down. Relax.

Not.

We are drifting so far off of point that we are convinced with are full dragging. Then, we come back. Hummm.

My wife and I alternate ALL night on watch. At one point, just before sunrise, the JB song "Manana" comes to mind which includes the verse: "While the lights of St. Thomas lie twenty miles west I see General Electric's still doing their best"....That's what we could see.

The cause of our sleepless night?

We anchored just off a shelf. About half the rode was off the shelf and swaying us back and forth. So, now, we watch the bottom for sand and avoid coral heads, etc.



Where we come from snorkeling the anchor would be both unpleasantly cold, likely impossible due to lack of vis...and also probably considered cheating.

However, here in BVI, once we've set the anchor I always put a mask on and check it visually...check around for obstructions...check its bitten well...and on a Sunsail boat with broken chain-counter and uncalibrated chain, check we have estimated the scope we need correctly.

Peter has a lot of spots similar to the one you must have been in! I wonder if snorkeling the anchor after setting would allow you a more restful night in future? It certainly gives us a lot more peace of mind!