Anegada Mooring Ball Depth

Will be on a 41 ft. mono with a 5'5" draft. Is there adequate depth throughout the mooring field? Any specific recommendations? This will be our first trip out to Anegada.

The last five years or so we've taken a 48 ft. mono with 5'5" draft into the mooring field at Anegada.

It's tight, but we have never had a problem. Enter slow, with an escape plan firmly in mind and your claw on the throttle ready to take action! If the only balls free are the ones close in to the shore or right at the back of the field then forget it...those are too shallow.

Also remember that the BVI has tides...The Moorings website states the range as 12 - 18 inches. Tide Forecast says up to 2 feet...which sounds on the high side compared to our observations so I assume that must be the maximum high water spring to minimum low water spring difference. And factor in swell. We always snorkel our position once moored to ensure there is enough daylight under the keel.

Tip 1.) If a decent swell is running then we don't attempt Anegada. www.WINDGURU.CZ/58 has been a reliable source of swell prediction for us.

Tip 2.) don't do the long, slow loop around the mooring field to approach the ball perfectly into wind from a few hundred meters away (like you would anywhere else), head direct to within a boat length or two of the ball and use that bow-thruster to complete the hand-brake turn!

Tip 3.) when you do your boat briefing / handover, check if there is an offset on the echo-sounder. Our first year someone had put 4ft beneath the keel 'to be safe'...so it helpfully read zero all the way in, which is bugger-all use to anyone. We now ensure that it is calibrated correctly, without any offset.

Tip 4.) Good pair of polarised sunglasses.

Tip 5.) don't be put off Anegada. Most of the BVI is incredibly simple navigation compared to the rest of the world...Anegada is just slightly less so. In the right weather you will be absolutely fine with 5'5". And that first painkiller after snagging a ball tastes better than anywhere else in the BVI (if you're the skipper!).

Christo’s advice is solid

I'll second Christo's advice, especially Tip 3. I didn't verify the proper calibration of our depth sounder so anchoring at Anegada was a bit stressful. I think we were reading negative numbers when in an area that the chart indicated was 8 - 10 feet. We were on a mono that drew 5'9".

Walker's Anegada approach map has extremely detailed soundings and will show you the spots with less than 6' depth that you'll want to avoid. His bvipirate.com website also offers good info on navigating to Anegada.

http://shop.bvipirate.com/anegchart.html

LOL...had same issue. Base told me they were setting offset and then they set it wrong. Made for some very tense few moments...:)

Had that happen going through the cut between Anguilla Point and Moskito Island

Exact same spot for me as well...

Many thanks for the replies. I will be getting the Walker's Anegada chart.

Regarding this statement "If the only balls free are the ones close in to the shore or right at the back of the field then forget it...those are too shallow." When you state, right at back of the field, would that be the most southwestern balls in the far corner? Not looking to start any Boaty Ball banter but would they be in deep enough water for 5'5" of draft?

The row of balls to the west, Ie back of the field relative to normal prevailing wind is shallow. Also closer to shore is shallow

Having an offset on the depth sounder is not necessarily wrong. So don't wipe it out without first checking the depth on the sounder vs. reality. On my boat the calibration offset is 4 ft on the instrument. Which will give me the true water depth on the display. I always bring a sewing measuring tape (i.e., vinyl) attached to a larger lead fishing weight. At the first opportunity I get the depth and compare it to the sounder and adjust accordingly. A depth sounder that is lying to you is absolutely useless and in fact worse than not having one at all. Imho.

i recall from earlier trips that Moorings used to include a lead line in their on-board equipment. This was back in the days when it seemed like calibration was the least of issues with the depth sounder so perhaps they don't do it any more. Also, given the amount of equipment stored in the lockers, getting to the bottom to find said lead line (if it exists) would be an archaeological dig.

High on our list for our next trip (maybe 07/2020?) will be to verify the sounder calibration. Also we'll make sure that someone hasn't turned off the anchor windlass breaker before we depart. I've tripped breakers before when using the windlass but never was sent out with the breaker in the off position.