Yachting and Boating World forums: More on flopper stoppers

MJF that's a variation on what I do most times i anchor in the Med. I prefer it to flopper stoppers.

Actually it's even easier than you say. I don't think your proposal will work exactly as you describe it becuase you will never overcome the buoyancy of the hull and stop the rolling merely by tying the boat to the seabed very tightly. And anyway the 2 bow anchors are fastened to the boat centreline so even if they are on tight chains there is no turning moment to resist the hull rolling.

But you can use a second anchor much more simply. In the med, boats lie to the wind when anchored, becuase there is no tide/current generally. The swell from passing boats or the weather turns when it enters a bay and comes in from a direction which is different from the wind direction. so the swell can often be broadside to your boat, hence the need for some anti-roll device. I just drop the main anchor as usual, then motor the stern of the boat (or shunt it with tender) until the boaw is pointing into the swell, then I chuck out a 15kg Danforth anchor, and attach it to the upwind stern quarter. The chain/rode for the main and stern anchors are therefore about perpendicular to each other. To retrieve, the stern winches do the work as you say, and the whole thing stores under the bathing platform lockers. I use mostly rode, not chain, for the stern anchor.

This works perfectly. So long as you can keep the boat pointing into the swell you mostly cure the rolling problem.

Of course in a very tight anchorage it can get awkward if everyone swings with the wind and you dont, but you have to deal with that case by case and normally it's no problem

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