Happy Hooking, the Art of Anchoring - Book Review

by Nancy Knudsen on 28 Dec 2008 If there's one thing that the cruising sailor needs to know well, it's how to anchor! When overnight at anchor, you'll sleep well if you know that the anchor is secured and you're not going to find yourself out to sea or, worse (the nightmare scenario), be woken in the dark by the noise of the rudder bouncing on a rocky shore.

So the answer is to have every skill at your disposal, and this new book by the Blackwells contains a wealth of information.

Apart from the many skills that can be learned, there has been much innovation in the design and materials of boat anchors in recent years, and the 'new generation' of anchors, as well as the those of earlier technology, are examined in detail.

Entering an anchorage already filled with anchored boats can also be a real test. 'Why is it,' asked a cruising friend recently, 'that the only time we foul up when anchoring is when there are twenty other boat around, all watching?'

Reading 'Happy Hooking' could be the answer to this question. 'Anchoring a boat can be a lovely dance in a harbor, or a painful and embarrassing display of Homo sapiens’ inability to plan or communicate,' the authors have commented.

The book itself has grown from some seminars which the Alex and Daria Blackwell gave first at their local club, then, by request at others, then at the Sail America Boat Show. It was such a success that the idea of the book was born.

There are four parts to the book:
Part 1 is an analysis of anchors. Part 2 concentrates on anchoring techniques, covering a wide range of topics including emergencies and groundings. Part 3 is about rafting and its techniques for happy collaboration, and Part 4 concerns itself with anchoring etiquette. I wish this final part could become a set of worldwide rules for leisure sailors.

The book is readable and interesting, and has plenty of illustrations and diagrams. It might be compulsory reading for the new sailor, but even the most experienced will find much new material here.

Happy Hooking, the Art of Anchoring, by Capt. Alex Blackwell & Capt. Daria Blackwell is published by White Seahorse, and is a neat 217 pages in paperback. It's available for around $20 plus postage, by clicking here