Help! Dropping and weighing anchor

[Daniel]

I've got some questions about this.

If you were anchored in a roadstead and getting ready to get under way, was the anchor broken out of the seabed just by the brute force of the crew turning the capstan? Or was there some special trick to breaking the anchor out? Did you have to be in some special position relative to the anchor and/or the wind? Are there any cases of the anchor being so firmly dug in that putting tension on the anchor cable just pulled the ship down instead of pulling the anchor up?

Also, when dropping anchor, were there any tricks to getting it to dig in? Is a special kind of seabed ideal for this?

I ought to be able to answer this question by reading Harland, but regrettably I can't understand most of what he writes about this. Please explain this to me like I'm ten years old.

Also, are the words "hawser" and "anchor cable" interchangeable?

BTW, I am posting this question at Krzsysztof's Pirates message board also, and I will try to put copies of any answers I get on both boards.

[the Royaliste]

'Ere's a couple for a start, but anchoring a square-rigged ship changed with conditions, not leaving 'simple' answers to ye'r questions. Yes, the 'best bower'(main anchor) was buried in the seabed(hopefully, as draggin' anchor sucks). the ship had to ware to her anchor to make enough slack from the strain of the ship to be able to even turn the capstan.....Hawser and anchor cable are not synonomous,'hawser laid' refers to the way the cordage was manufactured, 'anchor cable' was a given length, depending on vessel... roadstead don't work 'ere, it be an anchorage, no wheels on these puppies..and haven't a clue as to ye'r reference to 'forums', my source in this is me deck, believe wot ye want....RPC(Rogue Pyrate Captain)

[Daniel]

Thank you, Royaliste!

To "ware" to the anchor is to sail until the ship is directly or almost directly above the anchor, I assume? Then if I'm following this, when the crew first turns the capstan, the hawser is slack, and when it does go taut, the hawser is almost vertical?

I assume that, while the hawser is slack, you maintain your position above the anchor by lying hove to?

And so the thing that holds the anchor is not an "anchor cable," but a "hawser" that is so many cables long?

My dictionary defines "roadstead" as a place less enclosed than a harbor where ships may ride at anchor. Maybe I wasn't using the word correctly.

Sorry about the references to forums and boards, 'tis black witchery.

[the Royaliste]

Well, Ayye understand,mate, as there's a mess 'o witches attacking me ship a t present. Waring is a means of manovering a large square rig. Modern sailboats with Marconi rigging 'jibe', talllships 'ware'. This allows enough sail to bring you over the bower, raising the howse, then the anchor, 'fishing it' with a hook and taykle, the 'catting' it with the taykle in the catheads. Depending on the reason for weighing anchor, the ship 's plan would dictate the next sail plan, but probably never hove to, exactly the opposite, making sail, with the hopes of reaching 'full and by', onward to victory...I dunno much about merchant seamen, you hafta ask someone else. I deal with Man 'o War, eightsquare an' proper!....and now, well, it's a Pyrate's life for me.... ..pardon alla the typos..been at sea shorhanded fer days,around the clock.....p.p.s..Hell, you got the dictionary, I never sailed by one. You may be right as rain, I'm jest a friggin Rogue Sea Captain 24/7 ona Tallship at Sea,presently the North Pacific, what do I know?..

[the Royaliste]

:) Actually, all of this type of knowledge is explained in Darcy Levers' 'A Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor', from the keel to Clubhauling......and everything about the ground tayckles

[Daniel]

I have the following information from Tony and Ozigirl at Krzysztof's Piracy message board.

Ozigirl wrote:

In answer to your question, yes brute force was used to bring an anchor out of the water. Every spare hand was used to 'man the capstan' in order to weigh anchor. Captains used the momentum of the ship to get the anchor to bite when it was dropped, the same as they would 'back' sails in order to stop the ship, as they had no engines to do this. I don't know of any cases in which the anchor was so dug in that it dragged the bow into the water instead of lifting the anchor out of the water. Perhaps if the ship was anchored on a sea bed that was known to be rocky they might have difficulty and decide to 'shop' the anchor, ie cut it adrift, rather than try to raise it. Generally though anchors were only dropped when the ship was in a sheltered anchorage, and these places usually have sandy bottoms. In an unprotected anchorage, or at sea, a sea anchor would be used instead of a traditional anchor.

Hope this helps!

Tony Malesic wrote

I believe the usual method of getting under way was first to take up the slack of the anchor chain with the capstan until the ship was directly over the anchor. Then sails were laid on and the ship steered in the direction opposite of the anchor's "bite." The capstan continued to be worked, and the combination of the forces exerted on the anchor by the capstan and the momentum of the ship broke the anchor free.

BTW, thanx very much for explaining about waring. I've been wondering for ages what the difference was between "wearing" and "jibing," and it never occurred to me it was a difference in sail plans and handling rather than actual maneuvering with respect to the water.

[the Royaliste]

:) Well, mate, I don't believe Ozigirls had a f*ucking day at sea in a square-rigger, but it's your trip, be believin' wot ye may ....READ THE BOOK..be wise all there is to a tall ship, take it from a Tallship's Captain, mate