How to do a Bahamian Mooring

Are you sailing south and wonder how to do a Bahamian Mooring? The Bahamian moor means setting two anchors off the bow. Its generally used to deal with anchorages in areas with tidal flow such as cuts in the Bahamas. This can be a little daunting for your first time, but we go through it showing all the steps. We anchor our 49 foot sailboat in a cut near Big Major Spot in Exumas Bahamas.
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[@krisborn]

For years I used a Bahamian mooring, but I anchored completely different. I would drop the first anchor off the stern while powering into the current! This made sure the first anchor was set! As I reached the end of the first anchor line, I dropped the second anchor off the bow. As I paid out the rode I could feel it set and then I just took in the line off the stern while powering down on the second anchor. When I'd paid out the second anchor I walked the first rode to the bow and cleated it off! I knew both anchors were solidly set and never had any drag except for one time when the bottom was made up of silt! Try it this way and sleep well at night.

[@S1lentJoy]

Excellent video with great details and clear steps. Thanks for creating it.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you enjoyed it :-)

[@dgmansmile3051]

the best explanation and example of a bahamian mooring that i have ever seen. thank you so much for sharing !!!

[@mmanut]

Great info. Amazing how few boaters understand this system to anchor. It's a must know in a storm. Vinny

[@jasoncrew4242]

This is such an informative video. Thank you!

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome Jason 😊

[@jwrappuhn71]

Fantastic demonstration ya'll.

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

I am very glad that I have found your vlog , they what can I say excellent !!!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Mark!

[@StefanoOrsi]

Molto chiara la spiegazione, bravi!

[@shayamoya6595]

Really great video. Well explained. Thanks

[@spinnaker5514]

Planning on the Bahama's next year, this will be very helpful for me! Thanks for sharing the wealth of information that you have accumulated over your many years of sailing.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you found this useful Spinnaker5514! Have a great Bahamas cruise!!!

[@allansmith6050]

You have, by far, the best instructional and informative videos going. Thank you very much:)

[@CncObsession]

I loved it! You just happened to be close to many areas I was in , in the 70's. I stayed off of Samsons Cay for 2 summer trips. Beautiful still, that is quite refreshing.

[@DistantShoresTV]

It is a great area for sure! Would have loved to see it in the 70's. Our first trip on our first sailboat was in 1989.

[@SailingByFaith]

Thanks for this video, DS! We're new to the sailing scene, and appreciate the knowledge you're sharing. I plan to add your videos to our homeschooling/boatschooling agenda, so we can learn together as a family. We'll be heading to the states soon from the VIs, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to use this tactic. As Spelunkerd mentioned, I have reservations about a stern anchor causing side load in shifting winds, and this looks like a great solution!

[@TheRichardmay1]

Thank you! Very good explanation.

[@joez9839]

An alternative for those of us who don't have the luxury of chain is to run a lead weight down the anchor lines to below the keel, capturing them and allowing full swing. We lived aboard for 15 years and this was our anchoring option of choice. Not only is it good in changing currents/wind, but it restricted swing in tight quarters.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Good point Joe. Yes we used to do that as well so the line wouldn't foul on the keel or rudder.

[@jamrvkids1475]

I have learned a lot from your channel, thanks. :)

[@Bluenoser613]

Great video!

[@Hmmm.hmmm.]

Thank you for your tutorials.

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome :-)

[@jimmyjimmy2075]

Great series tnx, beautiful part of the world

[@DistantShoresTV]

you're welcome :-)

[@TheDesertSailor]

So clear!! Thank you!!

[@theboatman360]

You guys are the best! Thanks again for sharing!

[@sailingmaverick2480]

Great video as always!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@BetterthanitwasNetsailing]

Have just re-watched the French Canals episodes and it has helped us visualise the sort of challenges we will face when we go. All 10 series are invaluable. I urge your KZbin viewers to seek out the whole lot on Vimeo. Fantastic work.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you found them useful! And thank you for your kind words. The canals were great fun :-)

[@tomharrell1954]

Great job

[@GNT35]

I had dragged at that spot last year! I had no problems it reset but I didn't sleep much! I guess I should of did the same. Good job as always

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Giles! What sort of anchor were you using?

[@franka4610]

I love it! Thank you

[@DanT2406]

best video ever!

[@cowgerbry]

What great instruction and demonstration -- thank you!!!

[@abordderosybain6071]

I really enjoyed this demonstration, thanks!

[@biblestudytoday]

Very good. Thank you so much

[@IandiBoats]

Verry informative. Thanks for sharing.

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome :-)

[@CoastLife]

Very interesting! gonna keep watching your tips.... and store them in the back of my mind for later :D -Chad

[@neleabels]

Nice! Thanks.

[@ricardothiel8685]

Yes! look a little complicated under strong wind but work good. Thanks for share!

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome Ricardo :-)

[@lutzweb]

best videonever thank u so much

[@KANALOAWWP19]

Thank You! This is something that will be useful and I'm grateful for all you informative videos.

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome Steve :-)

[@brett6328]

Love the idea of attaching the secondary to the primary and like you said, it fixes much of the downsides(excluding a few additional minutes of course, worth it!). Thank for the video! I always wondered how I would have attached two anchors on our cat and always avoided it. You made it look easy! This technique would have worked well on ICW tributaries as well where there is big current shifts and I always worried I might swing to the side on the current shift rather than simply up or downstream.

[@davidassad7001]

Great infos from you guys... A million thanks for the time and effort you put in....

[@karlhansen635]

Nice presentation :)

[@RedBearAK]

After reading an article years ago by Peter Smith (engineer who invented the Rocna) I have long had a low opinion of any kind of tandem or dual anchoring. But this seems to be a rare, specific circumstance where it makes a bit of sense. There is still the caveat that each individual anchor must be appropriately sized to hold the vessel in a gale by itself, or dual anchoring is just asking for trouble. Still a setup that needs to be carefully watched, but the risk of the anchor popping lose and failing to quickly reset in an anchorage with very limited space makes it worthy of consideration. Interesting.

[@spelunkerd]

Most of the time I've done a stern anchor in this situation, but I'll try this one the next time. The 2-bow anchor allows the boat to swing into the wind a little more, reducing the enormous side load that happens when stern tied. I like your solution to prevent fouling the rudder, although with my mixed chain/nylon rode the story is more complicated. Perhaps a weight tied midway up the second line would keep it down enough to prevent fouling.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Yes the side loading is the biggest problem with a stern anchor... I agree that a kellet suspended down the second line would work We used to do that although it did introduce an added level of complexity...

[@CruisingMaya]

Very informative- thank you!

[@coffeytnmilk]

Really great advice and presentation!

[@edwardwerthner7717]

Very well done thx

[@rickyrodriguez5744]

Nice tutorial!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you found it helpful, Ricky!

[@tommydickens4617]

Good video, very clear and I like the look of this technique; having said that, only 20 meters of chain out, that sounds like very little. Must have been a very shallow area I assume. Furthermore, at the beginning when you mentioned the anchor having to re-set with each change in tide, I get the logic, but I thought that if you have out a lot more anchor chain, the boat would pivot on the point at which the anchor chain meets the bed, not around the actual position of the anchor on the bed, therefore meaning that this would not be a problem. Not trying to undermine you in any way as I am sure you have far more experience than me, but would just be nice to get some clarification on some of the theory of it and how the theory I mentioned works in this particular situation. Cheers.

[@dwood5252]

very interesting

[@sailingrumrunner]

Great descriptive video. I'll be looking for more from this knowledgeable, and practical channel. Well done!

[@MrCh1lll]

MASSIVEEE THUMBS UP 👍👍👍☝️ You are awesome thank you 🤗🌍⛵⚓🐼❤️❤️❤️

[@Chris-fo8wp]

That is exactly how a Bahamian Mooring should be done!!!

[@mojotrinity4927]

That’s cool.

[@gabehumphreys2433]

I've purchased your 10 seasons on Vimeo, but the time required for each episode means I only get to view it for pleasure (when I have the time.) Brief instructional videos like this are greatly appreciated when I'm short on time and looking for a demonstration of a technique or concept. Thanks so much for all your videos!

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome Gabe! Glad you are finding them useful. More of the shorter format to come :-)

[@AndyMillerPhotoUK]

Thanks

[@annlisbethpedersen2140]

Hi guys, that was great video info. ;-) thanks

[@DistantShoresTV]

You're welcome Ann 😊

[@svbarryduckworth628]

Very informative, thank you. We need to work on our anchoring here. We are mostly Lake Michigan day-sailors. We've sailed a lot here, and in some pretty heavy weather -something anyone will experience here in the Great Lakes if you sail often enough and don't mind heading out into iffy forecasts. A small-craft warning from NOAA isn't necessarily a scrub for us and our friends. We live for that stuff. We've even spent some time in the Gulf sailing on a Catamaran with our sailing club, and I went to Cuba with them as well this past spring. But our anchoring experience is pretty limited compared to cruisers who do it every day. Every time I do it I am not really sure we have done it well enough to sleep very well. There are a few times in the Keys where we really should have done a Bahamian Mooring like this had we known what we were doing. Perhaps we just got lucky.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you liked the vid! I know what you mean about sleeping soundly... I have been experimenting with Apps to alert you if you drag, and track your swinging. Running this on my phone allows me to check in the middle of the night and get alerts. www.distantshores.ca/boatblog_files/anchor-alarm-update.php

[@krisborn]

You just got lucky in the Keys. It's not unusual to have a 12 knot current in the cuts between islands and that will pull any single anchor loose.

[@svbarryduckworth628]

5 years of full-time cruising later and after going back to the keys I guess we got lucky hundreds of times in a row so far using just our single 45lb Mantus every time. The only time we have used more than one anchor in the last year was waiting overnight in front of the Deep Creek lock at the Dismal Swamp. We fore/aft anchored because of a severe lack of swing room there.

[@nunya181boy6]

Another thing to think about is the shackle you used to attach the second anchor to the main anchor chain is to make sure the shackle is rated to hold around 250 to 400 pounds

[@nunya181boy6]

Also use a safety shackle that has a cotter pin

[@thearchibaldtuttle]

Very good and clear demonstration! Would use this method on rivers as well where you have tidal streams, right?

[@martinshow5146]

very nice interresting channel. you earned a new subscriber ^_^ i am still discovering the channel so i am trying to watch all the videos. i saw videos of you sailing under the canadian flag, and in this one the British... i never understood this flags question on boats. it will be may be an interresting subject for a new video :) thanks again for this amazing channel. one day i will go and sail the world. i want to live fiew years on a boat around the world.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing! Flags - our boat was registered in Guernsey, then we changed it and registered it in Canada. Cheers

[@tomasmontero7219]

absolutly excellent and many thks. one question please..having a catamaran with a bridle would you suggest to connect the second anchor line to the extremity of the bridle with a shackle.

[@midnightwatchman1]

this downright the most informative sailing channel I have come across. is it possible to have a more detailed diagram with the two anchors attached to each other and rope snubber

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks, Steve!

[@HarryLevinson]

We love your series. It has been an inspiration for my wife and I. We are setting off on our first extended cruise and will be in the Bahamas for four months. I've been looking for tips for situations we don't normally encounter, or bother with, in our shorter cruises up here during New England summers. Other similar demonstrations of Bahama mooring techniques have noted the problem of twists. Do you find that after being on arrangement for an extended period that you end up with many twists as the boat pivots around?

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Harry! Glad we could help... I hope you have a great time in the Bahamas. Regarding bahamian mooring we do not do it that often, and yes you do need to watch that it doesn't get too twisted up. I have shown the method where I shackle the second anchor a meter or so down the main chain and then the twist issue isn't much of a problem.

[@New.Adventures.Sailing]

I know this video is a few yrs old, but I noticed the snubber went out via the bow pulpit, vs. directly from the cleat @7:11 which is not good. Great video to describe the process of a Bahamian moor. Thanks

[@thomassmith7432]

It’s going through a fair lead forward of the cleat.

[@BarracudaHawk]

Excellent thank you. I’m now further educated!

[@kevinu.k.7042]

I have never had a Fortress drag. Once I lost one when a freak wave cause a major back surge from a wave in a narrow anchorage. When I went back and dived on it I found that the points had been holding on a 2" rock ledge just under the sand. The anchor warp (nylon) parted before the anchor gave way. The anchor was undamaged.

[@remodeledcatidea5324]

Custom bahamian mooring system. keep EQUAL pull on both anchors at ALL time. put a steel 5" diameter hoop on anchor #1 which has only 20 metrs of chain. now put the chain of anchor #2 thru the hoop. How to do the mooring. First keep anchor # 1 on deck as you release anchor #2 (the chain of anchor #2 will be passing thru the hoop of #1 as you do this . Now set anchor #2 25 metrs from where you want the boat centered. Second back up over the spot you want the boat centered and continue another 23 meters.Drop and set anchor #1 as you back up toward anchor #2.When you have released all of 20 metrs of anchor #1 chain and hoop into the water pull on anchor #2 chain to center the boat .You are now pulling on anchor #2 chain as it is passing thru the hoop and equally pulling on anchor #1.

[@daviddigital6887]

Only thing I know about sailing is from youtube but seems to me with all the technology today that some sort of an app to alarm you that your dragging away right in the middle of your dream would be a must. I would have trouble sleeping if I had any doubts at all about my anchor.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Indeed I am now using a great anchor app on the iPhone so I do sleep at night - or wake up and know right away if we were dragging... itunes.apple.com/ca/app/anchor/id661180281

[@carlhamilton2470]

Thanks for a great video with clear instructions. I learned something new today! I saw you set your first anchor in a posedonia field and wondered if you normally try to avoid these very important, marine nursery grounds? All the best!

[@Nodak816]

DS love your video and very informative. We are heading for the Abacos in two days so I thought this might give me some insight on how to manage this method (never done it before). I like how you do it to avoid tangling. One question do you "set" the fortress or let it set itself?

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Richard. I "Set" the fortress by hand only pulling in slack until I feel it start to catch. Its such a great anchor! Enjoy the Abacos!!

[@ralph9987]

Nice in theory, but you can't rely on the 2nd anchor that is mainly rode. Especially if the weather changes to bad.

[@brett6328]

This technique seems to solve so many reasons why we never dropped a secondary. How much chain do you have on your secondary? Do you keep periodic loops in the line section of your secondary for varying scopes? Or do you just swap out the line section?(I noticed you shackled into the end of the rode)

[@anonymous.notatall6419]

Can I suggest a soft shackle out of dyneema to attach both the rode and the snubber to the chain. I use this system and it seems more reliable than the chain hook (have had a hook come free with a snubber in sloppy water) and quicker and more tool free than a metal shackle. If they start to wear over time (this takes ages) make another.

[@latitudeash]

👍

[@leeann6257]

Thank you for the great instructional video! A question for you. How does the next boat coming to anchor in the cut know how to identify where your anchors are and avoid your lines?

[@flyingfox10001]

Watch those fortress beggars, watched a vid on how they get caught around the square bit at the base and drag the anchor backwards. Low and behold frogging two nights later this happened! Just as well I was awake at 1:00 am to save me from crashing into all the moored vessels. Could not believe it!

[@charlesxix]

How would you free the anchor if it became jammed, should the chain end of the rode be secured to the other of the anchor?

[@jack7358]

Vert good ...or thé second ancre direct to the boat too

[@stephenlnoe]

Would have been nice to add pulling up anchors procedures you use to the video.

[@FrigateChaserFishing]

👍🏼🙌🏼

[@ushoys]

That shackle looks like it might be perfectly sufficient to hold the boat in a 15 knot breeze.

[@eloyex]

IMHO that shackle looks very whimpy for that scenario, but it is ok to show the procedure ..........

[@Andyfunsail]

Thanks guys, lovely video showing a really nifty technique! Please change the intro music, it's rather harsh on the old ears! Looking forward to more great vids.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks for the tip!

[@kirk9671]

What about using this for storms so both anchors carry 1/2 the load? Where wind is constant and I am just looking for double holding power.

[@andrewclimie4956]

All good except using that tiny shackle! The rolling hitch would be much stronger

[@jackgreen5627]

Would this method keep a 23m yacht more or less stationary near any shore? thanks

[@christeraxell3011]

If I understand this corectly there is nothing more than the snughook and line taking away the force from the windlass? If the wind is picking up real good there will (I’m afraid) be too much stress on the windlass, or the brackets it’s mounted on.

[@johndone5906]

Great video but what about recovering the second anchor not attached to the windless. Do you run the rode back to a winch, in which case a 25mm rode may not fit a standard winch...just a thought.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Good point John. We use 16 and 18mm rodes for our secondary anchors so they do fit our winches. We have various ways to recover the 2nd anchor but Bahamian mooring is an additional step so we don’t often use it. Generally we recover the second anchor before we’re actually leaving if we can. Sometimes I take the dinghy disconnecting it from the rode and pull it up by hand.

[@davidbrown2806]

Travel blogs are nice, however this is the kind of content us "wannabes" thinking about taking up the cruising lifestyle need to see.

[@MichaelKallelisOn2Wheels]

Looks like you need a lot of real estate to set both of those. In crowded anchorages, is there a risk of another boat fouling one of the anchor rodes? Also, looks like it limits the aound of scope you can set. More scope helps the primary anchor but not the secondary, which is fixed in scope because it's attached to the primary.

[@ysteinvikvandbakk7061]

How deep was it in this example?

[@cbrey]

How difficult is it to avoid a prop wrap when motoring ahead after dropping the kedge anchor? It looks like a fairly high risk maneuver. Thanks

[@samcarrs]

Why not set your main anchor back where you drop your rear.A longer scope setting is ideal anyways

[@waynemccarthy3040]

Looks quite easy to do, and I see the reasoning behind it. How does it shape up with a multihull, say Lagoon 44' ?

[@DistantShoresTV]

Good question, we've not done it in a Cat. The main problem is having the loose rode hanging up on a bow, keel or rudder, so perhaps there would be a problem with the cat if there was more to get caught on. But if you drop the join down as I showed I think it should work.

[@krionic]

the way i've done this with a cat in Exumas is very similar. drop "main" anchor heading up current. set it. drop back about half way to where I will drop second anchor. attach to anchor chain as you demonstrated. let out more chain to drift back to where I want to drop 2nd anchor. drop it. set it. and then motor to my "resting spot" and snug up excess with windlass. the trick is having your attachment point resting as close to your boat as possible while still allowing for that part to be resting in the sand no matter which anchor is currently holding. don't let the length favor one anchor or the other. This will keep things from getting hung up by always having the slack anchor chain sitting in sand. obviously this takes some practice to get distances right. if you can master this you will sleep well, especially in exumas where it seems a lee shore is ever present or will be on the next tide.

[@philippedaussy6817]

Interesting tutorial. However limited to shallow waters, not more than 3 or 4 meters as with only 20 m of chain or 25 m of cable on the Fortress you will not hold with more depth.

[@rjacosta1070]

Is there an alarm that lets you know if your anchor breaks free and you begin to drift away from your longitude and latitude spot?

[@andecap1325]

How would you go about un-- anchoring in this situation?

[@DistantShoresTV]

As reverse... we winched in the chain until we could reach the rope connection to science it. Then dropped back to lift the Fortress. Its more of a pain than just picking up the main anchor for sure... but worth the security in the situation with the narrow cuts...

[@pirateradio8336]

nice

[@markdobkin4430]

and during a storm, if your main chain/rode breaks you loose both? Isn't there a better way?

[@DistantShoresTV]

We recommend all chain rode. Ours is 3/8 inch G4 hi-test and has a breaking strain of over 16,000 pounds. That is a lot of strain! It is an essential system and we replace or regalvanize the chain when it gets at all rusty. I do not know of a better way than that.

[@markdobkin4430]

Thank you.

[@frankd2301]

What about anchors bow and stern with boat in the middle?

[@DistantShoresTV]

Bow and stern anchors works in some situations but with strong currents like Bahamas especially of the wind is strong too it can be too much strain on the anchors side on.

[@SP4G3]

"How to" well done.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks, Simon. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@belowmars]

I wonder where does the second anchor comes out from? Do boats come with 2 anchor chains ?

[@DistantShoresTV]

We carry the second (and third) anchors in a stern locker and bring them out for special occasions like Bahamian Mooring. We prefer to just carry our main anchor on the bow. Most smaller yachts have just 1 main anchor chain and use a shorter chain (3-10 meters) with rope to make it more portable and lighter.

[@belowmars]

I see, so you mean the second anchor isn't really "connected" to the boat like the main anchor. You must physically tie the second anchor to the first anchor's chains?

[@hedgerowclose]

We now know how much chain and rope, but not how deep the anchors are...?