Knowing if you are dragging anchor means marking your exact drop spot on the GPS, then watching whether the distance between you and that mark keeps growing. If it does, the anchor is not holding and you are drifting. On this How 2 Tuesday I sat down with Captain Harley Hunt from How to Boating to solve a problem that confuses a lot of newer boaters: out in open water, with the wind blowing and the tide moving, are you actually sitting still or sliding? Harley shares the simple GPS waypoint trick that answers it for good.
Watch now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Press mark on your GPS the moment the anchor hits the bottom. Let your scope out, drift back, and note how far you settle from that mark. If you set at about 100 feet and you start creeping out to 110, 120, or 130 feet, you are dragging. Staying within five or ten feet of that settled distance means you are holding. Harley taught me this works best in open water where there is no land or structure to use as a side-to-side reference.
Harley points to the Coast Guard guidance of roughly one part depth to five parts line in calmer conditions, and one part depth to ten parts line when it gets rougher. The idea is to keep the pull on the anchor low and horizontal so it can dig in instead of being yanked straight up. The exact ratio depends on conditions, but more scope generally means a better hold.
Yes. Harley explains that chain lying across the bottom adds weight and keeps the pull horizontal, which helps the anchor dig in and stay set. The Coast Guard does not give recreational boaters a specific chain spec, but his rule of thumb is that more chain is better, and with enough chain you can sometimes get away with a little less scope.
Re-anchor. In my experience, if the anchor is dragging it never grabbed properly in the first place. It probably fouled on the way down or landed in a spot where it could not set. An anchor that is dragging is not going to suddenly start holding, so the only fix is to pull it all the way up and drop it again. It is frustrating, but it is the right move.
Harley runs How to Boating. You can find him at howtoboating.com and under the handle How to Boating on Instagram and TikTok, with no spaces. Whether you are brand new to boating or have years on the water, he is a great follow and breaks things down in a way that is easy to put to use.
When you are anchored out where you cannot see land off to the side, your eyes lie to you. The wind is blowing, the tide is moving, and you are pulling slack through the anchor line, so it feels like everything is in motion. Are you actually sitting still or slowly sliding? I have sat in that exact spot wondering, and it can eat at you all afternoon. Harley walks through why you lose your reference points out there and what to trust instead. Press play in the player above.
A lot of recreational boaters skimp on chain because they do not understand what it is doing. Harley and I get into the physics: that chain laying across the bottom is adding weight and keeping the pull low and flat, which is exactly what helps the anchor bury itself. Pair that with the right scope ratio and you have a system that actually holds. I let him explain how the two work together in the player above.
This is one of those How 2 Tuesday tips that takes ten seconds to learn and saves you a whole day of worry. The next time you anchor up in open water, hit mark on your GPS as the anchor goes down and just keep an eye on that number.
If it holds steady, relax and fish. If it starts climbing, pull up and re-anchor before you drift somewhere you do not want to be. Harley made it simple. Press play in the player above.
Captain Harley Hunt · How to Boating · GPS anchoring · Coast Guard scope ratio · anchor chain · re-anchoring · open water boating · How 2 Tuesday · Tom Rowland Podcast
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Captain Harley Hunt is the creator and host of How to Boating, a resource that teaches boat handling, safety, navigation, and seamanship to boaters at every experience level. He breaks complicated boating skills down into clear, actionable steps, and you can follow him at howtoboating.com and as How to Boating on Instagram and TikTok.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 926: Capt. Harley Hunt (How 2 Tuesday)
In this episode: “when I set my anchor down on that spot, I'll press mark on the GPS” — “if you start dragging anchor, you'll start to see that distance increase” — “the Coast Guard recommends a scope ratio of one for the depth, five for the line” — “the more chain, the better” — and where to find Capt. Harley Hunt of How to Boating — in the exact words spoken.
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Tom Rowland: What's going on, everybody? It's the Tom Rowland podcast brought to you by Danco. We're doing how to Tuesday's boating. And one of the things that a lot of people ask is, how do you know if you're dragging anchor? You know, the wind's blowing. A lot of times, you're pulling a lot of slack out of the anchor line, and you also look around. And if you're not really all that familiar with boating, you kinda feel like, you know, the tide's moving, the wind's blowing. Are are you actually sitting still? Harley's got some good advice for us about how to do that. Harley, what do you tell people about how to know if you're dragging anchor?
Capt. Harley Hunt: What I like to do is when I set my anchor down on that spot, I'll press mark on the GPS. So then you let a lot of road out, let a lot of scope out. And say you're you're in a couple feet of water, 10 feet, whatever, and say you're hanging you're you're hooked on the bottom at about a 100 feet away from that initial anchor from the mark. So if you start dragging anchor, you'll start to see that distance increase between you and that mark that you set on the GPS. So say you're getting a 110, a 120, a 130 feet away from that mark, then you know you're dragging.
Capt. Harley Hunt: Because a lot of times, many times, you may be out in in open water. You don't have a good reference side to side. You you you can't really see land in reference too much. So I like pressing mark right when I put down the anchor. Drift back, say you're a 100 feet away from that mark. And if you're within about five, ten feet between that 100 feet, then then you're good. But if you start drifting 10 feet, 20 feet away from that 100 foot mark, then then you're probably dragging.
Tom Rowland: And if you're dragging, best practice, you you need to re anchor because
Capt. Harley Hunt: Re anchor.
Tom Rowland: What what has happened probably in my experience is that the anchor was it's it's not in a position that it's gonna ever grab if it's dragging like that. So picking it up, it got fouled on the way down, something happened, and the anchor is not working properly. So you gotta pick it all back up, anchor again, and, you know, that that's frustrating.
Capt. Harley Hunt: But, yeah, the Coast Guard recommends a a scope ratio of one for the depth, the five for the line, two one for the depth, 10 for the long, just depending on condition.
Tom Rowland: What about chain? Do they do they have a recommendation? Coast Guard have a recommendation on chain for just a recreational boater?
Capt. Harley Hunt: They they don't specifically, but the more chain, the better. Because what that chain is doing is laying on the the sea surface. It's actually aiding, helping that anchor dig in because you have the weight of the anchor, and then you have all of that chain leading across the bottom. So the more chain really, if you have more chain, you kinda get by with less scope, which is the length of the the anchor line.
Tom Rowland: Good tips. You can find more tips on how to boating. You can go to that website, howtoboating.com. Or, Harley, what are your Instagram, TikTok, other handles?
Capt. Harley Hunt: It's all how to boating. There's no spaces in between where it's how to boating.
Tom Rowland: Okay. That's captain Harley Hunt, how to boating. Go check him out. He's a great follow, and you can certainly learn a lot about boating whether you're experienced or a beginner. Alright. We'll be back next week with more tips. See you.
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