The Ancient Art of Kedging from George de Witte
In my recent articles
in the Telltale on NSC Marine Safety I mentioned the expression “kedging”
a few times assuming that everyone knows what it involves and when to use
it. However from personal observations it seems this is not necessarily the
case. So I have taken the liberty to delve into the subject a little deeper.
Hopefully old salts are not insulted by this writing. A further warning:
kedging only applies to sailboats, so powerboat owners may also skip this
article.
Kedging in the Golden Era.
The Manual of Seamanship for Boys and Seamen of the Royal Navy, 1904
(a recent fathers day gift) defines kedging as follows: “Laying the kedge
anchor out in a boat and warping ahead to it”. In more practical English
it meant that sailing ships in the days before steam power was invented,
used kedging as the only way to enter harbours at the heads of river
estuaries or tight anchorages, if sailing was not feasible.
How was it done? Well, a long boat with a bunch of strapping young sailors
was sent out with a light kedging anchor and rowed ahead as much anchor
line as the ship had, dropped the anchor and then a crew on the ship
used the capstan to pull the ship ahead. The same book mentions that
HM shipyards made anchor hawsers to a maximum length of 113 fathoms (678
ft), so one gets the impression that it was a laborious exercise to bring
a ship to its final destination.
Kedging principles for recreational sailboats.
The secret weapon on all sailboats is the strong genoa winch. For instance
the Lewmar ST30 2 speed winch has a power ratio of 29.2 in 2nd gear.
That means that with a force of 50 pound applied to a standard 10 inch
winch handle, a force of 1460 pound is exerted on the line wrapped around
the winch. To play a little more with numbers : a 12 pound hi-tensile
Danforth has a holding power of 1800 lbs, a 22 pound delta is good for
3800 lbs and the Lewmar 35 pound CQR is advertised at 3400 lbs. Proof
coil 5/16 inch chain has a working load of 1900 lbs. Most healthy sailors
male or female can exercise a force well in excess of 50 pound so it
clear that with the all powerful winch and some decent ground tackle
one can easily kedge oneself out of a run-aground situation without calling
for 3rd party help.
Does it work? I am honest enough to admit that during our trip south
we ran aground on numerous occasions. Sometimes due to daydreaming, but
quite often due to factors beyond our control. The most significant event
was when we were unceremoniously dumped on a 2 ft deep mudflat in the
ICW by a 60 knot squall, which the US Coastguard warned us about by the
time we saw it coming. After it was all over, a couple of good Samaritans
tried to help us with up to 100 HP outboard powered zodiacs, but Whiskeydream
was not going anywhere. So when the Samaritans finally gave up, I convinced
one of them to take my Danforth anchor out a 100 ft or so and before
the Samaritans were back in their powerboats, Whiskeydream was floating
again in her normal happy fashion. I am also happy to report that there
was no damage to keel, rudder or hull apart from some missing bottom
paint.
Some
kedging tips.
After
you have revved your engine full rpm forward and reverse and realize you
are really stuck in the mud, what do you do? Take your sails down , swing
your boom out and have someone heavy hang at the tip of the boom to heel
the boat and rev engine again. If that does not work as well, it is time
for some fancy display of old-fashioned kedging The idea is to set your
favourite anchor out with a scope of at least 1:10 in a direction where
you think the water is deeper, generally the direction you came from.
Wrap you the standing end of your anchor rode around the winch and slowly
but surely winch yourself afloat again. Et voila, you are on your way to
the NSC bar again.
The
biggest challenge in kedging off is actually getting the anchor out far
enough. If you have a dinghy you are laughing. Just row the anchor out
as far as the anchor rode will let you and carefully lower the anchor so
that it will set with a minimum amount of drag or have the rode wrapped
around the shank.
If
you don’t have a dinghy, life is a little more challenging. First see if
you can get the attention of someone with a low draft powerboat or runabout.
If that does not pan out, you need to get more creative. This time of the
year it is no great hardship to go for a swim and take your anchor out
as follows. First remove the chain if you have any in your ground tackle.
It serves no purpose when kedging as you are going to put so much strain
on the anchor that scope determines the holding power of your anchor, not
the weight of any chain. Turn the rode around if the nylon rode is eye-spliced
to the chain. Put your Ring Buoy in the water and see if it has enough
flotation power to keep the anchor afloat. The standard 24 inch buoy has
a flotation spec of at least 16.7 lbs, so it holds a 12 lb Danforth. If
it sinks, you need to add some more flotation stuff like PFD’s or bleach
bottles. Don yourself a PFD and go for a leisurely swim to drop the anchor
as far as possible from your grounded vessel. Go aboard and winch yourself
off. With a bit of luck nobody at the bar will have noticed that you were
on the wrong side of the green Brittannia Shoal buoy (again).
However
if it is early in the season and the water is too cold for a swim, this
may not be a good idea. Sorry I have run out of ideas. You will have to
call the boys at the bar, request some kedging assistance with a club boat
and admit to the old salts that you were daydreaming again.