Imagine being anchored or moored in the perfect spot! You are tucked away behind a point of land that blocks the elements from reaching your boat so that you can enjoy some much needed relaxation on an idealized white sandy beach. While on shore, you notice that your mast is really tossing about, and that actually everyone’s mast is really going even though you are protected from the prevailing winds and seas. What is going on?
Being tucked behind a point of land will protect you from the winds, and most of all, the seas that come with the wind; but it doesn’t mean you are safe! Sometimes, as the waves pass by the point, they will actually turn and come behind the point of land perpendicular to the winds. This means that your bow will point into the wind like it always does but your boat will now lay beam to the seas. This is the perfect recipe for a horrible anchorage!
You are in paradise with a terribly rolly anchorage, isn’t there any way to fix the only problem? Thankfully there is!
All you need to do is turn the boat so that it now points into the seas instead of into the wind. Sounds easy enough, but how do you fight nature? The answer is always “Rigging”.
Setting up a swell bridle is very simple, all you need to do is treat your motoring line or anchor rode as a point of attachment instead of a mooring line or anchor rode!
It also helps to have a steady wind that blows consistently to keep you in position. If your anchorage has a particularly strong current, you might need to use the rudder to also help hold you in the right attitude (by turning the rudder away from the anchor or mooring). Since the boat wants to point into the wind and not into the swell, you need to make the boat turn and be anchored from its side.
You could simply tie the snubber or mooring to your spring cleat, but that will relinquish any semblance of control and could make matters even more rolly! To control the attitude of the boat and have it point perfectly into the seas, you want to use a bow line and a stern line in combination. I also like to setup a spring line to the system as this makes retrieving the whole setup easier when you are leaving.
Where to attach these lines? The bow line is tied to the mooring pendant or anchor rode with a bowline or hitch knot, respectively, and led to a cleat. I like to keep this point tied very close to the bow when I’m setting up because it makes everything that follows simpler. The next line that I attach is the stern line which I lead through a snatch block mounted close to the stern and back to a winch in the cockpit. If you are setting this up to an anchor rode, these are the only two lines you will need, if it’s to a mooring pendant then one more line will follow.
The bow line is just cleated off close to the bow while the stern line is led all the way back and to a winch. To control the attitude that your bot will lay to the anchored position, all you need to do is ease out the bow line a little and winch in the stern line. As you do this, the boat will begin to rotate away from the wind (mind you this needs to be setup on the side that you want to have facing the wind) and into the oncoming swell. Simply do a few feet out on the bow line and then crank in on the stern line, then repeat. Being how the bow line is just cleated off, it is easy to let it out but difficult to haul it back in, so going little by little helps negate the need to haul the line back in.
If you do go too far and need to pull the bow line back in, you can always release the stern line and pull the bow line in by hand as the boat swings around and the bow line goes slack, but this also means starting over on the stern line which can be a lot of additional cranking!
Little by little, you ease the bow and crank in the stern, slowly rotating the boat and positioning it broadside to the wind and anchor while pointing the bow into the waves. Suddenly, the boat goes from rolling to gently rocking as the waves move from the beam to the bow. Paradise restored!
With an anchor rode, the snubber becomes the bow line and the stern line is merely tied to the rode with a hitch knot of your choice (I personally prefer the Magnus Hitch). When you are done and want to leave, the stern line is released and the rode is hauled in with the windlass, allowing you to untie the lines as they approach the bow. On a mooring pendant, it’s a bit different!
The bow and stern lines are tied to the pendant with a bowline (that way they both fit through and also requiring less line length from each of these ropes. This setup would make leaving the mooring almost impossible since the bowline can not be untied while under load! This is where a third line comes into play simply to make departure easier. A 2:1 breast line is set.
Simply tie the breast line to the spring cleat, fish it through the pendants eye, and then lead it back to the spring cleat.
I set this line up at the same time I’m setting up the stern line while it’s close to the bow before I start to rotate the boat, but if you didn’t, it can easily be rigged with the aid of the dinghy or a swim.
Having the line go out and back creates a 2:1 purchase system which means that you can pull the mooring pendant close amid ship without the aid of a winch (as long as it’s not too windy). By pulling the eye close amid ship you can then release and untie the bow and stern lines when it’s time to leave. Leaving the mooring is easy, simply untie one of the ends of the spring line and pull the tail through the eye quickly as you drift away beam to the wind. Once the line is back on deck, you can then start spinning your propeller without fear of fouling it with a line. If you wish to sail off the mooring, simply raise reefed sails before releasing the breast line. Once you are free, you can set more sail as needed.
Swell bridles are a wonderful trick to have in times of need, but it is important to only use them for short duration and while you are with the boat. A wind shift could cause the boat to cross over to the wrong side and the keel can chafe on the rode or mooring line. If the winds pick up, being broadside will present a lot more windage and you could begin to drag anchor! Use it with supervision, and enjoy the peaceful rocking of the boat bow into the waves.
