How Do You Keep Your Boat in Place in the Water?

Whether you’re by the dock or you’re out at sea, there may be situations where you’ll want to keep the boat in place. You may be leaving the boat for a while or you may want to stay in that spot to fish or just relax. No matter the reason, you’ll first need to keep the boat fixed, and there are a couple of ways to do this. Depending on where you currently are, you can either anchor or moor the boat. This guide will show you how to do both.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR BOAT IN PLACE

Anchoring

Anchoring your boat simply involves lowering the anchor from your boat onto the floor of the body of water you’re currently in. While this sounds simple enough, there are many factors that you’ll have to consider while anchoring. Firstly, you’ll need to worry about the depth of the ocean or lake you’re currently in. If it’s too deep, then you can’t actually anchor your boat at all, as you’ll want the anchor to settle on the floor for it to work.

Once you know that the anchor is long enough to reach the seabed, you’ll then need to consider the proper techniques for anchoring your boat. It’s a little involved, but essentially, you’ll want to lower the anchor upwind and then move the boat a bit downwind. Once you’ve checked everything’s secure, you’re basically good to go.

Anchoring is only really ideal if the seabed is deep enough to support the anchor. If you’re by a somewhat shallow dock, then you can simply moor the boat by tying it. 

Mooring

The term “mooring” refers to fixing a boat onto a structure, generally speaking. Mooring can be done anywhere, but it’s ideally done in a place that’s most suitable for mooring, such as a dock. When you’re moored by a dock, that’s called “docking”. So, technically speaking, when you’re docking you’re mooring, but not necessarily the other way around.

Aside from the technicalities, mooring is a relatively simple process. All you have to do is tie the boat by the edges using a fair bit of rope. To actually tie the boat properly, you’ll need to use the dock cleats found all around the dock. If you’ve built a small dock yourself by the lakeside or seaside, then you’ll want to install dock cleats for this very reason.

Mooring your boat can take quite a bit of time as you’ll need to go around the boat to tie it up to different cleats.  This process can take a few minutes, but you’ll end up with a very secure boat that won’t go anywhere as long as you did a good enough job.

All in all, keeping your boat in the water depends on the method you use as well as the location you’re currently in. If you’re out at sea or on the lake itself, then you’ll need to anchor. Alternatively, if your boat is resting by the docks, you’ll need to tie it up and moor it instead. While both methods are very easy to do on their own, you’ll need to do them properly and carefully in order to keep your ship in good condition and prevent it from swamping while you’re not paying attention.