Anchoring a Sailboat | Online Course

Lifetime access
Rating is 4.88 (based on 2748 reviews).

Drop Anchor with Confidence

Cruising, chartering, or managing your own yacht? This online Anchoring a Sailboat course gives you a clear, repeatable system to pick the spot, set correctly, verify the hold, and sleep through wind and tide changes—on both monohulls and catamarans. Design by sailing pros Alex & Daria Blackwell, the course turns “drop and hope” into disciplined methods with clean visuals that make scope, swing, and bottom types obvious.

✓ Perfect for owners, charter skippers, monohull crossovers, and coastal cruisers
✓ Real-world techniques: anchor types by bottom (sand, rock, weed), simple scope policy, two-anchor & Med-moor setups
✓ Recognition on your free NauticEd sailing resume
✓ Lifetime access, including free updates online or in the NauticEd App
✓ 30-day Money Back Guarantee

Estimated Time: 4 hours
Price: $17 (also included in the discounted Bareboat Charter Master Bundle)
Bonus: All NauticEd sailing students receive the free Basic Sail Trim and Nav Rules courses, free eLogbook and Boating Resume, and special discounts from our industry partners. What's Included >

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What Students Say

✨AI generated from student reviews

Students consistently describe this as a practical, confidence-building masterclass in anchoring—“best in the series” for many—thanks to its real-world techniques, crisp visuals, and clear, step-by-step set-and-verify approach. They highlight the deep dive into anchor types and sizing, straightforward scope guidance, and the way the course turns tricky situations (beam swell, wind/tide shifts, fouled gear) into simple playbooks. Sailors appreciate the extras—trip lines, dinghy security, two-anchor and Med-moor options—and the emphasis on crew communication and clean retrieval. Newer skippers say it removed confusion; seasoned cruisers still picked up fresh tactics they’ll use on their next overnight. The self-paced format and engaging graphics earn repeated praise for making complex decisions obvious and immediately usable on the water.

Why Take Anchoring a Sailboat?

Anchoring has evolved. Modern scoop designs, improved chain and connectors, smarter snubbers/bridles, and better alarm tools offer real advances over older standards. This course helps you get confident with the gear you already have—or select and size new gear—and, more importantly, deploy it correctly. You’ll see what to use, why it works, and how to verify the set so your boat stays put when wind and tide change.

Expect clear, professional guidance on: planning an anchorage; anchor types and selection; rode options and connections; snubbers and catamaran bridles; scope that’s simple and consistent; dropping, setting, and verifying; two-anchor and Med-moor techniques; anchor watch and alarms; weighing without fouling; etiquette and environmental care; and practical fixes when things go wrong.

This Course is Perfect for You If:

  • You’re planning coastal cruises or a charter and want a repeatable anchoring system—not guesswork.
  • You own or skipper a boat and want to sleep confidently with your sailboat at anchor.
  • You’re moving up in size (mono or cat) and want clarity on anchor types, sizing, and gear that actually works.
  • You want practical tactics for two-anchor and Med-moor setups, trip lines, chafe protection, and etiquette.

Your enrollment includes lifetime course access, recognition on your free NauticEd sailing resume, and a complete satisfaction guarantee.

 

What You'll Learn in the Anchoring a Sailboat Course:

Register for the Anchoring a Sailboat online course and learn how to anchor a sailboat calmly and repeatably—so you sleep through wind and tide changes. This course builds on your keelboat experience and covers anchor types for sailboats, scope you can trust, and real-world techniques for coastal cruising and charter destinations. From choosing the right rode and connections to selecting the best anchor for sand (and what to do on rocky bottoms), you’ll master planning the spot, dropping and setting correctly, verifying the hold, and weighing anchor without drama. Clear animations make concepts like swing radius, scope checks, and catamaran bridle setup easy to grasp.

Plan the Anchorage

  • Picking Your Spot (charts & guides, apps)
  • Tides, Currents, and Weather Windows
  • Bottom Types & Holding Ground
  • Swing Radius and Room to Veer
  • Local Rules & Sensitive Bottoms (seagrass/posidonia)

Gear, Rode & Setup

  • Anchor Types & Selection (hook, fluke, plough, claw, scoop, roll-bar scoop)
  • Anchor Testing, Effectiveness & Sizing
  • Rode Options: Rope, Chain, and Combination
  • Connections & Chafe Protection (shackles, swivels, weak links)
  • Snubbers and Catamaran Bridles (setup & sizing)
  • Trip Lines—When to Use Them
  • Marking the Rode & A Simple Scope Check

Drop, Secure & Depart

  • Dropping the Hook & Crew Communications
  • Set & Verify: Lay Out, Back Down, Confirm the Bite
  • Heavy-Weather Anchoring
  • Setting Two Anchors & Opposing Sets
  • Med Mooring
  • Securing Your Dinghy
  • Sheer/Yaw Control & Beam-Swell Mitigation
  • Anchor Watch & Alarms
  • Weighing Anchor Without Fouling
  • Etiquette, Emergencies & Do’s and Don’ts

 

Everything You Get with this Course

  • The Anchoring course covers all the necessary knowledge and skills to make you confident and skilled while anchoring.
  • Available immediately online: start learning today at your own pace.
  • Duration: Approximately 4 hours
  • Visual teaching: animations and clear imagery so concepts click (and stick).
  • Recognition: Upon successful completion, you receive immediate recognition on your sailing resume that verifies for charter and insurance companies that you've completed the course.
  • Free Stuff: All NauticEd sailing students receive 2 free courses (Basic Sail Trim and Nav Rules), a free eLogbook and Boating Resume, and special discounts from our industry partners.
  • Unlimited Access: Lifetime access lets you review course materials anytime. Course updates are free.
  • Convenient Formats: Take the course on your desktop or laptop—and tablet or mobile phone using the free NauticEd App.
  • Qualification & Endorsement: Serves as a prerequisite course in the Barboat Charter Master Bundle of courses, including certification and licensing.
  • View an excerpt from the Anchoring a Sailboat Course
Price Today: $17
Receive immediate access to this Online Sailing Course and Tests

 

If you still have questions about NauticEd, the courses, and/or the sailing certifications, contact us via email or phone we're happy to help. Otherwise, register for the Anchoring a Sailboat Course now!

 

About NauticEd

NauticEd is the leading provider of modern sailing education, combining online sailing courses with accredited on-water instruction. With over 300,000 students worldwide, NauticEd is the only U.S. sailing body recognized for meeting U.S. Coast Guard and NASBLA standards under the American National Standards for boating education.

Our online courses pair with on-water training, and your free eLogbook and sailing resume track each milestone. Whether you’re starting out or working toward higher endorsements, NauticEd gives you a clear, standards-aligned way to grow real skills.

 

About the Authors

Captains Alex & Daria Blackwell are among the most respected voices on modern anchoring. Authors of Happy Hooking – The Art of Anchoring, a widely regarded reference in cruising circles, they bring decades of bluewater experience—including multiple Atlantic crossings and thousands of real nights on the hook. As licensed captains and long-time instructors, they’ve taught anchoring to yacht clubs, schools, and charter skippers worldwide, blending gear literacy with disciplined, repeatable technique. Their approach is pragmatic and professional: choose the right tackle, set it correctly, verify the hold, and sleep well. This course distills their playbook—the same one they use offshore—into clear steps you can apply on your very next overnight.

Instructors Alex and Daria Blackwell
By Alex and Daria Blackwell
USCG Captain Master Mariners

 

View Anchoring a Sailboat Course excerpt

Student Reviews

Patrick P.
2025, 01 Oct. 21:23

Everything

Thomas M.
2025, 10 Sep. 01:24

The duplication from other modules

Phil M.
2025, 31 Aug. 01:26

Very practical!

Steve G.
2025, 26 Aug. 01:53

Fun Class

Paul M.
2025, 15 Jun. 17:38

Quite a bit of detail and good links to YouTube videos.

Phil L.
2025, 29 Apr. 12:51

Excellent practical advice

Dragan K.
2025, 11 Mar. 01:55

Nice instructions and tips.

Kauai M.
2025, 09 Feb. 23:38

this is the BEST course of the entire series. outstanding real world examples, photos, and animation! excellent!!

Bruce M.
2025, 25 Jan. 18:23

Excellent practical advice about anchoring techniques and anchor setup.

Jim F.
2025, 21 Jan. 20:13

Like everything in NauticEd, very thorough, all conditions are covered. All techniques are clearly explained

Torrey G.
2025, 20 Jan. 23:20

learned new things

James S.
2025, 18 Jan. 23:03

Good information.

Showing 1 - 12 of last 48 reviews.
List Price: $17.00
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Excerpt from the course

Expand Excerpt from the course

Everyone has their favorites. And so do we!

Ultra: excellent penetration and holding in most bottoms; easy to stow.

  

Delta: sets well in many bottom types especially in hard mud/sand; useful for kedging and stern deployment.
 

Rocna: excellent penetration and holding in most bottoms. Reliable storm anchor.

  

Fortress: light weight for holding power; can deploy from dinghy.

After more than 15,000 miles of cruising and anchoring under many trying conditions, we have settled on four anchors onboard. Our primaries have become the Ultra and the Rocna, both new generation scoop type anchors. We deploy them off the bow, with all chain rode on the primary and a chain/rope combination on the secondary, and we absolutely need a windlass to manage them. We have been extremely pleased with the performance of both and have rarely had occasion to reset. Both have been tested under conditions of more than 50 knots sustained wind and significant chop without incident. Both anchors dig deep as the wind increases, they veer well, and do not pull out with drastic changes in wind and tide.

Because of the size of our boat, and consequently our anchors, we also carry lighter weight anchors to deploy for special circumstances, like when we want to deploy a stern anchor or backup anchor. The aluminum Fortress is ideal for deploying via dinghy because of its light weight. The Delta is handy to keep on deck at the stern ready to deploy on a rope road when needed, as when the bottom is harder or composed of shellfish which a Fortress doesn’t like.

Avoid cheap imitations!

We mentioned before that not all anchors of one type are created equally. We lost our trusty Fortress, the original primary anchor on a previous boat, and resorted to using our backup fluke type anchor that was considerably larger than our Fortress but had no identifiable markings. Suddenly, we were having difficulty setting the anchor when we never had problems before. We spent a whole season wondering what had happened to our anchoring skills, until we bought a new Fortress. What a difference! Smaller, lighter, and sets and holds far better than the no brand one, despite appearing almost identical. We have to assume it was a less expensive generic version bought as a backup by the previous owners of our boat.

We have since heard many horror stories from people who bought cheap imitations that looked to them identical to the real thing. Flukes have bent and broken, shanks have sheared off, and some have failed to set and hold at all. Your boat and your well being is worth more than the couple of hundred you may save on a copy.

What we've left on the lawn

Fisherman

CQR

The Fisherman and the CQR are our lawn ornaments now. We had ceased using them long ago and simply tired of lugging them around. Both were legacy pieces of very heavy gear that came with our boat when she was commissioned in 1976. We were convinced that the advances in anchor design were significant and our vessel was worthy of the upgrade. We tested many anchors before settling on the ones we carry today. And as a result, we are happy to say, that we have been happily hooking ever since.

As we are fond of saying...

"If you want a distinctive nautical look for your home, then a fisherman anchor is a must."

"One of man's greatest inventions was the plough… And then some 'eejit' made an anchor out of it."

Other Sailing Courses you might enjoy

Coastal Navigation
Bareboat Charter Sailing

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Sea talk testimonials

I have turned into a great crew member and mate largely due to your online classes. I can now think and speak "sailing" and sailing terminology.

Alyse M, Student

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