Of the three nights out on the CC this year we spent one on a pontoon, one on a mooring and one at anchor in Puilladobhrain which I've always found excellent holding in sticky mud although other boats often seem to have trouble anchoring there.
Median wind speeds for the 20 or so hours we lay there were in the 20-25 knot range and we let go 28m of 6mm chain in 5-6m. Scope was then reduced by about 1m by taking the strain on 5m of 10mm nylon 3-strand snubber. The Raya set immediately although it took a while to be sure since we were sailing about a bit. A few minutes later a sizeable aluminium workboat came through at 10 or 12 knots and set us rocking for a minute or two.
I don't know whether it speaks to my confidence in the anchor or my desire for a pint but I was quite happy to head over the hill for the end of cruise party in the T'n'T. I did put the gps anchor alarm on when we returned after midnight but probably wouldn't have heard it anyway.
In any event it only confirmed that we hadn't budged during the night.Getting the anchor at lunchtime proved interesting not only because it was blowing a 6 and we nearly went aground in the process
but also because the novice crew's only other recent experience was lifting Silkie's 20lb plough after a similarly breezy night in PD. He reckoned that the Raya was significantly harder to break out.One swallow doesn't make a summer but all in all a reasonable test for the Raya's first outing and a creditable performance.
