Anchors and Weights

Anchors; are they really different than weights? Are they so useful? What if they did not exist? In any case, when you have them you better know how to handle them...

The chain that keeps it tied to the ship has to be loose and not strain, else it could destroy the ship. Anchors are there not to keep ships still but at a position. Stillness in the sea is destructive. The whole system of the anchor has to absorb the ripples of the water, the changes of the wind.

The looser the seabed the longer the chain to let between the ship and the anchor – the weight of the chain itself and the inclination that allows the teeth to fasten on the ground are critical to achieve the expected result.

Two of them – one at the front and one at the back - can be used at the same time to manage the absence of a steady (on -land) mooring, or changing winds that would rotate the ship around the one anchor.

Many things found on a boat - even a sail - can be used as an anchor that would be dragged behind the boat to slow it down or to keep it on a specific route; risky decision of the captain and last resort when other ways and means cannot help.

Pulling up the anchor when you want to sail also needs attention. It takes time and right movement of the ship above the point of anchoring, to avoid overwork the winch, the tangling of the chain on and around the anchor, the hooking of the anchor among rocks.

Everyone as a captain in life has his/her anchors. There are many times that we mistake anchors for weights and the reverse. Some want to be released and leave them behind, some do not know how to handle and use them. Be sure that they are not weights, they are not just useful; they are or have been or can be the safety providers in your life. The other way around, there have been unnecessary weights that we carry believing that they offer us security, that cover our needs but the truth is that they hold us back from sailing in the sea of our life. Distinguishing between the two may become critical, because leaving behind anchors may drift part of ourselves and our principles, while keeping weights may delay us in our parh towards our dreams.

How to tell the difference? There is a simple way; when weighing a weight and an anchor of the same weight on the scale of your heart, the anchor is always lighter and brighter.