For 20 years I’ve been using this anchor system on our Skookum, a skiff with a 25 h.p. outboard, which weighs about twice as much as the Whitehall, probably 500 pounds.

This system, which is quite common, is good for small boats too heavy to lug up the beach. It allows you to leave the boat unattended with enough depth to keep afloat at all tides. I ensure there’s about a foot of water available at the lowest tide. The boat is anchored as well as secured to the shore, so if either line detaches, one remains attached; you can sleep ashore with little worry. To retrieve the boat, you just pull in the stern line.

When I sleep in my boat, under a tent that covers the aft end, I set the hook and leave the stern untied, letting the boat swing. I drop the centreboard for stability, and also as an early-warning system: if I hear scraping in my sleep, I know it’s getting shallow.

The anchor and lines are stored in an air-tight bucket that can be picked up in one piece and easily moved around the boat. The bucket doubles as a head that can be sealed and dumped in open waters, or at a marine park, or at home. Once you get the hang of it, you can anchor the boat and tie the stern ashore in 5 or 10 minutes.

The anchor I use for the Whitehall Spirit 17 is a folding, mushroom-type, 2.5 kilograms (five pounds). It’s attached to the anchor line by 8 feet of chain. The anchor line is 100 feet of 3/8 braided nylon. The stern line is 50 feet.

The bungy, with a brass clip on each end, is 15 feet. I’ve used ½-inch surgical tubing, or slightly lighter cloth-covered shock cord, and both seem to last a few years. My friend has an anchor line that consists entirely of a giant bungy, which he bought at a marine store.

Two loops are tied in the line above the anchor. The first is 20 feet from the end of the chain; the second is 25 feet from the first loop. These measurements can be adjusted for circumstances.

I throw the anchor and chain off the bow, as far as I can, take a couple of backward strokes and pay out the line, clipping in the bungy as the loops pass. I keep letting out line as I row backwards toward shore, setting the hook. Usually about 20 or 30 feet from shore, depending on the slope, I tie off the anchor line on the bow and row backwards to shore against the force of the bungy. Then I throw the stern line to someone on shore, or leap out of the boat. When the bungy pulls the boat back out to a comfortable depth, I tie the stern line to a log or rock. An alternative is to loop it round a 4-foot aluminum flagpole hammered 2 /12 feet into the beach. The flagpole fits in the gudgeons, and the flag is raised in self-defence along the ferry-dodge routes, so it has a dual purpose.