How to safely and correct way to drop your anchor

1 Slowly Does It
The correct way to drop anchor is to “go slow” and ease up on your throttle just where you would like to set it. The boat needs to be at a stand still over the point where you intend on dropping your anchor. Once the boat is at the right point and where you want it to be, you can let your anchor go while edging the boat in reverse as you pay out your anchor line.

2 Scoping it Out
This is an important part of setting your anchor because you do need to know just how much scope is needed because this will directly affect where your boat lies once your anchor is set. In an ideal world, you would know what lies on the seabed, but the chances are your boat is a yacht charter so it's best to follow the rule of thumb which is to set a ratio of about 3 to 7 times the depth of water.

The rule of thumb is to set a ratio of about 3 to 7 times the depth of water

3 Heading up Wind or Current
This is another manoeuvre that has to be done at a dead slow speed. You need head your boat up into the wind (or current) past the actual spot where you would like the boat to lie. This needs to be a distance that's equal to the scope you've estimated.
Next, bring the boat to a halt. If the water is choppy or rough, you might be better off letting the boat drift back before dropping anchor as this will help you see just where the boat will eventually lie when you do drop it.

4 Setting Anchor
Having let out enough rode (rope) which should be around the same length as that of the scope, you need to tie the rode off on the cleat.
Next, allow the boat to stretch out the line to see if the anchor is holding. A quick way to check this is to put the boat in reverse before edging backwards in reverse.
However, this needs to be done carefully or you might end up just dragging the anchor across the seabed without it catching on anything. If this happens, you need to start the process all over again which often happens with yacht charters simply because you are not used to the boat.

5 Making Sure Your Anchor is Holding
Once you are satisfied the anchor is holding, cleat your anchor rope off securely. It's a good idea to line up 2 landmarks so you can check your position from time to time. It's a great way of making sure your anchor isn't dragging.
If you have GPS you can also check your position with this and the same can be done with a depth finder which all yacht charter vessels are equipped with.

It's a good idea to buoy your anchor if you know there are lots of things that it could get snagged on lying on the seabed

6 Buoying an Anchor
It's a good idea to buoy your anchor just in case it snags on anything and you can't pull it up when you need to. Buoying an anchor can help free it up should it become fouled (caught) in anything, especially if you are planning to drop anchor where the seabed may have lots of old cables, moorings or other things that your anchor can easily get snagged on.