TENDING SHIP AT ANCHOR 313

3teni on to it if she gut uthvrart the tide it would, unless very weak,
have more effect on her than the wind and drive her back again,
probably fouling or starting her anchor

Tending ship when moored.—A vessel when mooied does not occupy
so much room as when at single anchor, also, she cannot under ordinary
conditions foul either of her anchors She does not therefore require
tending in the manner that a ship does when at single anchor There
is, however, a great disadvantage in being moored should a strong
breeze spring up acioss the line of mooring, as the ship will be riding to
a span This is especially dangerous if the ship is moored taut It will
be well to illustrate this with a diagram.

Fig
.4. Represents a ship riding to a span with an angle of 160° between the
cables The tension or force on each, cable is three times as gteat as
would be put upon a single one ahead That is to say, an anchor and
cable ahead would have three times as much holding power as the
other two combined
B. Here the cables are supposed to be veered out so that the ship drops
from A to Bt with an angle of 150° between the cables The tension
in this case on each one would be about twice as great as on a single
one ahead
C. The angle here is 120°, in which case the tension on each cable would
be just equal to that on one ahead.
Keeping a clear anchor.—The fact that the anchor when in use
is out of-sight frequently leads to its being ignored or neglected. Really,
it should have the opposite effect, for if fouled it constitutes a hidden
danger; and though the consequences may be no more serious than
to cause the extra work necessary to clearing it when getting under-
way, it may render the anchor insecure or unsafe at the very time when
it is most required.
The fundamental principle of keeping a clear anchor when swinging
is to keep the vessel as far as possible from her anchor, or in other words,
to keep the cable as taut as possible. The weight of the cable itself is
considerable and must be taken into consideration* Under normal
M