Bob M brings up a good point about being prepared. For James in Grenada, at this point you are experiencing, getting ANYTHING on to help manage your boat’s reaction to the swell is priority . We can discuss after the fact where exactly things should be attached over glass(s) of wine or stronger. I have been over here on this side of the pond for years. Weather forecasts are great and when I can get two or three to agree within a gnat's ass, I am ecstatic. But even then, I have experienced when they were all so horribly wrong that I vowed to stop boating. (I didn’t.) Sometimes, on occasion, it was the most prudent thing to do was attached a few floats to the chain, drop the 150 meters out, and go to sea to sail in circles until conditions improved. If you have guests aboard, who do not understand what is happening, this tends to calm them more than any amount of alcohol they consume while at the miserable anchorage. This “trick” needs to be in your playbook. It help immensely (confidence wise) if you can perform an anchor drop and retrieval on a calm day, just to make sure you have I experienced retrieval under your belt. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you know you are going to get stuck in a anchorage swell that is going to be terrible, AND You are out of options, Then rigging your anchor and boat to take the swell and the shocks should be as extensive as if you were expecting an almost hurricane type gale. And, before you commit to the spot where you intend to ride out this event, look around and there may be a MARGINALLY better place to drop the hook that turns out to be a stunning and welcome surprise. Rudy should chime in here as he is the one that appears to have made some peace with the anchor, wind, and gale Gods. And they are Gods in every sense of the word. Powerful, unrelenting and when I have done something really stupid, can really dish out the punishment. Just thinking out loud. Lee Levent Marina, Izmir Turkey