> For a traditional sea anchor (including the ones that look like parachutes), the force of the waves is pushing the anchor away from the vessel. It's actually

> For a traditional sea anchor (including the ones that look like parachutes), the force of the waves is pushing the anchor away from the vessel. It's actually the opposite of this. A sea anchor acts like a parachute in that it slows the vessel by increasing drag (although obviously with water as the medium). As with a parachute, where the parachutist will always be below (excepting acrobatics) the canopy as both are falling in the same direction through the air, a sea anchor behaves the same way in the water. So both the vessel and sea anchor are being pushed by waves, like the parachutist and canopy are being pulled by gravity, but the submerged sea anchor (down in calmer waters below the largest influence of the waves) has greater drag than the vessel in the water and slows the vessel. In heavy seas, a vessel without a sail will have the current and sea state as the most significant influence rather than the wind (although this can vary). When deployed from the bow/front of the vessel, a sea anchor works to both slow the vessel's overall speed over ground (which can be useful to avoid excessive drift into hazards or losing progress) and it also acts to keep the bow into the weather. This is important as vessels generally are prone to damage/capsize if taking heavy seas/big waves abeam/onto their sides.