Timewizard post is dead so I respond here. Disclaimer I should have put above: It was my first and only time I worked on a big ship. My position was deckhand bu

Timewizard post is dead so I respond here. Disclaimer I should have put above: It was my first and only time I worked on a big ship. My position was deckhand but had the chance to learn a lot from others crew members. > This is not remotely representative of "boats." I talked about the consumption with the first mate and he wasn’t surprised. He’s a long time sailor. I’m sure there is a variety of boat types but I don’t think we were representative of those that consume the most. > Were you on a ice cutter or a research ship? It wasn’t an ice cutter. We were sailing mostly around The Channel (France/UK) so "average" air temperature (~ 5-15 celcius) > This is why they made anchors and why sailboats can function even without power If the seabed is too deep you can’t. Also dropping or pulling a big anchor isn’t trivial: you need to find the right spot (wind, currents, coast rocks, seabed material…), do some calculation for chain length, some deckhands to operate it, time to drop it slow enough and not destroy your boat (see anchor fails on YouTube) and sometimes a few trials to "anchor" the anchor (it can drift of above parameter we’re not optimal). Also there’s always a chance to break the chain during the process. I’m sure all of this is easier or even trivial for smaller boats or in easy condition like an archipel with not much wind, waves or current. Sailboats are great but another level of navigation techniques. Also, you don’t completely shut down the engines even if drift isn’t a problem : startup isn’t trivial either.