Okay, this is going back a couple of threads, but I’m on UTC+13 here, so please forgive my sleep schedule.

re: #316 Nerdy Fish

They’re thinking of Pirates of the Caribbean, where they did that neat maneuver dropping the anchor to stop the ship and turn on a dime. Because real life is just like the movies, you know.///

That’s based on a genuine age-of-sail technique called club hauling. It really does work…

…if your ship displaces hundreds of tons, not tens of thousands.

It was a risky manoeuvre, requiring a high degree of skill, and it would most likely result in the loss of the anchor, so it would only be entertained in dire emergency.