Anchor opinions?

[Ken_Potts]

This one's wide open - Let's hear some opinions on good anchors for small boats. I'm keeping this question intentionally vague - Somebody run with it!

[capt jake]

I have one; never use it though. Too busy sailing to mess with an anchor. ;)

[Ken_Potts]

Hmm... So you say you've got a nearly new anchor for sale?

[capt jake]

Hmm... So you say you've got a nearly new anchor for sale?

Shipping???? Actually, it's a little added weight up front. I got it for $8 on a close out. I don't know that much about anchors to even tell you what it is. ;)

[Andrew_Butchart]

For a small boat like a Weekender one of my concerns is deploying the anchor from the bow. My boat is very far from being complete so I can't be sure, but being a fairly big guy going up on the foredeck in bouncy conditions will be complicated enough. Then comes rooting around in the forepeak for the bucket with the anchor in it, attaching the bitter end to the boat and then deploying it. All while looking like I know what I'm doing and not falling in.

Part of what I've done is to have a very solid bow eye which I've thought I could clip the bitter end to but haven't figured out how to do this. Perhaps I could attach it before leaving dock but then I have the line leading back into the forepeak and wouldn't be able to close that hatch.

All this needs to be done of course while looking good

How do other Weekender sailors do this?

[Howard]

Can't do much better than what Ray said.

On my 17 footer, when cruising, I carry 3 anchors. The only one I've ever used is my 9 pound Delta, with 20' of 1/4" chain and 150' of 3/8" nylon. I carry a Fortress as the second anchor with similar rode. The third anchor is a 15 pound Navy type (heavy Danforth?) that I would piggy back on the either of the other two if I was really concerned about staying put. Another option is to shackle a small mushroom type onto the the chain part of the rode to act as a sentinel. It keeps the pull horizontal and acts somewhat like a shock absorber.

The Danforth types are hard to stow and can flip out and drag if the boat swings to a wind shift. I carry one to use as a stern anchor when the pull will be straight (boat held between bow and stern anchors).

That Delta has held a raftup of 4 boats like mine in soft mud in winds to about 10 knots. It just keeps digging deeper until it hits something solid.

I would always use a pointy end type (Delta, Bruce, Plow) as my primary and have the other type available for backup. If the boat swings and the plow type anchor breaks out, they will generally reset on thier own. I use as long a scope as possible, going to at least 10:1 (that is 100' of rode in 10' deep water) if swing room isn't restricted. With the bow a few feet above water, that isn't a true 10:1. More like 7:1. Put out plenty. Why leave it in the boat?

With anchors, there is really no substitute for weight. When in doubt, heavier is better. You sleep better knowing your boat is going to stay where you parked it.

[Howard]

Andrew:

I keep my anchors stored in a cockpit locker where I can get at them at all times. They are effective emergency brakes. Grab one and throw it overboard.

I also deploy and set them from the cockpit. Once set and things have calmed down, I'll walk the line forward to the bow cleat to tie it off.

[umop_apisdn]

I carry two, neither one of which is suitable for overnight anchoring. I have a 15 lb navy, and a small mushroom.

The mushroom gets used the most, I use it when launching and retrieving the boat if there isn't a dock. I toss the mushroom up on the beach (usually behind a log or large rock) and push the boat off the trailer. Then I pull the boat up onto the beach. A grapnel would work better, but I don't have a grapnel - I have a mushroom. :-)

The navy is for emergency use should I ever find myself in a bad situation where I decide "ok, time to stop everything and get this boat fixed or wait for help". I have 10 feet of 1/4" chain and 100 feet of nylon rope for it. None of it has ever gotten wet. Should that sitation arise, the navy and chain will go off the bow, and I'll toss the mushroom over the stern.

I've asked a lot of people what they recommend for a "real" anchor in the puget sound, more people have recommended claw anchors than anything else. I've got my eye on a nice stainless 11lb claw, and additional 10 feet of chain.

Noel

[Barry Pyeatt]

Fortunately or unfortunately the choice of an anchor really depends a whole lot on where you are likely to use your boat the most and the bottom conditions in that area.

Those that have mud to anchor in will find that an anchor that works well in sand and gravel will not work as well. Hard bottom conditions or rocky bottoms require different things to work well. A mushroom as a second anchor is often just fine in one area at will not work at all in another.

Discuss your condtions with your local dealer and get recommendations from them and boaters with a lot of anchoring experience in your same area. Bottom conditions can vary significantly from one prospective anchorage to another, even within a short distance of each other. It is virtually impossible to pick one anchor to fill the bill for all of them.

Currents and wind exposure can make anchoring life more than interesting but not impossible. Just need to know what works and how to set up for each condition. Also it is really important to know how to retreive the anchors when in difficult conditions. And to practice it until you get it right. Nothing worse than feeling like you need to leave it behind because you can't break it loose or getting it fouled.

For years with most of the small boats I've had a lunch hook consisting of a 3# coffee can filled with concrete often worked just fine for day use. Cheap and easy to work with. If it got stuck no big loss to make up another. No they weren't pretty, and I had somewhat of a challenge getting them since I'm not a coffee drinker but asking around generally got me several in short order.

[Ken_Potts]

Thanks for all the opinions everybody - Keep em coming.

So far I've had advice from someone in my area (offline) that a 6-8 pound Danforth is good. I googled the Delta and there are some very strong testimonials for it. And I really like the concrete lunch hook. I'm going to try that one for sure - I like the thought of having something to hold me short of the shoreline when there's not much wind and current without having to worry about fouling.

On the first multi-day boat trip I took (New Bern, NC to Annapolis, MD) we had some steering problems with the boat in a canal with a barge bearing down on us. We managed to get the boat out of the way of the barge but were headed for shore so we dropped anchor to stop us (I think it was a Danforth, but I'm not entirely sure). One the barge was past and the problem sorted out we couldn't break the anchor free. It was apparently hooked on something. I went out in the inflatable and worried at the anchor rode for quite a while - Long enough that the boat owner decided it was a lost cause. I pulled the boat over the fouled anchor and hauled on it until the bow was a bit low in the water. Then I cinched the line off and fired up the motor to try and get some horse power on the problem. There I was spinning left then right in crazy little circles on the ICW - Must have been quite comical. I finally gave up and got ready to head back to the boat to get something to cut the line with. As I slacked the line I felt the anchor drop to the bottom. I started hauling again and the anchor came right aboard.

[JeffM]

Just a little off-topic: what do folks think about sea anchors or drift anchors? I've wondered if they might come in handy in certain situations: say I slip and go overboard leaving my three boys on the boat. They know enough to heave-to by letting the main sheets fly and sheeting in the mizzen, but I bet the boat still drifts faster than I can swim! or say I need to do something in the middle of nowhere that requires I be head-to-wind, but without the help of the mizzen? Or maybe I just want to stop for lunch without losing too much ground in the meantime? Real sea anchors are expensive, but drift anchors are cheaper, and I bet I could make them myself anyway.

A sort-of-related question: an anchor must do a real number on the bottom, and on the things that live there. I wonder what the overall effect is on sea life of anchors in crowded waterways? It might be good to have other options.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Jeff,

You might want to check out the Sailrite site. They have some kits that may be interesting to you.

[Howard]

On fouled anchors, a lot of anchors have a hole in the back for a trip line, which I have never used, but one could if you fear fouling conditions. Shackle a line into the hole and use a float. If it fouls, you can haul it out backwards. I have never used one as I suspect it would get run over by a power boat, the line fouled in the prop and he would pull up my anchor.

I have seen a sum total of about two fouled anchors and the best way to get them out is to try to haul backwards from the way they were set. If not that, then working up and down as vertical as possible. Like working a crappie jig in timber. Or, if it' shallow enough, you could dive down to attach a trip line, then haul it out backwards. It would take a brave man to dive into murky water into who knows what. How fast can you locate that trip line hole, thread a line and tie a figure 8 knot? Would prefer that to hand fishing catfish, but not by much. I can swim but not good enough to bring 10 pounds plus of anchor up with me.

On the sea anchor, my boat came with one and I used to carry it but took it out. It's real use is blue water sailing as part of a storm tactics system. Hove to with one of those out and you can ride out some fearsome stuff. But it takes too long to deploy and retrieve for normal day sailing conditions. Younger children would never be able to pull that off and would be miles away before they too fell into the water messing with it. It an gale, it could deploy like a parachute and lift you right off the deck. A small drogue (about 2 or 3 feet in diameter) you can deploy from the cockpit to slow you down when running is another story. That wouldn't hurt. But going overboard is a serious problem no matter where you are. I'd drill those kids on how to drop the sails and get an anchor...the one you already have, overboard as quickly as possible.

[Guest Oyster]

Actually there is no real good anchor for a boat. A good anchor is one that works for the particular situation and land mass, which can vary from locations. But pound for pound, the danforth is still not bad if you take away the snag issues. There are even danforth ones with the feature that unsets it on the shaft. In deep waters retrieving a concrete block may be a problem for the lady of the ship, too, if called upon, and for carrying on board a small boat, a concrete block can cause some serious problems for storing in thin hulls and hulls critical to weight distributions for and aft. I think a person needs to judge and weigh the areas of use, and go from there. A sales pitch, on websites set up for one particular type, can give you a false sense of security, since people buy an anchor that meets and fits a particular use and area, that also makes that feedback also favorable as being the very best one for the job. my .02 worth