Anchoring

I often anchor on the north side of Shelter Is. here where we get a good 4 kt. current on the outgoing tide. Not a Saturday or Sunday goes by in summer where some fool's boat doesn't break free while they're on shore drinking. Make sure you have a good set, plenty of scope, maintain an anchor watch and know the tides. It's not rocket science. Yet every weekend I watch the boats come in, anchor in the shallows with no scope and rush off their boats. Keeps it amusing at least.

Quite a few prominent boaters use the Rocna:

The Norseman:



The Dashews:

Hmm, The Dashew picture dropped off.

Trying again..

Hi,

I will have to stay out of this or I might be accused of belittling you and arrogance as I have not run a 50 foot boat up and down the East Coast of Australia 500 times while fully nude with my hands tied behind my back.

Here goes anyway,

The Rocna one seems to have good reviews and it ain't far to travel to the manufacturer if it doesn't do what it says on the tin.

Hi Ed. Fun and games at Sunset, huh ?

Always amusing and entertaining. Too bad you can't buy brains

Anchors

From the Bahamas, Caribbean, Jamaica, Panama and the Coast to Vancouver, return to Mexico, cruise to Alaska...

BRUCE...110lbs...all chain....and a 20 Lb Kellet if required in real bad wind...

Never budged yet....70ft MY 50 Tons on the scale...

Hope that never changes....

IMHO, rocna is superior.

sets much quicker. every time.

see the vids online & decide for yourself.

i use a 55kg rocna & hv no regrets getting it.

p.s. i hv NO connection to the company in any manner whatsoever.

Kafue,

The Manson (Then Manson Surpreme) use to be the ducks nuts, But now I wouldn't go past a Rocna. I would grab around a 40kg Rocna - Chain is usually around 3 times the length of the boat (get "L" Grade), don't forget they have short and long link, mostly downunder short is the popular one.

Don't get Stainless Steel (anchor or chain), Cause the only person laughing at the end of the day is the diver retrieving it after you loosing it .

If you want something a bit more traditional, Go back to the Manson 60-70lb. They have a longer shank then most, and will dig in nicely after a little tap in reverse when anchoring. Cheers

Far

Oh, K1W1, Rugby World Cup is coming up as you may know, hope your boys haven't peek to early.

Far

True only for standard SS chain qualities. Look for 1.4462 (AISI318LN) and you'll have much better corrosion resistance, mechanical properties and handling characteristics than any (same size) galvanized chain on the market. Particularly if you are cruising warmer waters.
Not easy to find though, check out suppliers for top quality load handling equipment. More expensive than West Marine, but will surely pay in the long run, if you anchor out frequently.

Kafue, by the way, the Rocna's aren't cheap, from memory, they will be up around the $1000-1300 mark. The Manson's are around $500.

If you go S/S, multiply everything by 3 if not more for the good quality as lobo pointed out. You're boat would look nice with it, but you don't really need it. Cheers

Far

I agree. In test after test the "Bruce" (I put that in quotes because the original Bruce anchor is no longer made AFAIK. Just claw copys.) sets fast but has very low holding power and drags. Which matches my experiance in the real world with them.

Not my idea of a great anchor.

well, in my case the Newmar made claw has held without moving a foot up to 40kts (measured, not guestimated). It only runs out of holding power above that. this is on a high windage boat (20' beam, tall and wide enclosed flybridge)

40kts+ is storm territory and i dont' expect a properly sized anchor to do miracles.

that was in Cape May harbor, Clinton CT and in Cape Look Out bight. It failed to set on the first attempt once, off Rose Isl. Bahamas but set fine on teh second attempt.

that's a pretty good record out of an average of 100 to 150 sets a year over the past 3 years.

i always leave the plotter on when anchored and teh pattern is always a solid line, a little thicker on gusty days when the chain lifts off the bottom in the gusts.

Given that I'm surprised you chose to anchor behind the Thimbles a couple of years back in that wind and rock bottom or are we talking about your personal boat. If so, what anchor do you have on the Johnson?

40 knots is just when I don't want my anchor to run out of holding power.

A proper size Lewmar claw for a 70 foot boat with a lot of windage would be the next size up from the 110 lb IMHO. And I think you'll find Lewmar agrees, in that they recommend a 110 just barely up to a 70 foot boat. Over that they recommend a 176.

I believe if you have a good windlass and you are only, or can only, put out one anchor, make it the biggest one you can and screw the cost. It's cheap insurance.

That is why I have a 155 kg Rocna on the boat I currently run. Sure it cost over $4000. But that is less than 1/4 of 1 percent of the insured value of the boat.
We just set it and, almost , forget it. While getting a good worry free rest at night even when the wind pipes up.

Actually I m trying to sell the back 66 SS danforth and replacing it with a 176 claw, keeping the 110 as a backup

The claw isnon on the johnson. On my hatt i have an FX55 which has excellent holding power. The downside is that it won't reset but since I almost never anchor my own boat in tidal current I don't care much

As to anchoring off the thimbles it's not a bad place unless the wind shifts 2 years ago it was fine... This fall i stopped there again and it shifted to the south, instead of staying NW to NNW. I clocked some 40 kts sustained and didn't move and bit with the Bruce. It was too rough to sleep... But the boat never dragged. At first light I went to the harbor of refuge in Clinton/duck