When it comes to anchors I use the Fortress, Guardian. For a17' boat the
Guardian G-7 will give you a working load of 575 lb.. Guardian G-7 weighs 4
lb.. Don't let the light weight fool you. Fortress and Guardian anchors
have superior holding power. A 5 to 1 scope will give you about 50% of the
holding power of an anchor. I would suggest a minimum scope of 7 to 1, and
10 to 1 for a holding power of 100%. Power set your anchor. Back down vary
slowly, then as the anchor sets slowly increase speed with your engine. Use
your engine to simulate wind speed and set the anchor.
When it comes to anchors and anchoring I use the Fortress 125 as my main and
the Guardian 85 as my secondary anchor. I especially like being able to
breakdown the Guardian for storage and the weight is vary minimal. On each
anchor I use 15 meters of 1/2" proof coil chain with 400' of 1" rope on the
Fortress, and 300' 7/8" nylon rope on the Guardian. Since I regularly
anchor in 25' of water.
Remember you can always use a larger anchor to gain holding power.

Jack
Oyster 56
"Daryl Harris" wrote in message
...
Hello all

I own a 17ft half cabin boat which weighs around 800kg. I currently have a
traditional sand anchor (sized correctly for the boat) with around 2
meters
of light chain attached to it.
I anchor the boat on in an area of beach type sand, trying to always let
out
about 5 times as much rope as the water is deep. On all but calm
conditions
the anchor will drag, even after diving down and digging it in by hand. I
am
considering buying a plough anchor in the hope of superior holding power.
I
have been told the sand anchor should be as good as any in sand and
perhaps
a heavier chain would help.
Any thoughts or experiences with different anchor types would be greatly
appreciated.

Daryl