On Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:30:47 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

We hope we never have to use our
ground tackle in a hurricane, but a gale is something we just prepare for,
not worry about.

=====

That's our anchor planning strategy also. There are many
thunderstorms which have gale force winds for relatively short periods
of time and the anchor has to hold no mater what.

As an FYI, we recently replaced our faithful 120 lb Spade with a 88lb
Rocna. The Spade was/is a great anchor but it was tough on the
windlass and beginning to get some serious rusting issues. It served
us well for about 30,000 nautical miles of cruising. We purchased it
about 8 years ago from Glenn Ashmore when he was a regular on this
group and had started his own Spade importing business.