I , too, am rethinking my anchor system. The boat came equipped with a
33 lb. Bruce, 100 lf. of 3/8 chain,, 150 lf of 3/4 nylon and a
windlass as the primary system. I added a Fortress FX 23 , 30' of
chain and 200 lf of 5/8 rode as a second. I had occaision to sail into
an anchorage this trip and anchor under wind alone. Light air, so I
had to pay out the chain hand over hand to lay it down straught. Upon
retrieval the next morning, the chain was full of mud and the anchor
was clean. It had never set. This is not to say that had a wind piped
up, the Bruce woud not have set, but it was disconcerting. , The
Fortress would have been the better choice given the circumsstances.

Maybe, but it sounds like you didn't set it right. Let out too much rode
before being sure it was set.

How do you make sure its set if you deploy under sail in light air? In fact, the dead
weight of the anchor and half the chain would be enough hold the boat in a 5 knot breeze -
its not clear the anchor would ever feel the load at all.

I have seen people throw the anchor out going a full speed down wind - it looks nice when
it works!

"SkitchNYC" wrote in message
...
I , too, am rethinking my anchor system. The boat came equipped with a
33 lb. Bruce, 100 lf. of 3/8 chain,, 150 lf of 3/4 nylon and a
windlass as the primary system. I added a Fortress FX 23 , 30' of
chain and 200 lf of 5/8 rode as a second. I had occaision to sail into
an anchorage this trip and anchor under wind alone. Light air, so I
had to pay out the chain hand over hand to lay it down straught. Upon
retrieval the next morning, the chain was full of mud and the anchor
was clean. It had never set. This is not to say that had a wind piped
up, the Bruce woud not have set, but it was disconcerting. , The
Fortress would have been the better choice given the circumsstances.

Maybe, but it sounds like you didn't set it right. Let out too much rode
before being sure it was set.