Jeff Morris wrote:

.... actually, I could have walked it out, since we were
trying to position in the middle of a very small creek.

Aren't shoal draft boats great?


..... I always wonder about boats with two
identical CQR's on the bow - what's the point?

Me too. Kinda dumb IMHO.


...... The night we anchored in the middle of Willoughby Bay
(soft mud) in Norfolk in 40 knot winds it held just fine... on the second try, after I got
the
rags & old shoes & other trash cleared from it....


Yes, but how did you know that it wouldn't foul the second time? My 35# Delta has the
same rating as a 45# CQR, but in 40 knots I feel better with the Fortress sharing the
load.

I didn't know that it wouldn't foul the second time, I just knew that it was dragging
the first time and it had to come back up & be reset. When I put it down the second
time, I paid out about 12:1 scope to set it, and let it dig in with a light strain, then
backed down full throttle. We rarely do that for an overnight anchorage, but the
wind was expected to build and since it had dragged once already (actually it never
set properly), we wanted more confidence.

And it worked well, which was good, since it was a chilly night and quite late to be moving
around looking for a better spot. The night run through Norfolk harbor made me nervous,
especially after a hurricane had blown all the placards off the marks and there was lots of
debris in the water. First time I've ever done it with radar though.


My hurricane ground tackle is to be large (60 or 70#) Bruce with a bundle of of
cinderblock on
the chain.

Wouldn't you also set other anchors at different angles?

Probably not, unless we were in a relatively shallow anchorage with clear water and
an even bottom. The only thing multiple anchors do IMHO is limit swing circle. It
takes a lot of time & work to lay out multiple ground tackle, I'd rather invest the
same effort into setting bigger & more secure single anchor & then move on to other
tasks.

When we were preparing for Hurricane Isabel we spent two full days from dawn
until after dark. None of the jobs was all that big or difficult, just lots and lots of
picky details... such as putting on chafe gear that could be the deciding factor.


A liveaboard friend likes to
point to a little Danforth stern anchor and say "That's the one that held us for the
'Storm of the Century' "


Not to be mean but it seems he should have planned better. I say that in full
awareness that for the only hurricane I have had full responsibility for securing the boat, we
were holed up in a great spot pretty much by blind luck.


Have you read 'Coarse Cruising' by Michael Green?


British? Canal cruising? Yes - very funny Fortunately I couldn't find it in my basement
library just now, or I'd waste the day re-reading it!



You may be thinking of 'Coarse Sailing' which was about chartering on the Broads.
In 'Coarse Cruising' the same author owns shares a small cruiser with some friends, sailing to

France & Holland among other adventures... I'm going to go dig out my copy now...

Fresh Breezes- Doug King