Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

Do you all ,,, in north talk that is "you guys" .. carry a big, huge,
anchor.. the one for the "tough" job?

And what size in relation to boat size.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:bz0Ah.3231$TG6.1624@trnddc06...
Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

Do you all ,,, in north talk that is "you guys" .. carry a big, huge,
anchor.. the one for the "tough" job?

And what size in relation to boat size.


I carry a Bruce, a Fortress, and a Delta, all one size larger than
recommended for Essie's length. I also carry 300 feet of chain (1/4" proof
coil to fit the windlass) , 600 feet of nylon rode in 2 sections, each with
45 feet of chain at the anchor end. I would like to have a Luke for rocks.
To me it's not so much trying to have the biggest heaviest anchor as it is
having at least two anchors that will work well in whatever bottom I might
need to anchor in. The combination of the Bruce, Fortress and Delta have me
pretty well covered, as they overlap bottom types.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

Where do you store all the ground tackle? I'm assuming you have one of em
up front,, but where do you keep the other two.

==
"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:bz0Ah.3231$TG6.1624@trnddc06...
Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

Do you all ,,, in north talk that is "you guys" .. carry a big, huge,
anchor.. the one for the "tough" job?

And what size in relation to boat size.


I carry a Bruce, a Fortress, and a Delta, all one size larger than
recommended for Essie's length. I also carry 300 feet of chain (1/4" proof
coil to fit the windlass) , 600 feet of nylon rode in 2 sections, each
with 45 feet of chain at the anchor end. I would like to have a Luke for
rocks. To me it's not so much trying to have the biggest heaviest anchor
as it is having at least two anchors that will work well in whatever
bottom I might need to anchor in. The combination of the Bruce, Fortress
and Delta have me pretty well covered, as they overlap bottom types.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

300 feet of chain in the bow locker, along with 300 feet of nylon rode (with
its chain). Additional rode/chain in the laz. Currently the Bruce is rigged
and ready to go as my "go to" anchor, with the Fortress in the laz and the
Delta in the forward stateroom ready to pass topside if needed. Boat trims
well, without excessive hobbyhorsing under the conditions I tend to
encounter. If I know I'm going to try anchoring in grass, I'll switch to the
Delta forward.

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:BP0Ah.3510$4_5.1234@trnddc05...
Where do you store all the ground tackle? I'm assuming you have one of em
up front,, but where do you keep the other two.

==
"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:bz0Ah.3231$TG6.1624@trnddc06...
Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

Do you all ,,, in north talk that is "you guys" .. carry a big, huge,
anchor.. the one for the "tough" job?

And what size in relation to boat size.


I carry a Bruce, a Fortress, and a Delta, all one size larger than
recommended for Essie's length. I also carry 300 feet of chain (1/4"
proof coil to fit the windlass) , 600 feet of nylon rode in 2 sections,
each with 45 feet of chain at the anchor end. I would like to have a Luke
for rocks. To me it's not so much trying to have the biggest heaviest
anchor as it is having at least two anchors that will work well in
whatever bottom I might need to anchor in. The combination of the Bruce,
Fortress and Delta have me pretty well covered, as they overlap bottom
types.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:26:47 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

If you are doing serious cruising and plan to anchor out much of the
time, my advice is to carry the bigest anchor that you and/or your
windlass can handle, and the more chain the better. Anchor type
obviously depends on your local bottom conditions. We anchored
successfully in Maine for many years on a 20 pound Danforth anchor (34
ft, 10,000 lb sailboat), but a Danforth is nearly worthless on a rocky
or grassy bottom. They also have an unfortunate habit of sailing
through the water without finding bottom if you try to set one in an
emergency - all of those lessons learned the hard way of course.

Bruce anchors set quickly in many different bottom types but have a
reputation for creeping under load. I carry a 65 pounder as a primary
backup (60,000 lb flybridge trawler). I also carry a 45 lb spade and
30 lb Danforth as backups, along with extra chain and rode. We
recently used the Danforth (during the day) in the Florida Keys with
a sand bottom and 5/8ths nylon rode. It worked well on 7 to 1 scope
although I would not be comfortable sleeping that way. Winds were in
the 12 to 20 kt range.

We have tried several different types of plow anchors at different
times with different boats, but had several instances of dragging,
and/or failure to reset - all of that with adequately sized anchors
and plenty of scope. With our old boat (33 ft flybridge sportfish),
we eventually settled on a 44 lb spade with 5/16ths HT chain. That
was a very effective combination but requires a windlass of course.
It would be a good storm anchor on sailboats up to about 40 ft.

Our primary anchor now is a 120 lb Spade on 3/8ths HT chain. This is
the heaviest anchor our windlass can handle, and it has proven to be
very effective on almost all bottoms, typically on 5 to 1 scope unless
it is really blowing hard. If the Spade has a weakness anywhere it is
with very soft mud or shells over a hard bottom, but that is difficult
for any anchor. My typical solution is to let out more chain which
usually results in a firm set.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

Wayne ,, if I use oversize chain ,, to say the anchor size .. will this be
to my advantage. I have a plow and it sits up front in a roller which was
designed for it.. Maybe adding a heavy chaine would give me some advantage.

I don't have a windless. I am the windless.

========
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:26:47 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Just read a web story about a dragging anchor. So, I start to think???
How big.. that is how much bigger than the recommended anchor can a boat
use.

If you are doing serious cruising and plan to anchor out much of the
time, my advice is to carry the bigest anchor that you and/or your
windlass can handle, and the more chain the better. Anchor type
obviously depends on your local bottom conditions. We anchored
successfully in Maine for many years on a 20 pound Danforth anchor (34
ft, 10,000 lb sailboat), but a Danforth is nearly worthless on a rocky
or grassy bottom. They also have an unfortunate habit of sailing
through the water without finding bottom if you try to set one in an
emergency - all of those lessons learned the hard way of course.

Bruce anchors set quickly in many different bottom types but have a
reputation for creeping under load. I carry a 65 pounder as a primary
backup (60,000 lb flybridge trawler). I also carry a 45 lb spade and
30 lb Danforth as backups, along with extra chain and rode. We
recently used the Danforth (during the day) in the Florida Keys with
a sand bottom and 5/8ths nylon rode. It worked well on 7 to 1 scope
although I would not be comfortable sleeping that way. Winds were in
the 12 to 20 kt range.

We have tried several different types of plow anchors at different
times with different boats, but had several instances of dragging,
and/or failure to reset - all of that with adequately sized anchors
and plenty of scope. With our old boat (33 ft flybridge sportfish),
we eventually settled on a 44 lb spade with 5/16ths HT chain. That
was a very effective combination but requires a windlass of course.
It would be a good storm anchor on sailboats up to about 40 ft.

Our primary anchor now is a 120 lb Spade on 3/8ths HT chain. This is
the heaviest anchor our windlass can handle, and it has proven to be
very effective on almost all bottoms, typically on 5 to 1 scope unless
it is really blowing hard. If the Spade has a weakness anywhere it is
with very soft mud or shells over a hard bottom, but that is difficult
for any anchor. My typical solution is to let out more chain which
usually results in a firm set.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 18:05:53 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Wayne ,, if I use oversize chain ,, to say the anchor size .. will this be
to my advantage. I have a plow and it sits up front in a roller which was
designed for it.. Maybe adding a heavy chaine would give me some advantage.

It would probably help with getting the anchor set more quickly if you
used something like 15 ft of 3/8ths or 5/16ths chain since it will
lower the effective angle of pull on the anchor in lightly loaded
conditions.

We did that in Key West with the 30 pound Danforth using 30 ft of
3/8ths and it was very effective. That would be big time overkill on
a smaller boat however and increase your retrieval effort since total
weight was over 60 lbs. We were pulling up most of the rode by hand
in Key West but using the windlass to break it out. It was really dug
in hard by the end of the afternoon. The alternative on a boat with
no windlass is to keep snubbing the rode and letting wave action break
it out.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

In article ,
Wayne.B wrote:

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 18:05:53 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Wayne ,, if I use oversize chain ,, to say the anchor size .. will this be
to my advantage. I have a plow and it sits up front in a roller which was
designed for it.. Maybe adding a heavy chaine would give me some advantage.

It would probably help with getting the anchor set more quickly if you
used something like 15 ft of 3/8ths or 5/16ths chain since it will
lower the effective angle of pull on the anchor in lightly loaded
conditions.

We did that in Key West with the 30 pound Danforth using 30 ft of
3/8ths and it was very effective. That would be big time overkill on
a smaller boat however and increase your retrieval effort since total
weight was over 60 lbs. We were pulling up most of the rode by hand
in Key West but using the windlass to break it out. It was really dug
in hard by the end of the afternoon. The alternative on a boat with
no windlass is to keep snubbing the rode and letting wave action break
it out.


That's about the system we have: 30' of 3/8 chain, which is way
oversized, hooked (now) to a steel Spade 80, which is good for a typical
34' boat. (the aluminum version works fine for us, though, and is easier
to haul.)

This is so oversized that when we raft up with boats to 50', we often
wind up depending on our anchor instead of the big boys', theirs having
crept over the weekend.

When we used a Danforth, switching from the recommended 6' of 1/4 to 15'
of 3/8 significantly improved the set in the Chesapeake mud/sand. If a
storm piped up, we had a heck of a time hauling it up, but it never
tripped out.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

On Feb 12, 8:05 am, "NE Sailboat" wrote:
Wayne ,, if I use oversize chain ,, to say the anchor size .. will this be
to my advantage. I have a plow and it sits up front in a roller which was
designed for it.. Maybe adding a heavy chaine would give me some advantage.

If you don't have a powered windless I'd suggest using a kellet.
Since you can retrieve the kellet independently of the rest of the
rode you can make the whole system heavier and kellets are very
effective.

As everyone notes, bigger is better with anchors and anchor rode when
anchored. However, smaller is better with anchors and anchor rode
when sailing and when retrieving. As with all things boat, you will
have to compromise. The Hinz book is a good place to start if you
are really set on rethinking your anchoring set up from scratch.

-- Tom.

Anchor Size ,, does size matter.. that's a joke son .. question
 

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:38:10 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

When we used a Danforth, switching from the recommended 6' of 1/4 to 15'
of 3/8 significantly improved the set in the Chesapeake mud/sand. If a
storm piped up, we had a heck of a time hauling it up, but it never
tripped out.

Danforth's have amazing holding power in those conditions. Once set
on decent scope, I've never had one pull out.