Bob,

What a bunch of crap! How many people do you think actually know any of
the stuff that you're asking, other than the wight of their boat?
According to my logs, I've anchored in over 400 separate locations
throughout the Caribbean and the US, and without knowing the answers to
your questions, I've only managed to drag a handful of times. I've been
in storms at anchor that have reached 72 kts and have bent my anchor
roller assembly like a pretzel. See http://www.geoffschultz.org/2002
_Sailing/Honduras_Roatan/imagepages/image24.htm

What I do know is that I buy the highest quality components that I can
and I make sure that the load ratings match. There will always be a
weakest link, which will rear it's ugly head in those worst of
circumstances, but that isn't what this discussion is about.

I've cruised the Chesapeake and know that most towns only have 1-2
anchorages. In places like the Chesapeake I utilize cruising/anchoring
guides that provide me with basic information such as the holding. Do I
*know* what the bottom is? NO (but I'd bet it's mud in the Chesapeake),
so I'll rely on data gathered from people who have anchored there
before. Can I be sure that I didn't hook a plastic bag, tire, or who
knows what? No! Can I practice good anchoring techniques such as using
appropriate scope and backing down sufficiently hard? YES!

I used to utilize a 45 lb CQR as my primary anchor, but I replaced it
with a 25 KG Rocna and absolutely love the new anchor. I've been in
anchorages where other boats with CQRs were dragging and we stayed put.
If I was in turtle grass over sand, I always had to hand set the CQR,
but I don't have to do that with the Rocna. I'm thoroughly impressed.

Skip certainly has had more than his share of problems, and many of them
are self inflicted, but he's out there doing it and hopefully learning
from his mistakes. Many of the so-called experts in this forum spend
all of their time behind a computer and quote text books instead of
actually cruising. Maybe Skip is crazy by documenting his adventures
and misfortunes in such a public fashion, but I give him credit for not
giving up.

-- Geoff

Bob wrote in news:1193467621.642831.28750
@e9g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

On Oct 26, 6:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote:
October 26 - What A Drag!

Skip

Dear Skip..................................

Please supply the following data;

1) what is the weight of your boat?

2) How much DRAG (pull on your ground tackle) does your boat create
in the following winds

15 knots _________ pounds

30 knots _________ pounds

42 knots _________ pounds

60 knots_________ pounds

What is the SAFE WORKING LOAD of your chain AND conections (shackles)
and any eye splices. "purdy strong" wont work. I need pounds rated for
EACH item in your anchoring system.... or what normal people call
"ground tackle."

Can you tell me exactly what type bottom youre over???
HOw would you find out if you dont know? If you say look at a chart
youre only 20% right.

If you can not supply the requested information simply kiss your ass
goodbuy.

NOw for some other comments................................
The weight of your anchor is not the only consideration when
calculating "holding ability"
ANchoring is NOT rocket science NOR a magical art.

Its just plain old fassioned RIGGING! and i dont mean rigging as the
yachting group defines it. To be honest most choker setters know more
about rigging than the average "captain" on every sail boat Ive talked
to. ANd ya cant get more stupid than a choker setter.! Hell, guys have
been dragging ships off beaches for hundreds of years. How do they do
that???? A few anchors, some wire rope, a purchase or two. If a bunch
of a two pack a day alcoholic thick knecked salvors can do it a Bank
President with a univesity degree should be able to figure it out dont
ya think Skip?

To think all you need is an Acme FX 99 anchor to keep yo from draging
is naive at best.

Dear SKIP............... go read the following book and stop making
such a public fool of yourself.

"The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring", by Earl Hintz,

Bob








--
-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

On Oct 27, 2:47 am, Bob wrote:
On Oct 26, 6:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote:

October 26 - What A Drag!
Skip

Dear Skip..................................

Please supply the following data;

1) what is the weight of your boat?

2) How much DRAG (pull on your ground tackle) does your boat create
in the following winds

15 knots _________ pounds

30 knots _________ pounds

42 knots _________ pounds

60 knots_________ pounds

What is the SAFE WORKING LOAD of your chain AND conections (shackles)
and any eye splices. "purdy strong" wont work. I need pounds rated for
EACH item in your anchoring system.... or what normal people call
"ground tackle."

Can you tell me exactly what type bottom youre over???
HOw would you find out if you dont know? If you say look at a chart
youre only 20% right.

If you can not supply the requested information simply kiss your ass
goodbuy.

NOw for some other comments................................
The weight of your anchor is not the only consideration when
calculating "holding ability"
ANchoring is NOT rocket science NOR a magical art.

Its just plain old fassioned RIGGING! and i dont mean rigging as the
yachting group defines it. To be honest most choker setters know more
about rigging than the average "captain" on every sail boat Ive talked
to. ANd ya cant get more stupid than a choker setter.! Hell, guys have
been dragging ships off beaches for hundreds of years. How do they do
that???? A few anchors, some wire rope, a purchase or two. If a bunch
of a two pack a day alcoholic thick knecked salvors can do it a Bank
President with a univesity degree should be able to figure it out dont
ya think Skip?

To think all you need is an Acme FX 99 anchor to keep yo from draging
is naive at best.

Dear SKIP............... go read the following book and stop making
such a public fool of yourself.

"The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring", by Earl Hintz,

Bob

Hi, Bob, and group,

Answers to your questions:

1) Boat as built was 33K, but with all the stuff, I presume to be at
about 40K. No lift ever showed that much - but I can't believe it any
less. Yes, I know, that's not a scientifically sound answer, but
absent calibrated strain guages and a specific project to determine
that, I doubt I'll ever know - at least not without putting it in a
very carefully calibrated tank to measure the displacement.

In any case, the windage, at least to me, would be the more
significant issue. Not being an engineer (perhaps Roger, or you, if
you are one, too) could tell me if that's a reasonable premise.

2) I have not put a strain guage, not owning one, on my chain.
Further, thanks, I've not (yet) been in anything - at anchor - which
exceeded 40 knots. Again, if I had the calculated windage, and the
proper means (not an engineer) of calculation of wind forces I could
probably tell you - but I can't.

The SWL on the shackles and swivels is well in excess of my chain,
which is all 5/16HT, G40 hotdipped galvanized, which SWL I don't
recall at the moment. However, at the time I sized it/them, the chain
was sufficient by all popular measures, and the swivels and shackles,
what with my not wanting to have the weakest point at the anchor, were
well over that. I gave several vendors a hard time when they couldn't
be definitive about the SWL, until I got very specific information on
the parts I bought. Generally speaking, other than chain, which if I
did would be unwieldy for the weight, I've gone at least one size
larger than recommended, which is how I wound up with 130# of anchor
on the bow rollers.

As to eye splices, we have only one on the bow, and that's on the
secondary anchor, which has in front of it 175' of the aforementioned
stuff. That is to a size up from recommended, not 5/8 but 3/4
MegaBraid, spliced properly. There's not a better way to do it and
have it go through the gypsy, so it's as good as it's going to get
without that side being all chain as well. New England Rope feels very
confident in that method of splice, so, as I can't prove them wrong,
it's what I did.

Our snubbers are in one case 5/8 threestrand on a logging hook, and
3/4 MegaBraid as above on a rather more hightech hook designed for
5/16. When we back down, including on the earlier mentioned
adventures, it stretches very significantly. No, I don't know the SWL
on those, either, but I did at the time. I'm not going to bother to
look it up for this exercise.

As to the supplementary anchoring gear, we have a Fortress 37, a
CQR45, and two smaller danforths, along with rode bags. Those have
the aforementioned MegaBraid and 3/8BBB as which came with the boat as
built, but only about 30', as to carry that in the dink would be
problematic for more. I have additional hundreds of feet of both 3/4
Megabraid and 5/8 threestrand aboard to extend the 300' standard on
all our rodes, whether all chain or part.

As to finding out exactly what kind of bottom I'm over, throwing a
small anchor overboard, setting it hard (and dragging, as would be
possible with a small one other than hooked terminally on some rock or
other obstruction), motoring over it and then pulling it up to inspect
what came up would be my favored one in waters other than conducive to
diving. As my current professor, however, I expect you'll correct me
as to the actual proper means.

Local knowledge might help, but I've learned to be very distrustful of
LN, as, from what I've gotten and experienced, it's many times either
wrong or malicious.

As to your other comments, I believe I'm aware of what you mentioned,
other than I don't know the term "Choker Setter" - a clear deficiency
in my education which I will work diligently to remedy.

As to reading, I agree that the Hinz (Hintz?) book will be worth
acquiring - but I've not yet crossed its path. The Seven Seas flea
market at Annapolis provided me with two others I've been seeking,
Storm Tactics (on which much storm has been occasioned in these parts
recently) and Heavy Weather Sailing.

As to being a public fool, how else would I get publicly taken
properly to task so I could become less of one in private???

:{))

L8R

Skip

PS are you a character in a Steven Patsis-created strip's character's
occasional novelizations? Certainly, nearly anything I read suggests
a match...

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On Oct 27, 2:47 am, Bob wrote:
On Oct 26, 6:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote:

October 26 - What A Drag!
Skip

Dear Skip..................................

Please supply the following data;

1) what is the weight of your boat?

2) How much DRAG (pull on your ground tackle) does your boat create
in the following winds

15 knots _________ pounds

30 knots _________ pounds

42 knots _________ pounds

60 knots_________ pounds

What is the SAFE WORKING LOAD of your chain AND conections (shackles)
and any eye splices. "purdy strong" wont work. I need pounds rated for
EACH item in your anchoring system.... or what normal people call
"ground tackle."

Can you tell me exactly what type bottom youre over???
HOw would you find out if you dont know? If you say look at a chart
youre only 20% right.

If you can not supply the requested information simply kiss your ass
goodbuy.

NOw for some other comments................................
The weight of your anchor is not the only consideration when
calculating "holding ability"
ANchoring is NOT rocket science NOR a magical art.

Its just plain old fassioned RIGGING! and i dont mean rigging as the
yachting group defines it. To be honest most choker setters know more
about rigging than the average "captain" on every sail boat Ive talked
to. ANd ya cant get more stupid than a choker setter.! Hell, guys have
been dragging ships off beaches for hundreds of years. How do they do
that???? A few anchors, some wire rope, a purchase or two. If a bunch
of a two pack a day alcoholic thick knecked salvors can do it a Bank
President with a univesity degree should be able to figure it out dont
ya think Skip?

To think all you need is an Acme FX 99 anchor to keep yo from draging
is naive at best.

Dear SKIP............... go read the following book and stop making
such a public fool of yourself.

"The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring", by Earl Hintz,

Bob

Hi, Bob, and group,

Answers to your questions:

1) Boat as built was 33K, but with all the stuff, I presume to be at
about 40K. No lift ever showed that much - but I can't believe it any
less. Yes, I know, that's not a scientifically sound answer, but
absent calibrated strain guages and a specific project to determine
that, I doubt I'll ever know - at least not without putting it in a
very carefully calibrated tank to measure the displacement.

In any case, the windage, at least to me, would be the more
significant issue. Not being an engineer (perhaps Roger, or you, if
you are one, too) could tell me if that's a reasonable premise.

2) I have not put a strain guage, not owning one, on my chain.
Further, thanks, I've not (yet) been in anything - at anchor - which
exceeded 40 knots. Again, if I had the calculated windage, and the
proper means (not an engineer) of calculation of wind forces I could
probably tell you - but I can't.

The SWL on the shackles and swivels is well in excess of my chain,
which is all 5/16HT, G40 hotdipped galvanized, which SWL I don't
recall at the moment. However, at the time I sized it/them, the chain
was sufficient by all popular measures, and the swivels and shackles,
what with my not wanting to have the weakest point at the anchor, were
well over that. I gave several vendors a hard time when they couldn't
be definitive about the SWL, until I got very specific information on
the parts I bought. Generally speaking, other than chain, which if I
did would be unwieldy for the weight, I've gone at least one size
larger than recommended, which is how I wound up with 130# of anchor
on the bow rollers.

As to eye splices, we have only one on the bow, and that's on the
secondary anchor, which has in front of it 175' of the aforementioned
stuff. That is to a size up from recommended, not 5/8 but 3/4
MegaBraid, spliced properly. There's not a better way to do it and
have it go through the gypsy, so it's as good as it's going to get
without that side being all chain as well. New England Rope feels very
confident in that method of splice, so, as I can't prove them wrong,
it's what I did.

Our snubbers are in one case 5/8 threestrand on a logging hook, and
3/4 MegaBraid as above on a rather more hightech hook designed for
5/16. When we back down, including on the earlier mentioned
adventures, it stretches very significantly. No, I don't know the SWL
on those, either, but I did at the time. I'm not going to bother to
look it up for this exercise.

As to the supplementary anchoring gear, we have a Fortress 37, a
CQR45, and two smaller danforths, along with rode bags. Those have
the aforementioned MegaBraid and 3/8BBB as which came with the boat as
built, but only about 30', as to carry that in the dink would be
problematic for more. I have additional hundreds of feet of both 3/4
Megabraid and 5/8 threestrand aboard to extend the 300' standard on
all our rodes, whether all chain or part.

As to finding out exactly what kind of bottom I'm over, throwing a
small anchor overboard, setting it hard (and dragging, as would be
possible with a small one other than hooked terminally on some rock or
other obstruction), motoring over it and then pulling it up to inspect
what came up would be my favored one in waters other than conducive to
diving. As my current professor, however, I expect you'll correct me
as to the actual proper means.

Local knowledge might help, but I've learned to be very distrustful of
LN, as, from what I've gotten and experienced, it's many times either
wrong or malicious.

As to your other comments, I believe I'm aware of what you mentioned,
other than I don't know the term "Choker Setter" - a clear deficiency
in my education which I will work diligently to remedy.

As to reading, I agree that the Hinz (Hintz?) book will be worth
acquiring - but I've not yet crossed its path. The Seven Seas flea
market at Annapolis provided me with two others I've been seeking,
Storm Tactics (on which much storm has been occasioned in these parts
recently) and Heavy Weather Sailing.

As to being a public fool, how else would I get publicly taken
properly to task so I could become less of one in private???

:{))

L8R

Skip

PS are you a character in a Steven Patsis-created strip's character's
occasional novelizations? Certainly, nearly anything I read suggests
a match...

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:47:01 -0000, Bob wrote:


Please supply the following data;

1) what is the weight of your boat?

2) How much DRAG (pull on your ground tackle) does your boat create
in the following winds

15 knots _________ pounds

30 knots _________ pounds

42 knots _________ pounds

60 knots_________ pounds
...
Bob


You must be joking? This is the sort of questionnaire
that an engineer might address. I will tell you for free, that the
rec.boats.cruising participation group is not largely comprised
of engineers.
You have this data for your boat, I expect.
Accurate to +- 5% I expect?

Brian Whatcott Altus OK
p.s. Drag is determined by a whole bunch more factors than
wind speed, dude.

As to a GPS anchor watch I note these two incidents:

A couple of years ago my wife and I took a walk down an old power line
that was over grown but had a trail. I took my pocket GPS with me and
logged the track. The outgoing and return tracks were off by at least
150 yards in places. Not big jumps but just gradually wandering off.
As I was walking a very narrow path through otherwise dense forest I
know I was traveling the exact same path.

A couple of days later I unintentionally left the GPS plugged into my
car overnight with the track turned on. The next morning I had a
"scatter plot" for my track covering a couple of hundred yards.

The GPS (Magellan) has AIS and has been dead accurate in every other
instance. I use it to find deer stands in the dark when hunting - going
out in the morning before sunrise.

The point is that GPS SYSTEM, though phenomenally accurate MOST of the
time can fail SOME of the time. I have thought of this when using the
anchor alarm. I might be dragging or the GPS SYSTEM might be brain farting.

A final point, oft made by Nigel Calder, not all charts are normalized
to the same datum. For example, through first hand experience, and as
noted on the charts, the South coast of Newfoundland charts Lat/Lon can
vary by as much as 1/2 mile from the GPS position. It is not a simple
conversion factor, the CGS does not know what the origional datum was.
It baffles me how the CGS allows this to continue but it does.

If you are interested I took a picture of my plotter which I posted here.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/sho...os/browse/bd9e


Howard

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 27, 2:47 am, Bob wrote:
On Oct 26, 6:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote:

If a bunch
of a two pack a day alcoholic thick knecked salvors can do it a Bank
President with a univesity degree should be able to figure it out dont
ya think Skip?



Hey Skip

Were you a Bank President? What Bank? Just curious. I work for a Bank in
Oz and for many years while working for another bank was a member of Robert
Morris.

Hoges in WA
as in Western Australia.

By the way, you keep finding all sorts of place where the holding's not so
good. My wife and I will be going up the east coast of the US in a couple
of years and anywheres you come to grief I'm going to pay particular
attention to.

The point is that GPS SYSTEM, though phenomenally accurate MOST of the
time can fail SOME of the time.

More likely your unit wasn't picking up enough satellites. This is not the
fault of the GPS system. Some older units didn't do a very good job of
pickup up sats when there's overhead leaf canopy (some still don't). Don't
blame the system for inferior equipment.

An anchor watch in open water, without high terrain or foliage nearby, will
likely be very consistent in it's location.

If you are interested I took a picture of my plotter which I posted here.
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/sho...os/browse/bd9e

Which is a useless link unless someone joins that group. Try using a free
service like flickr instead of forcing people to join (and presumably then
leave) a group.

In article ,
says...
As to a GPS anchor watch I note these two incidents:

A couple of years ago my wife and I took a walk down an old power line
that was over grown but had a trail. I took my pocket GPS with me and
logged the track. The outgoing and return tracks were off by at least
150 yards in places. Not big jumps but just gradually wandering off.
As I was walking a very narrow path through otherwise dense forest I
know I was traveling the exact same path.

You've stated the problem pretty well: "very narrow path through
otherwise dense forest". GPS signals don't penetrate
well through dense forest canopies.

A couple of days later I unintentionally left the GPS plugged into my
car overnight with the track turned on. The next morning I had a
"scatter plot" for my track covering a couple of hundred yards.
Was the GPS inside the car, or did the antenna have a clear view
of the whole sky? If the only clear signals were coming in
through the windshield, it was probably only using 2 or
three satellites to obtain a fix.

With many of my GPS logger projects, I regularly see about 5 meters
drift in elevation but only 2 to 3 meters of horizontal drift.
Of course that stability only applies in the continental US, where
the WAAS corrections are effective.

The GPS (Magellan) has AIS and has been dead accurate in every other
instance. I use it to find deer stands in the dark when hunting - going
out in the morning before sunrise.

The point is that GPS SYSTEM, though phenomenally accurate MOST of the
time can fail SOME of the time. I have thought of this when using the
anchor alarm. I might be dragging or the GPS SYSTEM might be brain farting.

I think that if your GPS does not have a well-placed antenna, you will
often end up in situations where it is receiving signals from only
two or three satellites. When that happens, the horizontal dilution
of precision can increase drastically.

A final point, oft made by Nigel Calder, not all charts are normalized
to the same datum. For example, through first hand experience, and as
noted on the charts, the South coast of Newfoundland charts Lat/Lon can
vary by as much as 1/2 mile from the GPS position. It is not a simple
conversion factor, the CGS does not know what the origional datum was.
It baffles me how the CGS allows this to continue but it does.

If you are interested I took a picture of my plotter which I posted here.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/sho...os/browse/bd9e


Mark Borgerson

hpeer wrote:

As to a GPS anchor watch I note these two incidents:


Someone asked Skip if he kept an anchor watch. Normally once we are
anchored, the anchor watch is my responsibility. Probably because
once Bob is asleep, he's asleep. This is roughly what I do.

I leave the GPS in the cockpit on (plugged in to the pedestal), down
to the greatest magnification that it has, and I mark where it shows
that we are anchored, and label the mark. I also mark and label the
anchor spot on the electronic charts on the computer.

If we are anchored near any kind of civilization, I take mental
bearings on the various shore points that I can see and note their
relationship to the boat. When I go down into the cabin, I look out
the ports next to me when I'm in bed and note what I see from there.

Periodically I will wake up and look out the port I can look out the
port without really getting up, but if what I see is different from
what I expect to see, I will go up into the cockpit and look at the
track on the GPS.

(I can wake myself up on schedule without an alarm - the interval of
waking decreases i.e. I wake more- often as the hazard that I perceive
increases.) I wake more often in high wind or if we have something
closer to us. I do have a kind of alarm, in that if the wind picks up
at night, the wind gen will 'signal' by way of increased noise and
vibration which we hear in the cabin (you can't hear it in the
cockpit, but the radar arch where the wind gen is mounted transmits
the vibration to the deck).

The only times we've ever dragged after the anchor has been set has
been when we were anchored for lunch. But if I were to be concerned
about where we were, I'd wake Bob up.

Bob is very picky about where he sets the anchor (depth of water and
type of bottom), and I back down on it until he is satisfied that it
is well set.

We usually get up early and stop well before dark, especially on the
way south because not only does it get dark earlier in the fall, but
the sun gets in your eyes otherwise because it is so low in the sky at
this time of year..

We have anchored at dusk, but we have only (AFAI remember) anchored
after dark-dark once, and that was when we were coming up from Indian
Key to Miami and we were going to have a storm for the next few days.
We wanted to be out of the Hawk Channel before the bulk of the storm
hit. We were sailing a little faster than usual because of the wind.

March 22, 2004
We got up about 0630. Bob is becoming more worried about the mooring and says he would rather be at anchor. I am very anxious to tour Indian Key (which we missed doing on the way down because we were in such a hurry to get to Marathon), but I actually agree with him, although I don't say so.

The problem is that we know from experience there is NO protection from NE or E winds in Hawk Channel (that we can get to) except possibly Rodriguez Key which is really close by. I don't think we will be any better off anchored there than we would be on a mooring as it is quite rocky with poor holding. And it usually takes us two days to get from here to Miami..

I finally give in and tell Bob that we can go. We got underway about 0745 which is a bit later than usual if we expect a long day.
We get to Tavernier at 1000. It is way too early to stop. Where can we go for the night? I'm considering the options.
We can see Rodriguez ahead. I suggest that if we are willing to anchor after dark, we might be able to get all the way to Miami tonight. Bob is really happy with that idea.

cut what I wrote about the trip The wind really picked up from the
oncoming storm about 1700.

About 1930, we have come up Biscayne Bay to Miami, and it is dark. I have picked out a place to anchor in an indentation off Hurricane Harbor which is at the west side of Key Biscayne. Bob has prepared the anchor, taken in the sails, and handed the helm over to me to find a spot to anchor.

I motor in watching the ATON on the radar and our position on the electronic chart. Bob is standing in the forward companionway trying to pick out the flashing lights on the marks.

Finally about in the middle of the area (I really want to be closer to shore, but I'm chicken to go any farther in), I'm ready to have Bob drop the hook. It sets quickly and firmly. We have done 73.6 sm (64nm) at an average speed of 6.2 mph.

It is now really windy

Hoges in WA wrote:
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
....

By the way, you keep finding all sorts of place where the holding's not so
good. My wife and I will be going up the east coast of the US in a couple
of years and anywheres you come to grief I'm going to pay particular
attention to.


The holding is just fine. Skip's problem is that he's using a Delta in
soft mud where it is not at its best. I use a Delta all the time in New
England where the bottom is somewhat thicker, but in the soft Chesapeake
mud a Danforth style is needed. A Fortress is good, especially when the
flukes are set at the "mud" angle. However, they can have a problem
resetting if the mud is too thick, or if the flukes have been fouled. A
good approach, then, is to set two anchors off the bow - one Delta or
CQR that will reset and at worst only drag slowly, and one Fortress that
will dig deep in the soft mud. Either of the anchors should hold if
well set; both of them guarantees an anxiety-free night.

I carry a 35# Delta on 50 feet of chain plus a Fortress FX23 with only a
short chain ready on deck. You really don't want big chain on the mud
anchor because that can prevent it from digging in quickly. Also, the
Fortress shouldn't be too big because it will be deployed by hand,
possibly even rowed out. Usually I just power over to Port and drop the
the Fortress, but I've rowed or even walked it to a good spot. Having a
big heavy second anchor is not good incentive to actually using it -
Skip's experience is a case in point.