Some anchor choices not mentioned in the other thread

[Mike E]

Being the villain who has started a lot of threads in other forums I finally made three choices for the new ground tackle. None of which I saw mentioned for that Packet 40.

My criteria was the least amount of anchors that would cover ALL conditions and as much as possible to use the newer, cutting edge, designs.

#1 Danforths were, by the way never my favorite in the PNW but in the Chesapeake and NJ/DelMarVA area it worked fine BUT there is a better choice available now called the Bulwagga out of New York. Solves the problems that plagues the Damnforths but is a bit harder to stow. On the advise of the manufacturer I went with one size larger. His opinion was the boat is going who knows where and into unknown conditions. Be prepared.

#2 I opted for the New Zealand built Rocna in the chart size. They are the only manufacturer that bluntly says don't go up one size.

#3 and not quite cutting edge is the steel Spade as a backup because it's the only anchor made that can be taken apart and easily stowed. It also had no detractors while the aluminum version had some bad comments by owners. Again I went one size larger on the advise of the West Marine techs and because I found out the French Gov't dictated the sizing chart to the manufacturer.

I use G40 chain rode and can put one shot in the water with synthetic available should I need more length.

Finally I'm modifying things a bit by using a synethetic snubber which puts the load just above the waterline on the bow instead of off the bowsprit.

These replaced a CQR, a Bruce, and a folding Luke in fisherman or Herreshoff style.

Since I occasionaly write for one of the magazines I thought testing these out would make a good article. One test I will do is on a sloped bottom with significant tidal range and current speeds.

An anchor I tried on another boat (delivery job) is the Super Max. It's a dog. I was able to pull it out of the bottom with one arm. Wasn't trying to the intention was to pull the boat up to the anchoring point (no winch on that one) and then use the sails or motor to pull it out. That was on the inland side at Beach Haven NJ.

Which left us with the Danforth and it held great in the Delaware at full river and tide current (near the nuke power plant just below the canal.

As for the Fortress et. al. I am not a fan of the lightweight anchors. Enough said there.

In any case give the newer designs a good look and get opinions from the owner/users.

Michael
SV Se Langt
Westerly Berwick 31

[bcooke]

Which left us with the Danforth and it held great ...
...As for the Fortress et. al. I am not a fan of the lightweight anchors. Enough said there.

But isn't the Danforth the original lightweight anchor?

Being the villain who has started a lot of threads in other forums ...

Nothing starts a flame war better than a discussion of ground tackle.

If anyone is interested, there is a ton of info on this forum if you use the search function.

-Britton