Wifey and I are on our 40' Silverton aftcabin
power boat, completely enclosed with
canvas. We are safely held to this
anchor spot at CuttyHunk which is part of the Elisabeth Island chain in
Massachusetts. I am anchored in about 8' with heavy ell
grass growth on the bottom using my 80# Manson Supreme, 5/16 HT chain with a
scope of around 7. We have been here now for 3 days.
Tonight around 10PM we had a severe thunder storm. I cared less for the lightening, thunder and rain that had been going on for almost 30 minutes. But then the storm became no play thing! The rain was almost the same as solid
water falling from the sky. AND THE WIND!!!! I don't have anything to measure the
wind velocity other than to guess it must have been at least over 50 MPH. I can make that guess after going though our
hurricane last fall.
That
wind ripped through, the entire
boat shuttered, that
canvas held well although it strained against its snaps. Our
boat rocked, hobby horsed, swung rapidly back and forth following the wind. Our boat is big, it presents the equivalent of an enormous sail area to the oncoming wind. Everything was black, I had no idea if we were sailing out through the moored fleet until I looked down and uncovered our
GPS which I left on to
monitor our position changes over time. Yes, the boat did move but only to the length of the radius determined by our extended
anchor chain.
Tonight was not a night to move my boat under
power which would require pulling the anchor had it slipped. I have enough experience with anchors that failed, and it is not fun even if it happens during a sunny day, not at night during a sever storm. OH, the pattern on our
GPS resembles an almost perfect circle. After the wind calmed down, I looked back into the
mooring area where many are at anchor. Numerous lights were flashing, running lights on indicating possible failed anchors.
I suffered through another adventure last summer in Vinyard Haven on Matha's Vineyard where 20-25K winds encouraged my 88#
Delta to plow its way where ever the wind decided at 3AM! I am over joyed this anchor held as advertised!!!
I have no interest in Manson's products. I don't care what others
purchase for ground tackle. I just wanted to share my post storm excitement regarding how well our boat stayed put in ell
grass during a severe storm. It is now almost an hour since the storm subsided.
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