Overkill, or Not?

[DRSandbo]

Ok another ground tackle question or two. 20k, 49' power cat, main gear is 300' 3/8 chain with a 73lb Rocna, (1) spare 45lb CQR, (1) 33lb plow and a Danforth. (2) 300' 5/8" rode in center line locker as is the chain. Lofrans Tigres windless.

So here's the question, I picked up 320' of 5/16" with the thoughts of making (1) 320' back up to the main or (2) 160' (easier to handle and store) rigs.

We will be travling the east coast and Bahamas this year.

TIA.

[Jim St.Pierre]

The Rocna is a hell of an anchor, unless you are going to ride out a hurricane, the rocna should be enough.....Just my thoughts. I have a Rocna, I set it, and forget it....(not really) but is is a wonderful anchor..

[DRSandbo]

Originally Posted by Jim St.Pierre

The Rocna is a hell of an anchor, unless you are going to ride out a hurricane, the rocna should be enough.....Just my thoughts. I have a Rocna, I set it, and forget it....(not really) but is is a wonderful anchor..

Thanks Jim, I agree with the Rocna. I'm thinking along the lines as a back up, do most of you folks carry 2 or 3 rigs as spares or ??

[CAELESTIS]

If you could return the 5/16, you can get G70 galvanized 5/16 (West Marine calls it lashing chain) as that would be superior.

I consider the Rocna your hurricane anchor (I own the same one).

[Jim St.Pierre]

My boat is a cruiser, I have the Rocna and a CQR forward and two Danforths at the stern. Never used the Danforths.

[s/v Moondancer]

Not many places on the East Coast and the Bahamas were you would need 320 ft of chain. In the Caribbean I have only used all my 300 ft once.

In hurricanes Wilma and Katrina I anchored a boat, in Marine Stadium in Miami, with 4 anchors all on 100-120 ft of chain or rode

[Cheechako]

That sounds like a lot of extra weight in the extra 320 ft of chain.... especially for the Bahamas. You're going to be anchoring in 15 ft of water... if your lucky!

[FSMike]

We have a 44lb. Delta as our main working anchor and a similarly sized Danforth as a backup. Both of these have 50' of 3/8 chain and 150'-200' of rope rode. We also carry a quite large Fortress for storms. We are on a 45' sailing catamaran and anchor primarily on the east coast and the Bahamas.
Our experience has indicated that the extra size of the 3/8 chain is helpful in
holding ability.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

Not many places on the East Coast and the Bahamas were you would need 320 ft of chain. In the Caribbean I have only used all my 300 ft once.

In hurricanes Wilma and Katrina I anchored a boat, in Marine Stadium in Miami, with 4 anchors all on 100-120 ft of chain or rode

This is about it as far as east coast and Bahamas goes. Waste of time carrying all that extra chain. I have 200 ft and have yet to use more than 140 ft.

[barnakiel]

Rocna and Manson are said to be cream and they are on my upgrade list. Still. ask people of their Bahama's experience with them - a great anchor is great only when it falls on the right type of bottom.

Alas, my boat is only 27 mono and I use 3/8.

Is 5/16 good enough for you?

b.

[DRSandbo]

Thanks for the input folks, seems the additional chain will be overkill but I can handle the weight and storage needs. Looks like I will make (2) 160'er's and hope they are not needed.

Again thanks.

[Pblais]

Think about the tonage. 3/8 chain is nice we had that on our 33 ft boat. If you put all that in the water, it's already heavier than an engine block. Having some spare anchors with rope rodes has a lot of uses even not for storms but loading up on more chain seems to be counter productive as far as extra weight. You hope a lot of stuff is not needed and you go out of your way to avoid stuff too. So should the storm come - not being there trumps multiple anchors. You need to focus on the better solution. It sounds like your boat will last longer than things you don't want to have to tackle. At this point I'm thinking crystal ball (a big one) is all you need extra.

[DRSandbo]

Paul,
Thanks for the insight and point taken. Now please let me know if you find a deal on them elusive crystal balls as I've had no luck.

DRS

[goincruisin]

Hi DRS

I agree with Paul and the other posts.

Your primary concern should be the type of anchor you use. We have "transitioned" all of our plow anchors (CQR, Delta, etc) for use as lawn ornaments, as they all perform as advertised: they plow. We also removed an unused huge Luke from our boat which looks cool in front of our house. We now have a 40kg Rocna and a 35kg Ultra. These modern spade type anchors dig into any type of bottom, set quickly, and hold very well. We also have a Fortress, which has proven itself in mud time and again.

Your primary anchor should be sized to hold your boat in just about anything. For peace of mind you can then go for a tandem rig attaching the second anchor to the crown of your primary with a length of chain. In a hurricane situation the best you can do is haul your boat or try and hide, and preferably tie your boat with a spiderweb of ropes and anchors. (BoatUS has some good and sound advice on this).

Regarding the rode, chain (strong and heavy) is indeed good. More important, of course is that you have sufficient scope for where you will be anchoring - more is always better. If you do use a chain rode, it is important you use a rope snubber - one that will stretch and absorbe the shock load of your boat pitching in waves. Remember that the chain will not stretch, and in a storm it will be bar taut. We have seen this on numerous occasions. Without the elasticity of the snubber your boat's motion will be directly applied to the anchor, potentially pulling it out of the bottom - that is if your deck hardware does not fail first. We have an all chain rode with a snubber as our primary and several lengths of heavy nylon rode down below just in case.

Finally, make sure you have really good chafe protection on your rope rode or snubber - even if you pass this over your bow roller. Without this you may as well kiss your boat goodbye.

I hope this helps you in your decision making.

Happy Hooking!