Sarca "Excels"

[groundtackle]

Ian, Thanks very much for the recap.
We haven't sent the wrong anchor yet (touching wood) but was close. Two different owners on either side of North America. One a Super Sarca the other an Excel, both the same size and had the same last name, yikes.
I have plenty of experience with that #5 Excel, I wanted to experiment with that size because of Steve Goodwin's SV Panope tests/ videos and it was the correct size for the vessel (41' /12t). Anchor Right sizing lists #5 22kg/47lb 39'-49' / 7-15t.
I have always wondered how large a vessel I would confidently use the #5 on. The 47' Bavaria Ocean is probably 14t + loaded (perhaps you have better guess?). It's difficult to size when vessels get on those cusps, your experiences can only help us all to get it correct.
While the smaller size may provide the holding power, matching shackles/rode WLL and the vessels tug in extreme conditions can sometimes add another challenge.
For where you go I like the #6 too. We tell folks - if either of has made the wrong decision in sizing we will do what ever is required to get it correct.
Ian, have you had a chance to play with #6 Aluminum Excel, I'd love your thoughts on that?
Thanks again for taking the time to write and cheers back.
ce

[Jim Cate]

Nice testimonial, Sunshine! But I must ask: where in the hell did you anchor in 60 meters depth... and why? In all our years of cruising, the deepest we've ever anchored was about 25 meters (in French Polynesia) and the next deepest around 20 meters in a number of spots. That seemed pretty deep to us, but 60 meters??? Yikes!

Jim

[SUNSHINESAILOR]

Hi Jim,
that's what happens when there's only two of you and want to dive a wall of a reef with no suitable depth in between... only a daytime stop.
That's a pretty common depth in many places especially Indo..
And if you drag from Chalkies you might find that depth :-)
cheers,
Ian

[downunder]

Originally Posted by SUNSHINESAILOR

Hi Jim,
that's what happens when there's only two of you and want to dive a wall of a reef with no suitable depth in between... only a daytime stop.
That's a pretty common depth in many places especially Indo..
And if you drag from Chalkies you might find that depth :-)
cheers,
Ian

Good anchor choice.

Being divers did you get any photos of your Excel set?

[SUNSHINESAILOR]

that will only draw a negative reference for GoPro....

it stopped working 200 miles from Oz.. so no underwater pics for 2 months.. bummer! And they're not repairable...

I can tell you that most times there's nothing to see of the anchor except chain disappearing into the seabed... it buries deep..

[gspeak]

We've dropped our #6 Excel a couple of times in 45 metres. I got tempted returning from the reef & ran across one of our favorite gravel patches inside the reef where we used to catch BIG Large Mouth Nannygai from our 6.5m powercat. Couldn't resist [emoji3]. Don't make a habit of it .... just hearing the windlass hauling it all back up makes you think twice.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by SUNSHINESAILOR

Hi Jim,
that's what happens when there's only two of you and want to dive a wall of a reef with no suitable depth in between... only a daytime stop.
That's a pretty common depth in many places especially Indo..
And if you drag from Chalkies you might find that depth :-)
cheers,
Ian

OK, I get the picture, I think. Not an overnight, serious anchorage, where y ou must consider the possibility of wx changes and being asleep and all that! How much scope did you manage? Really, we only carry around 85 m of chain,so we'd join the "drop until it touches and then cleat it off" mob in those depths.

And we've certainly anchored in plenty of places where if we dragged we'd be in seriously deep water, so we try to avoid dragging! Did that once in a bay on the east side of New Cal. Had anchored on the top of a "hill" in about 45 feet. Spent the night with no issues, but in the morning whilst I was on the morning ham net we just took off, leaving the "hill" behind and I soon found our full ~175 feet hanging straight down. With a manual windlass, that was really FUN, recovering all that gear.

Ain't cruising fun?

Jim

[BigBeakie]

Jim,

A bit of exercise in a French tropical paradise never hurt anyone 😉


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Jim,

A bit of exercise in a French tropical paradise never hurt anyone 😉


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Yep, and it gave me a chance to practice my French invective. I was a bit younger then... now it would lead to cardiac arrest or some such!

Jim

[BigBeakie]

Ha! Serves you right for all those boxes of croissants and other goodies you had while there.

Speaking of failed windlass, we had a seized motor on one once and I was the bunny who had to dive down and tie on a sheet that we then winched to take the weight, then pulled the chain slack by hand. Yeah, it's quite a workout.

Makes you appreciate machines when they work they way they should.

[groundtackle]

When you open up the inbox and see this we get a warm fuzzy feeling...
Sometimes you don't get to choose that perfect anchorage.

'MV Kinship' North Pacific 43' 15t / Excel #6 30kg
July 07/17
Hi Nick,
I bought an Excel from you last year out of your first shipment. I believe mine was the first you shipped South to the States. I had an experience a couple weeks ago that I wanted to share.

We had left Gig Harbor in Puget Sound and had some major engine trouble that caused us to shut down and wait for a tow. The current was ebbing at about 5 knots at the time and we got caught up in a back eddy that carried us South, right next to shore. Eventually we had to drop the anchor to keep from being blown onto the beach.

I dropped the anchor in about 25-30 feet of water close in to shore. I put out about 125' of chain. The anchor caught and held us as the current was streaming us parallel to the shore. We were right at the boundary between the main channel current and an eddy. As that boundary kept moving North and South, we would alternately get pushed either direction. The current was parallel to the shore (in alternate directions) but the wind was coming onshore. Each time the current switched the anchor had to reset itself. Each time it did, the wind was blowing us closer to shore. At one point, our stern was about 5' from dry land as we once again reversed direction.

I was very pleased with the performance of the Excel. Not only did it hold us, but it reset itself several times under far less than ideal conditions. The Excel did its job over the course of about 1 1/2 hours and kept us off the beach until the tow arrived.

Positive feedback never hurts so I thought I would share it with you. I hope you have a great Summer and have the chance to get out on your own boat.

[groundtackle]

Steve's kelp pic is real problem in the PNW and I'm sure in some of your backyards too.
My #5 Excel after 24 hrs on the bottom and before it broke the surface. Not exactly the same spot but similar clogged results if it ever dragged for any length. Not implying the spade dragged, who really knows what happened down there and he found sandy mud on the fluke and I'm sure he set it well. Sometimes that ball is just loose floaters that grab the chain and hang on till you retrieve, when the current runs you sure know there is a whole bunch of flags flying. Changes the scope angles too. Obviously if that kelp is on the bottom the initial penetration of that curtain is critical. I can't really see it you got fresh kelp root Steve.
My washdown is just for the chain now, anchor comes up clean of bottom debris.
Irritating when that GPS looses signal and sets off the anchor alarm, I wish it had 5 second alarm delay as it signal usually comes back quickly.
Chris

[Panope]

Chris,

I did not find any "rooted" weed in the blob. It was all "free floating" leafy stuff.


Steve

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by groundtackle

Irritating when that GPS looses signal and sets off the anchor alarm, I wish it had 5 second alarm delay as it signal usually comes back quickly.
Chris

That GPS track looks very erratic (if I am interpreting it correctly) so it is not surprising that you are receiving false anchor alarms. Make sure your GPS aerial has a clear view of the sky. Modern GPS units are particuraly good at outputting a stable position compared to older models.

I have been experimenting with a GPS compass and its position stability seems considerably better than even a modern 10Hz GPS unit. It will be interesting to see if this translates to a practical advantage when setting the anchor alarm.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by groundtackle

Steve's kelp pic is real problem in the PNW and I'm sure in some of your backyards too.
My #5 Excel after 24 hrs on the bottom and before it broke the surface. Not exactly the same spot but similar clogged results if it ever dragged for any length.

If you look underwater, convex plow anchors, with their long setting distances and relatively thick flukes often get clogged up in weedy anchorages.

This is a Delta anchor. There is little weed growing around this anchor, but the Delta has ripped up this weed. So much so that the anchor can be barely seen.

When this anchor is raised to the surface a lot of this weed will drop away but as you can see it creates a problem on the seabed, where it counts.

Don't assume that anchor that breaks the surface reasonably clean was this way when sitting on the bottom.



Here is another. You can see the ripped out weed roots.