Back-up/Second Anchor

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

Given that you are heading south and won't likely need the second anchor till you get there, why not (don't laugh) get a smaller Rocna with a bit of chain and a couple hundred feet of three strand nylon? If stowing is the driver, get a Danforth and hang it on the pushpit. If your down to anchors, you must be nearly ready to depart. Bon Voyage Captain!

I definitely have and continue to consider this.

I just need to get rid pf the house to leave. But that involves a bunch of house projects that are getting n my way. There's rapidly coming a time that I just write off some house selling profit for the time.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I definitely have and continue to consider this.

I just need to get rid pf the house to leave. But that involves a bunch of house projects that are getting n my way. There's rapidly coming a time that I just write off some house selling profit for the time.

For a guy that rarely sails, you may want to reconsider selling the house......and you may want to check into a kedging anchor also......

The best approach is to sail/cruise a couple months then sell the house IF you think the cruising life is for you. I've seen too many old retired couples last less than 6 months with their lifetime plan of the cruising life.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by thomm225

For a guy that rarely sails, you may want to reconsider selling the house......and you may want to check into a kedging anchor also......

The best approach is to sail/cruise a couple months then sell the house IF you think the cruising life is for you. I've seen too many old retired couples last less than 6 months with their lifetime plan of the cruising life.

I value your normal insulting "advise" not one little bit

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by Stumble

i am pretty sure you are right. combine the light weight and ability to be broken down and there is every reason in the world to carry one as a backup anchor. The issue to me in using the Fortress as the bower however is that in the size I consider acceptable the anchor won't fit on the boat.

Stumble, you have a valid point, and I think that for the sake of appearance, a much larger boat is required in order for a Fortress anchor to not look quite so oversized.

Case in point is the new USCG 154-ft Sentinel class patrol boat which displaces 353 long tons (about 800,000 lbs / 360,000 kg) which has the 70 lb (32 kg) FX-125 as its primary anchor.

upload pictures


I do not believe that the FX-125 looks oversized on this vessel, and suffice to say that I also do not believe that any anchor in the world of a comparable weight would have a remote chance of meeting the performance standard required to be approved aboard a vessel of this size, particularly a Chinese-made, non-certified brand.

[Kenomac]

We have a Fortress FX 55 for backup and kedge, and haven't needed to deploy it in over three years. Easy to store, you can even go one size smaller. I suggest you do the same as us.

The only two times we deployed the Fortress was to use it as a stern anchor. It failed miserably when used this way on a sandy bottom. However, I have no doubt in it's ability to function well off the bow as a backup or kedge anchor

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I value your normal insulting "advise" not one little bit

Suit yourself.

And thanks for not sending me anymore insulting PM's lately for simply disagreeing with your inaccurate advice.

That's a step up for you I think.

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We have a Fortress FX 55 for backup and kedge, and haven't needed to deploy it in over three years. Easy to store, you can even go one size smaller. I suggest you do the same as us.

The only two times we deployed the Fortress was to use it as a stern anchor. It failed miserably when used this way on a sandy bottom. However, I have no doubt in it's ability to function well off the bow as a backup or kedge anchor

Hard to understand how that is possible, considering that sand is a bottom in which it will typically perform the best.

Please be sure that you do not have it set at the 45° angle for improving the holding power in soft mud, since in a harder soil like sand, it is likely to skip along the bottom and not set at that angle, and the 32° angle should be used instead.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Hard to understand how that is possible, considering that sand is a bottom in which it will typically perform the best.

Please be sure that you do not have it set at the 45° angle for improving the holding power in soft mud, since in a harder soil like sand, it is likely to skip along the bottom and not set at that angle, and the 32° angle should be used instead.

It was being used as a stern anchor with relatively short scope, and it kept getting yanked back and forth at maybe a 45 degree angle to the boat. Eventually, the anchor was just drawn in closer to the boat. We've since abandoned the idea of a stern anchor to keep the boat headed into the wind at anchorages. We don't have a set of the Fortress mud thing-a-ma-jigs, if that would have made a difference.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Stumble, you have a valid point, and I think that for the sake of appearance, a much larger boat is required in order for a Fortress anchor to not look quite so oversized.

Case in point is the new USCG 154-ft Sentinel class patrol boat which displaces 353 long tons (about 800,000 lbs / 360,000 kg) which has the 70 lb (32 kg) FX-125 as its primary anchor.

upload pictures


I do not believe that the FX-125 looks oversized on this vessel, and suffice to say that I also do not believe that any anchor in the world of a comparable weight would have a remote chance of meeting the performance standard required to be approved aboard a vessel of this size, particularly a Chinese-made, non-certified brand.

That is one impressive product recommendation!

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We don't have a set of the Fortress mud thing-a-ma-jigs, if that would have made a difference.

I would be glad to send you a set of mud thing-a-ma-jigs, which we officially call Mud Palms, for free.

Please send me a PM with your shipping address. We have included them inside the box for the past 20 years or so, and we advise that you permanently install them since they will help the anchor set faster in ANY type of sea bottom.

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

That is one impressive product recommendation!

Thanks! The US Coast Guard has also used this model as the primary anchor aboard their 110-ft patrol boat for over 25 years as well.

[Stumble]

That's a big anchor... I consider it undersized. But they likely expect to run from, or be at sea in big storms.

We used the same FX-125 on our Irwin 54 with 46,000lbs displacement. At the time there weren't many SHHP anchors available. The FX was awsome, but it couldn't be reliably stored on the bow so we had a CQR that I never liked for day to day use and broke out the FX when we needed an anchor we could trust.

My rule for cruising boats is that the anchor should be sized for 150mph winds, not the 30kn your sizing chart recommends. I appreciate that this is the industry standard, but when you step off of the boat after prepping it for a hurricane I want to know that the boat will be there when I come back.

[Mantus 1]

Hello All,
We have an FX-23 in a stern bracket that we plan to use as a stern or emergency anchor. But we also have a second anchor broken down and stowed below deck. And we have an over sized Mantus Anchor (65#) on our bow. Our boat would use a 55# as the working anchor.
Dean

[alctel]

I'd probably use a fortress as a backup/kedge, because it's light and compact for it's holding power so easy to store.

I have a crappy danforth as my kedge (and oversize mantus as primary), but would switch to a fortress if I had the cash.

[Cheechako]

I'd probably go with a Fortress FX37. Light and easy to stow away. One saved my heavy 47 foot mono in 70+ winds once.
If you are long distance cruising it would be my #3 anchor, I would have two others.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

It was being used as a stern anchor with relatively short scope, and it kept getting yanked back and forth at maybe a 45 degree angle to the boat. Eventually, the anchor was just drawn in closer to the boat. We've since abandoned the idea of a stern anchor to keep the boat headed into the wind at anchorages. We don't have a set of the Fortress mud thing-a-ma-jigs, if that would have made a difference.

Using a stern anchor in anything but mostly benign conditions is just a formula for failure, anchor make doesn't matter.