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donradcliffe · 13-09-2021, 12:40

Thomm,
If you want to test how your anchor system really performs, try going up to Annapolis and anchoring off the naval academy seawall. If you can hold in that crowded anchorage for a week and ride out 25k sustained winds and a couple of 50k thunderstorms, you can be confident. My best guess is that you will be going to the anchor store soon.

**newhaul** · 13-09-2021, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Thomm,
If you want to test how your anchor system really performs, try going up to Annapolis and anchoring off the naval academy seawall. If you can hold in that crowded anchorage for a week and ride out 25k sustained winds and a couple of 50k thunderstorms, you can be confident. My best guess is that you will be going to the anchor store soon.

95% is the capability of the sailor . 5% is the ground tackle.

Jimmyhenry · 13-09-2021, 13:28

Rocna

thomm225 · 13-09-2021, 13:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Thomm,
If you want to test how your anchor system really performs, try going up to Annapolis and anchoring off the naval academy seawall. If you can hold in that crowded anchorage for a week and ride out 25k sustained winds and a couple of 50k thunderstorms, you can be confident. My best guess is that you will be going to the anchor store soon.

Nice info thanks.

Doubt I'll be going to the anchor store soon though because I just refused to pay $2.70/ft for replacement chain for my backup anchor the Bruce.

I was going to get 35' - 40'.

Bummer that I turned down about 150' of chain and a huge delta anchor about two weeks ago. A guy with a Bristol 31.1 at the dock had it and it sat in a cart for days before someone got it.

Plus I just found out my ex-wife's vehicle will require $4600 to be repaired so there's that which I'll be taking care of.

I'll use the CQR until it proves that it won't hold so far though it's been fine.

I was just having some anxiety being in so tight the other night with that heavy wind and no where to go but into the mud.

I like an offshore wind when the weather gets bad.

I had 30 miles of bay behind be here. It went from sunshine to this in about 40 minutes after I anchored.

This is just South of the York River West Side Chesapeake Bay 2017 0r so, and I'm in about a close as I can get in maybe 7' - 8' of water and I draw 4'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHt7ocBZKms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okRZs6os5Eo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gcZKr25UUM

MAJICDAN · 13-09-2021, 13:38

I do have a big boat and I have a 125-pound mantis. In real world conditions this is the best anchor that I have used. The best thing that I can say is that my wife and I can now sleep at night. We always set numerous anchors alarms but since we bought the Mantis we have had no problems.
We also have a Fortress FX-125 on the bow but in anything other than clear sand it seems to foul and drag. Both anchors are on a 200 ft chain.

Cheechako · 13-09-2021, 14:00

The Bruce and CQR are probably two anchors at the very bottom of my list of anchors. So not sure. The Bruce better be bigger than normal.
If you anchor in rock etc probably would go with the Bruce.

David Mathis · 13-09-2021, 14:40

For many years my 43' boat has had 20K (44lb) Bruce. The only problem was getting it to penetrate hard sand, the material that feels like a sidewalk. It was common to drag over this bottom for some distance before penetrating. On a whim, I took an angle grinder to the leading edge and sharpened it about as much as practical without creating a hazard. The problem of penetrating in hard sand was eliminated. It now penetrates quickly and goes in deep under strain. Several other common anchor designs were noticed to have rounded leading edges but the new anchors all seem to have a much sharper edge to help with the penetration. Based on my observations, it works.

Mike Banks · 13-09-2021, 14:47

"The CQR is completely obsolete as it does not reset well when the direction of pull changes and it has poor holding for its size and weight, and requires excessive scope to be effective."

Which MUST be the reason that most commercial fishermen and trawlers in Australia used them almost exclusively.

These are still good anchors--and they have never dragged or let me down in years of use on a variety of bottoms and in cyclonic winds--but l use BIG anchors, sixty pounds in weight as well as 12 or 13mm SHORT LINK chain, and if anchoring for any length of time a kellet set one third of the rode distance from the anchor weight. I have rescued one or two vessels that did drag and go ashore, none of them had a GENUINE CQR or a Bruce, and none of them used a kellet either for that matter--

I once did drag using a plough type anchor, but it was a knock-off and a bad one with no lead in the nose as I discovered on retrieving it. They had just poured it cold into the anchor nose, and the place where lead should have been had smooth walls. Bad design.

Would I buy another newer design anchor? Of course I would. A Manson Supreme would be my choice. A few commercial boats are beginning to use them in the larger sizes available.

A CQR or its equivalent the Manson Plough are regarded by Lloyds as high security anchors. I did have a Bruce knock-off aboard and it was great at setting and holding but a bastard to retrieve--the shaft was way too short. I swapped it for beer. The genuine BRUCE is not made any longer in small boat sizes, and the real thing has a long shaft and is drop forged. The knock-offs are usually cast.

thomm225 · 13-09-2021, 15:44

When I did drag after the wind changed to SE and cranked up, I was tucked in behind Fishermen's Island but was exposed after the shift.

Which is when I moved between the fish trap pilings at Zero Dark Thirty. The Atlantic is basically on the other side of the bridge.

This a few years back.

Jib was all over the foredeck also covering the cleat I use for the anchor rode as it's head strap had broken just before I anchored and I figured I'd deal with it in the am but........

peter loveridge · 13-09-2021, 17:46

Here's some real world experience. I have a heavy 30 foot boatr and my main anchor is a stainless steel copy of a CQR. It has 35lb stamped on it but actually weighs 42lb. Connected to 100 feet HT 1/4 inch chain. We were in Florida going N in the ICW, caught in a micro burst. Tornado very close, maybe 50 Yards away. Wind close to 100 knots for 10 minutes/ Saw something bad coming, dropped the anchor and all the chain, hoped for the best. Terrifying 10 minutes followed. The chart plotter showed boat going in a perfect circle, 360 degrees, with five spikes where the chain stretched out corresponding to the gusts. Never moved. I rest my case

thomm225 · 13-09-2021, 17:49

So I posted this earlier having to do with my anchoring 250 miles South of here when I was in my 20's but just noticed the Wind Indicator on the Harrier seen starting at around 39 seconds in during this video..

Looks like it would be very important for the Harrier Pilots to know exactly where the wind is coming from when hovering for a landing and not just being told but to have the visual cue also with all the other stuff the pilot is tasked with in a hover.

Tons of these planes crash in their first few years.

So it's not only sailors that use them. I always had one on my racing boats. But we have the advantage over pilots since we can feel the wind on our skin and see the sails.

Pretty neat...........not many fighter jets have wind indicators on the nose.

As far as the anchoring goes, I've been anchoring boat here in the bay since I was 16 or so .............and I'm getting toward 70 now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnlgHqmXXgM

thomm225 · 13-09-2021, 18:43

As far as my rusty chain and shackles, I stayed with them so long due my experiences with rusty farm equipment especially plows.

The 7 bottom plow I would start using in early spring would be so rusty you would think it was worthless but after a few turns around the field it was the most beautiful shiny chrome you ever saw.

Same with the one shackle I cut off. The first 1/32 of an inch was rusty as hell and the rest pure metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRkBnX55BwE

opusnz · 13-09-2021, 19:29

Do yourself a favor and watch the SV Panope youtube channel. There is tons of good info and it is well worth your time. I now use an Excel anchor and it's holding power is so much better than my old CQR that I can't imagine going back to an older generation anchor now.

**newhaul** · 13-09-2021, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by opusnz

Do yourself a favor and watch the SV Panope youtube channel. There is tons of good info and it is well worth your time. I now use an Excel anchor and it's holding power is so much better than my old CQR that I can't imagine going back to an older generation anchor now.

A couple videos to watch . Steve really puts the CQR through the wringer

https://youtu.be/DF6iiL3KKA4

https://youtu.be/jKHzvfO1UfY