Quote:
Originally Posted by John A
I really don't want to get into a pi**ing contest with you. When the shank raises from the sea floor is how you free the anchor from the bottom.
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I agree with JonJo on this one. It is easy to verify, by
diving and watching the
anchor.
As the
wind becomes strong the chain lifts off the bottom and the angle to seabed is determined primarily by the
scope rather than the chain weight.
As you correctly point out this decreases the holding power of the anchor. The shallower the angle to seabed the higher the holding. This is why increasing the
scope improves the holding power of the anchor at 3:1 the theoretical shank angle will be 19 degrees, at 5:1 12 degrees, 10:1, 6 degrees etc. (assuming a flat sea bed)
Steep angles like 19 degrees very significantly reduce the holding power of the anchor, but to break out a well set anchor we have to
lift the shank of the anchor as high as possible, by reducing the scope to close to 1:1 possible and waiting until the shank angle is very high before retrieving the anchor.