Oddball anchors you have loved?

[Kettlewell]

We have lots of threads on here talking about mainstream anchors including Danforth, Fortress, Bruce, CQR, Rocna, Mantus, Spade, Excel, and even Ultras. How about oddball anchors you have used and loved, whether for specific uses or as your main go-to anchor.

I'll start. I owned and used a 45-pound Bulwagga anchor on our 38-foot motorsailor for around 6 years, including a two-year cruise from New England down to Colombia and back. Anchored in all sorts of dicey places and it never failed. One thing nice was it performed well in the strange gelatinous mud found up creeks in the Chesapeake. It also hung in there on runway like packed bottoms in the Southwest Caribbean where nothing but the tips of two points penetrated. It held through a 56-knot sudden blast in the San Blas where we were surrounded by coral so could only let out about 3.5:1 scope. I still own it and may use it again one day, especially if I go to an area with lots of weedy bottoms, which it was designed for. At one point in the distant past Practical Sailor rated it highly.

[thinwater]

Northill. Designed for seaplanes in WWII, it remains highly reliable. On of the most common types on commercial fishing boats. The shank/fluke geometry. if you ignore the second fluke, is very similar to NG anchors. Really good on rock and sand.



It's weakness is the extra fluke sticking up where it can foul.

[skipperpete]

What’s not to love about an anchor called BULWAGGA? I thought I’d seen or used just about every design, weight and variation of anchor but that Bulwagga is totally new to me. I only have a “worst” anchor to offer….Dreadnought! I had a maybe 60-75 kg one of these that I was given for free….. like a bad rescue dog. That damn thing had a 100% perfect score on every type of bottom, not once did it ever settle into the seabed and do what an anchor is generally expected to do. I did a lot of diving and snorkeling during the dreadnought era (error) and never failed to see that hefty chunk of metal sitting on the seabed in full view…. Even when the chain was buried , that bloody anchor was still visible. Second worst was a fisherman ( Popeye ) anchor that I kept as a storm anchor….. again , a free anchor and again 75 kg…. it came as no surprise to me at all that Joshua Slocum dragged TWO of these at the same time. That anchor was given , by me, to a boat club and set in concrete as a nautical feature at the entranceway.

[Kettlewell]

I always knew about the Northill because I read all the books back in the day, and they were mentioned. But, that second fluke sticking up seemed to be a real Achilles heel unless one routinely anchors someplace where the wind rarely shifts, or if you always use two anchors. I particularly liked the idea of the stainless folding versions as a spare anchor that could be relatively easily stowed.

[Kettlewell]

Anyone ever used one of these Barnacle anchors?

[wrwakefield]

This boat came with a less mainstream but very dependable and worthy Super MAX anchor [80 lb adjustable version] as the main bower. The former owners used it for ~10 years in the Bahamas and along the E coast of S America, and rode out a couple of hurricanes with it during that time.



I had never seen one prior, and was very impressed as we used it the first two years of full time cruising. It never once dragged once set, and set quite easily.

It is worth noting the flukes are made of high carbon steel, and subsequently very strong. The flexibility of adjusting the fluke angle for soft, medium, and hard bottoms works well also.

It also fits nicely on the bow with our other bower: 45KG/ 99 lb Spade.



Since they are priced at about half of other mainstream anchors- and perform as well as the Spade [in sand and mixed sand- and is quite superior in soft mud and ooze] in our experience- I don’t know why we don’t see more in use.

FWIW

Cheers, Bill

PS: Many more details on our ground-tackle inventory page.

PPS: One downside- compared to our Spade at least- is that it will not self-launch from our bow rollers.

[Sailorichiban]

Hello all,
How about a Britany?
Looks like a danforth but sans the stocks and flukes made of heavy steel plate.
Overall very heavy construction and compact considering its weight.
Amazingly always worked well !
And no, I don’t sell them!

[ggray]

How does the Super Max do in grass?

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

This boat came with a less mainstream but very dependable and worthy Super MAX anchor [80 lb adjustable version] as the main bower. The former owners used it for ~10 years in the Bahamas and along the E coast of S America, and rode out a couple of hurricanes with it during that time.


Since they are priced at about half of other mainstream anchors- and perform as well as the Spade [in sand and mixed sand- and is quite superior in soft mud and ooze] in our experience- I don’t know why we don’t see more in use.

FWIW

Cheers, Bill

PS: Many more details on our ground-tackle inventory page.

PPS: One downside- compared to our Spade at least- is that it will not self-launch from our bow rollers.

[Kettlewell]

I inherited an FOB anchor that I tried a few times, then relegated to a small boat mooring since it didn't seem to provide any advantages over a Danforth, and was harder to set. Sort of similar to a Britany.

I've seen a few Super Max in the wild, and they usually have a pretty rusty hinge at the joint in the shank. Not sure I would ever get around to fiddling with that unless I was certain of the bottom composition first. Seems like a weak point when you get dramatic wind shifts.

[Old Bay]

I'll second the SuperMax. Is the main that came on the bow along with a Danforth. I picked up a used Delta just to round out the arsenal. Am super impressed with the SM.

[Benz]

I have a collapsible Northill that makes a great kedge for the big boat when among rocks, where the Fortress is impractical, and a perfect primary for the 21-foot trailer schooner I've been playing around with. I have the schooner for sale, but I'm keeping the Northill.
I also have two small but HEAVY cast forfjord anchors as moorings for the 12-foot dinghies I built my daughters.
If I had to choose ONE anchor to use as a permanent mooring, it'd be a Forfjord.

[Searles]

Would have to put the trotman at the top of the list developed in 1800rds widely used on the big windjammers,smaller models for the yachting fraternity were developed ,will hold in just about any bottom ,with the top fluke folded over verry little to snag ,plus easily broken down for easy stowage ,⛵️⚓️

[Kettlewell]

Never heard of the Trotman anchor until now. Nice!

[Orion Jim]

This is the best dinghy anchor I’ve ever owned (not my anchor in these pics) and I’ve had it for 40+ years. Mine was made in Sweden and the galvanizing is still holding up very well. Some older things were very well suited for purpose. Stows and deploys easily. I learned the necessity of having an anchor in my dinghy decades ago.

[Kettlewell]

Stows and deploys easily. I learned the necessity of having an anchor in my dinghy decades ago.

I've seen a lot of those in use, but I'm not wild about the idea of having a couple of those pointy flukes sticking up from the bottom in shallow areas where people are using inflatable boats, walking around in the water, etc. I've stepped on other people's anchors (and my own) before and I was glad they were small Danforths, mostly buried.