Setting Two Anchors

[foggysail]

[QUOTE=Curmudgeon;507618]Well, at the moment I sit here drenched inside the lagoon in Vineyard Haven harbor after using my dinghy to put out my second anchor. My CQR held last night, but the last few sustained gusts have been over 35 knots and the poor guy next to me not only dragged anchor, but also had his genny unfurl and start flogging iitself to death.

QUOTE]


HEY CURMUDGEON!!! I just left the Lagoon Pond on the 8:15 opening yesterday. Isn't that a great anchorage away from the slop on the other side of the bridge?

Lagoon Pond is my most favored anchorage spot with Cuttyhunk next in line.

Have a good time there, nice to see that your anchor is doing its job!

Foggy

[Kettlewell]

Not sure what it's doing at Lagoon Pond but I just looked at the Buzzards Tower and it's a steady 39, gusting 45 knots at around 9 PM. A real gale. Hope your two anchors are holding well. Next time you might want to try Lake Tashmoo--great shelter and a peaceful harbor.

[foggysail]

Kettlewell--

WOW!!! STEADY 39!!! Well Wifey and I are warm and snug here at home, about a 100 miles away from the Vineyard. I am also happy I double the docking lines on my boat as standard practice.......and hoping it survives without damage on the dock in Fairhaven.

Tashmoo--- been there done that but not recently. At one time the place was loaded with ell grass that prevented most anchors from holding. But now there is so much anchoring there I guess the bottom is mostly mud. I did try anchoring there last year. Personally, I did not like it at all. My chain was covered with mud (I don't have a washing means installed yet). It is also a long walk to town.

In my opinion, the Vineyard is one of the better places on the Island.

Foggy

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Well, at the moment I sit here drenched inside the lagoon in Vineyard Haven harbor after using my dinghy to put out my second anchor. My CQR held last night, but the last few sustained gusts have been over 35 knots and the poor guy next to me not only dragged anchor, but also had his genny unfurl and start flogging iitself to death.

The "experts" say that having a second anchor out in a "v" off the bow doesn't help that much. But it can't hurt, and if I do drag, I will drag more slowly. Wish I had taken the trouble to deploy the second anchor last night, when the conditions weren't quite so bad.

This sort of wind strength should not be a problem at all. Get yourself an anchor you can trust. You will sleep better and save yourself a lot of trouble.

[svrodeorm]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I have a plastic bucket I filled with concrete and put a U bolt in it. It would fire nicely from a 15 inch gun off the USS Missouri.

Its not worth a pinch of poop in a blow. The thing is like a ping pong ball attached to anchor chain and all it can do is screw the situation totally if I need to do an emergency move in a storm.

The time we really do need simplicity is when the wind is cranking and the boat's a draggin'!



Mark

This pretty much sums it up for me too. Well, except we don't carry concrete in our buckets onboard. Instead we use buckets to do laundry, collect sewater and such... and our boat is on the heavys side to start with.

For whatever it's worth, I never embaced the idea of adding more 'stuff' in anchoring situations. If, and only IF, I would drag anchor even in storm conditions, I'd like, first of all, to be able to quickly retrieve whatever I've put in the water, and then get out of there or re-anchor depending on all things..

After that blow I would do a trip to the nearest chandler and purchase a BIGGER anchor. Period.

Do people (in marinas i e) make jokes about our huge bow anchor? Yes! Do we sleep well at night? Yes.

A question for those who carry kellets and that kind of stuff onboard, how often do you use it?

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by svrodeorm

Do people (in marinas i e) make jokes about our huge bow anchor? Yes! Do we sleep well at night? Yes.

I love it. I've tried everything else. I'm adding a Rocna. A bigger one than is recommended.

tgzzzz
(not affiliated with Rocna but I'm available)

[svrodeorm]

Originally Posted by tgzzzz

(not affiliated with Rocna but I'm available)

Ha! I love that one!

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Not sure what it's doing at Lagoon Pond but I just looked at the Buzzards Tower and it's a steady 39, gusting 45 knots at around 9 PM. A real gale. Hope your two anchors are holding well. Next time you might want to try Lake Tashmoo--great shelter and a peaceful harbor.

No problem. Did not drag at all last night, even though there were a few gusts touching 40. I trust my 35 lb CQR unless there is a sudden wind shift, which can cause any plow type anchor to become unstuck.

And my second anchor is a 25 lb Manson Supreme, which is virtually the same as the Rochna-- the Manson just costs less. It's a good anchor too.

As for Tashmoo, I'm quite familiar with it. The issue is that it is just a lake in the woods: no facilities, no food, nothing. The shuttle bus doesn't stop at Tashmoo, and it's a long walk back to Vineyard Haven. But Tashmoo does have a nice little beach right next to the harbor mouth.

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

And my second anchor is a 25 lb Manson Supreme, which is virtually the same as the Rochna-- the Manson just costs less. It's a good anchor too.

OH JEEZ! Now you've done it! A statement like that can unleash the Kraken around here!

[Curmudgeon]

If Rocna doesn't have patents that are enforceable against Manson, it's not my problem.

[Kettlewell]

The issue is that it is just a lake in the woods: no facilities, no food, nothing.

Exactly! That's why I love it there.

[capngeo]

Great thread!

To the OP: ONLY use two anchors in narrow anchorages Bahamian style and NEVER sit on them for more than a couple days without untangling. One rode should be nylon.

To anchor salesmen: NO ANCHOR is the end-all-be-all for any condition. A prudent cruiser has a SELECTION of ground tackle.

To the kellet naysayers: I have survived Andrew, Mitch, Irene, Georges, Katrina and Wilma either in Key West, surrounding islands, or Up Shark River in the 'Glades. Kellets work! Mine are 100# and molded to fit inside my hull under the sole. They NEVER see the light of day unless SUSTAINED Gale force or higher winds are expected. We here in South Florida routinely see 60 Kt gusts in thunderstorms... but they are done in 10 minutes. I know there are a lot of places where people cruise where none of the following will apply... but I cruise in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean.

My primary storm anchor is an old bronze 40# CQR type of unknown manufacturer. It lives in the roller lashed to a cleat with no rode attached. 90% of the time I use a Fortress (aluminum Danforth style) with 30' of 3/8" chain and 5/8" 3 strand nylon. I have used that combo with 2 other boats rafted to me and survived the above 60kt microbursts without dragging.

When the storms with names come calling, a SECOND chain (this time a full shot or 15 fathoms) gets hauled up from the bilge along with two 100# lead kellets. That gets shackled to the old bronze anchor. The kellets are at the nylon/chain junction which puts 90' between them and the anchor. Enough nylon is added to either get to 10:1 or 200% of the expected storm surge (Wilma covered Key West in 10' of water in some places). I use fire hose as chafing gear at the hawse pipes with 2 SEPARATE 5/8" nylon rodes from the deck hardware to the kellets.

I will lay out the ground tackle along the expected wind axis, with sufficient sea room to swing the whole rode if I'm wrong (usually am). Up to 40kts the kellets are on the bottom. Between 40 and 70kts the kellets will bounce up and down making a VERY gentle progressive load on the deck hardware. The highest wind that I recall being on that rig was during Georges at 105 mph per the NWS (My anemometer broke). According to the GPS I didn't drag at all.

For anyone who has not been through a hurricane, words cannot describe the ride. Now-a-days, being older and wiser, I secure the boat as best I can, AND GET OFF! If you can't, look for a hurricane hole and spider-web your boat into the mangroves and forget the anchors!

[sabray]

If your going to use such a big killet why not stick a luke storm anchor or a beasty delta etc on the chain in series. I use a killet for places like tight harbors where i want the rhode but want to limit my swing. Ususally I can cleanily pull the weight up sometimes its snarled about the chain. SO Im wondering were I stocking that weight down in anger would it better be an anchor then dead weight?

[Kettlewell]

Sabray, exactly! Much better to put down a couple of more anchors than a couple of 100# kellets. You can carry a monster Fortress broken down into pieces.

[paradix]

Originally Posted by capngeo

Up to 40kts the kellets are on the bottom. Between 40 and 70kts the kellets will bounce up and down making a VERY gentle progressive load on the deck hardware.

To sabray/Kettlewell - would your extra anchors behave as indicated in capngeo's comment above?