Using Too Big an Anchor ?

[Kettlewell]

"Wow, you guys must think Lowride14 lives in one of the areas frequently exposed to the wrath of Gods. The truth is, winds of 40kt+ are rare if not unknown between May and the end of October around here, and there is an abundance of all weather/directional anchorages throughout the area."

Sounds wonderful! Sorry, but many of us are thinking of our home waters or long-distance cruising, which requires better ground tackle. As a former liveaboard, and having sailed between Labrador and the Caribbean quite a bit, I feel that my normal, everyday ground tackle and anchoring arrangement should be capable of the onset of a sudden gale or else I don't sleep very well. For example, here on the East Coast even though a gale is pretty rare between May and October they are not unknown, and there is a high chance of a thunderstorm popping up with winds of hurricane force, especially in the summer. IMHO, you always need to be prepared for the unexpected. Cheers!

[capnorv]

Originally Posted by lowride14

I'm going to be living off the hook for a little while and i'm planning on getting a bruce anchor. I only have two different sized danforths right now, not somthing i'm gonna be able to sleep at night with. I have a 38' boat and i found a 33lbs bruce for sale, is there anything wrong with using an anchor meant for a much bigger boat? ( i have a 1000lbs electric windlass)

I have been going by this chart for sizes
Anchor weight guide

This is the Salish Sea of Western North America, if anyone cares. Juxt a little different from the Eastern seabored.

[SA/USA]

For anyone who is interested, the Spade anchor is available here in the USA. You do not say how much your boat weighs, but I would suggest a S100 Spade Anchor for your boat.

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by craigsmith

No. Catenary is worthless in bad conditions as the rode is pulled straight. The weight is better in the anchor.

If you have no centenary, you have too little rode out. If you don't have enough room for more rode, add a kellet! Having no centenary in an all chain rode is like hitting your boat with a hammer every time the rode comes taught; hard on the ground tackle, hard on deck hardware.

I've sat out hurricane force winds sitting on an ALUMINUM Fortress with 12' of chain and the rest nylon. I think that anchor weighed less than 30 pounds!

[Feral Cat]

I must say that I am impressed with the knowledge here on these boards...

Since my particular situation lends itself to the need to manage overall weight of the "ANCHORING SYSTEM" you have together helped make my decision to build my system to stay within the weight limitations of my boat and still have what I would consider adequate ground tackle for most all situations with of course "Correct seamanship" and picking good anchorages...

I will go with a slightly oversized anchor (38' boat = 44# anchor), one boat-length of correct sized chain (3/8 G4) and now a much longer (+100'up to 500' total) correct sized nylon rode (5/8" 3 strand)to finish the compliment... Many of my closer anchorages are up to 100' deep, so I need a long rode to get a more correct scope... All of these will work to stay within the weight limits of my older IOR designed hull... Darn, I think I am going to need a good windlass...

Just wanted to say thanks to all who have added to this discussion board...And to the original poster...Great question in your post.

Awesome, Thanks!

[hellosailor]

Lowride, my personal criteria for "too big" an anchor is one that you can't lift.

If you can't lift it, it is too big. If you can lift it, it might be big enough.

All the rest is just details.

[barnakiel]

BTW I believe I have seen Spades in both alloy and galvanized steel.

It seems a Spade can be taken apart for storage which is a huge bonus if you want a big one for use in extreme conditions only.

b.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

BTW I believe I have seen Spades in both alloy and galvanized steel.

It seems a Spade can be taken apart for storage which is a huge bonus if you want a big one for use in extreme conditions only.

b.

I am very disapointed in my Aluminum Spade a-140 its just not heavy enough to penatrate most bottoms, I keep it as a back up , and it works well in soft sand & mud but thats about it , for me a waste of $900

[ReMetau]

We have a 60 lb Bruce for our 33'.

[Kettlewell]

Despite my own arguing against sheer weight in anchors, I do realize that aluminum anchors can be counterproductive in certain areas. For example, there are places in the Chesapeake where there is a jelly-like mud that defies penetration by large aluminum Fortress anchors. They have too much sail area compared to their weight and the anchor just floats on the surface of this jelly. If you try to back down on an anchor there you end up pulling it through the upper layers of this jelly where the holding is not good. You need a fairly dense and heavy anchor to slowly sink down through the jelly to where there is mud with some substance to provide holding. In places, like Spa Creek in Annapolis, I let my heaviest anchor sink overnight before backing down on it. You can get the same floating effect with lightweight anchors with lots of surface area trying to penetrate heavy weeds.

[s/v Jedi]

We have the two largest models of Fortress and are happy to have them (FX-125 and FX-85) but you must know what they can and what they can't.

You can't use them as a primary anchor and leave the boat. Reason is that they will come loose with a big enough wind shift and their low weight combined with big surface area prevents resetting. I've even seen one come up all the way to the surface during dragging.

They are perfect as 2nd anchor for Bahamian moor (180 degree swings on tidal current) or to bring out and retrieve with the dinghy. Also great to put on a beach when the palm tree is missing.

I have thought about buying a sand screw but it becomes too big for our boat. Having some 10' / 3m lengths of heavy chain with shackles is good for wrapping around stuff both above and under water. After my pieces of chain became rusty, I switched to cargo straps (remove all metal parts and sew eyes on both ends) and they hold up really well for much less cost.

cheers,
Nick.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Having some 10' / 3m lengths of heavy chain with shackles is good for wrapping around stuff both above and under water. After my pieces of chain became rusty, I switched to cargo straps (remove all metal parts and sew eyes on both ends) and they hold up really well for much less cost.

cheers,
Nick.

I too use chain around rocks or rusty pilings on/near/shore, I wonder how the cargo straps would hold up to that action?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Ram

I too use chain around rocks or rusty pilings on/near/shore, I wonder how the cargo straps would hold up to that action?

Remarkably well. I wrap them around a couple of times so that they don't move, which prevents chafing. UV damage will be what determines the life span but I have some in use continuously for 2 years now in the tropics and they are still good.

cheers,
Nick.

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

We have the two largest models of Fortress and are happy to have them (FX-125 and FX-85) but you must know what they can and what they can't.

You can't use them as a primary anchor and leave the boat. Reason is that they will come loose with a big enough wind shift and their low weight combined with big surface area prevents resetting. I've even seen one come up all the way to the surface during dragging.

Nick,

If the Fortress anchor has been "power set"and is well buried into a sea bottom, then it is going to be difficult to break those two large flukes loose regardless of the wind direction.

That said, no anchor will dependably reset during a wind shift, so if you anticipate one, we recommend setting two anchors for maximum safety.

I found this animation which might be helpful in showing boaters how to set two anchors:

http://www.uspowerboating.com/anchor...wo_anchors.gif

Regards,
Brian

Fortress Marine Anchors

[hummingway]

Useful animation. My problem is a combo prop walk and boat that's difficult to steer in reverse. I can wind up anywhere