Using Too Big an Anchor ?

[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

[foamcore]

Buy too big an anchor? Can ya do that?

[Jim Cate]

Lowride, a brief inspection of that chart reveals that they recommend a 16.5 lb Bruce for a 36 foot boat. Preposterous, I say!

Our last boat was a retired IOR one-tonner, 36 ft OAL, around 20,000 lbs loaded for full time cruising. We used a 44 lb Bruce on 10 mm chain and felt it to be marginal at times.

If you are planning extensive anchoring in real world cruising conditions (ie, not always the best bottoms, shelter and weather) I would suggest that the 33 lb Bruce is not too BIG for your boat, but too SMALL.

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Towlers Bay, NSW, Oz

[Ram]

I think that guide is way off-too light- and i would not sleep good at night with any bruce, get the Ronca or Manson Supreme Anchor - this is perhaps the most important gear/investment you can buy

[Minggat]

Phones go off the hook. Sailors live ON the hook.

If you're going to live on the hook, "too big" would not be the right question.

[Sailmonkey]

33 is not too big for your boat, in fact I feel it's just a little too small. It'll be fine in the mud so long as it's not really blowing, but you would sleep better with bigger.

[markpierce]

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 wouldn't begin to feel comfortable unless I had a 44-pound Bruce for the main anchor for a 38-foot boat, although a 33-pounder would work well in many situations.

[Delfin]

I have had a 44 # Bruce on a Cape George cutter, 36', 12 tons, and a 176# Bruce on our present boat. The Bruce is not the best choice in lighter weights. They set very quickly, but have limited holding power, again in the lighter weights - under 100#. I would look carefully at a Rocna, or better yet a Sarca if you can pay the freight from Australia. You'll sleep better at night....

[s/v Jedi]

There's this fellow who designed Jedi who wrote: if people start laughing about your big anchor you know you're on the right path: trade it in for the next bigger size again and you should be good.

Jedi is 25 metric tons (27 US) and our Bruce is 80 kg (= 176 lbs !) which is ridiculously oversized according to any table. People laughed about our Bruce a lot. When we survived hurricane Ivan with 120 knots sustained winds while anchored behind this Bruce and without even dragging, people stopped laughing.

We sleep good while at anchor. In fact, I only get up during squalls when I hear the screaming from boats that are dragging come too close to us

ciao!
Nick.

[lowride14]

hmm good to know guys, i'm trying to do this on a budget so i guess i'll keep my eyes open still for a while longer as its in a nice lil slip right now. Just for your reference, I will be anchoring off the coast of vancouver island.

[lowride14]

what style would be the best for the victoria and area and what minimum size would you recomend?

[pressuredrop]

yep no such thing as too big, main hook on my 30' 7 tonner is going to be a 45lb cqr, alternate 33lb bruce, peace of mind is priceless

[foggysail]

NO, I don't want another "my anchor is better than yours." With that stated, be very careful with a Bruce. I used to use both a 33 & 44 in my old 30' Hunter. They both worked reliably until our harbors filled with ell grass. Those anchors just pull huge divots of bottom when I backed down to set the beasts. I now use a Delta with no problems.

I still see people around here with them on the bow. I often wonder how they properly set them but then again, maybe they don't.

Foggy

[craigsmith]

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

Notice how that chart doesn't qualify its recommendations? What conditions are they sizing the anchor for, based on what data? Are those anchor sizes good for 10 knots wind in clay, or 100 knots wind in mud? It's also 15 years out-of-date. It's junk, probably regurgitated rules-of-thumb tabulated into a chart to look good - ignore it.

A 33 lb Bruce is far too small for your boat. You also can't get genuine Bruces anymore, unless you mean a 2nd hand one, in which case look more closely as folk will often say Bruce or CQR or whatever when they're really talking about a knock-off.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by craigsmith

folk will often say Bruce or CQR or whatever when they're really talking about a knock-off.

yes and both these designs rely on compound shapes which are difficult and expensive to fabricate and where the knock-off's cut corners to save cost with dramatic results.

For the OP, I have no clue what bottom conditions to expect there and if you want to anchor semi-permanently there. If conditions allow it I would consider creating a permanent anchor system with 2 or 3 Danforth type anchors that you leave there when you go out for a sail.

cheers,
Nick.