Carrying a 2nd anchor

[Scaramanga F25]

Always had 2 on the bow and one on the stern while cruising.

[Ken Z]

Two are better than one, I couldn t imagine one anchor. Assume nothing.....

[Captain Puget]

For NW sailing, I use 2 - primary Rocna, stern danforth that can easily change to bow or stern .... plus a stern tie rig for shore tie.

All depends where you go and what you do ...

[sailorboy1]

My second anchor is a Mantus just because it comes apart and doesn't take a lot of room. BTW, it has never been in the water.

[dlane1181]

I’m with you. We have a 99lbs Spade, 40lbs Danforth, 40lbs Fortress, and very heavy 3-piece Luke fisherman’s anchor. Only the Spade is rigged. Rode for the others ready to go, as are the anchors, but they are scattered about the boat in easy-to-get places. The Luke buried deep in the bottom of the lazarette.

[roverhi]

You never know when you may have to slip the rode and bug out leaving the anchor and rode. Also, there is the chance of a fouled anchor that can't be retrieved or require SCUBA, which you don't have, to unravel the hang up. Without a spare anchor you will be forever at sea or desperately searching for a dock to tie to.

[TrentePieds]

Originally Posted by Turk397

I have carried a 2nd anchor for years and now i have a better use for that lazarette, any thoughts why this maybe standard practice or was I overly prepared for nothing?

No, you are NOT "overly prepared". If anything, you are a bit short of holding capacity for those times when Aeolus gets a bit snarly.

In my 30-foot five tonner with a whole lot of windage, what with 'er being a raised saloon job with roller furling gear (vortex generators) both on the jib and the main, I carry a 30Lb Bruce for a bower and a 10 lb Fortress for a stern anchor. The Bruce or any other anchor of that sort should be on a roller on the bow for instant use, and preferably be self-stowing as mine is. Reel 'er in till she chocks and the capstan groans, then drop the chain-lock to keep 'er secure.

The stern anchor of the Fortress or Danforth configuration can be stowed conveniently out of the way, by fabricating a coupla S/S fittings that hold the ends of the stock secure against the upper rail of the "push pit" or "monkey rail" (call it what you will). The shank hangs straight down. A gasket of net twine keeps the shank from banging about. The rode is not normally rove up, but lives in a convenient plastic bucket, all neat and tidy, in a cockpit locker. It takes but a few minutes to shackle the rode to the anchor and get it ready.

In narrow, confined anchorages, of which we have many, it's useful to be able to take the stern rode ashore and belay it to a tree or anything heavy ashore so the boat doesn't swing. In some anchorages the convention is to set anchors fore AND aft so boats that are all jammed together don't swing on the tide changes to the detriment of people's peace of mind.

TrentePieds

[SV__Grace]

Sooo... how do you use your boat?

Any useful responses we might have are best applied within the context you're asking about.

[neophytecruiser]

As posted by sanibel sailor, it depends on your sailing. If you only daysail and are using the anchor for a temporary day-time stop-over, one anchor is not over-kill but sufficient. If you use your anchor for overnight stays, it would be prudent to have a second for cheap insurance. Our boat is set-up with two fully rigged bow anchors and one stern anchor mounted on the stern pushpit, with the chain and nylon rode stored in the bilge. The stern anchor, besides being a convenient lunch-hook has also been useful in setting a bow and stern anchor to make sleeping in a semi-open roadstead comfortable, keeping the bow into the swell.

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Funny that I recently cleared out my lazarette to do some electrical work; when I pulled out my third anchor (a danforth that never been used in anger) I thought same thing. Rocna is my primary and my Fortress backup/kedge gets used occasionally. I store Fortress in anchor locker forward so it is relatively ready to go. I carry a Delta stored deep In lazarette during storm season to be used in tandem with Rocna in case I get caught in a hurricane.

[Gaia]

We carry 5. Two spades, one aluminium, on the bow. A Luke fisherman, never used and two Fortresses, one FX 55 and a smaller one as a lunch hook. Neither of the Fortresses have been used very much in our now 25 yr long circumnavigation as the Spades are so much better all around.

We expected to deploy the Aluminum Spade from a dinghy as a second anchor or as a stern anchor but find that we seldom, almost never use more than one anchor at a time.

We once had to drop our chain in Ascension when a large swell came in and we caught our chain on underwater obstructions breaking our snubber and anchor roller.. We were allowed to pick up a mooring, normally a nono, but were later when the swell dropped able to recover our chain and anchor with the help of friends.

It was nice to know we had other anchors, but no spare chain other than a 30 ft length for the second Spade.

Jim SV GAIA

[Don C L]

Of course it depends where yer going but the other day out at the local islands a boat came in anchored bow and stern (he buoyed the stern) as is customary here in small coves, and then also immediately rowed out another as a kedge and buoyed it,(which in this case was very helpful to me given the nearness of our anchors) to keep from drifting too close to me at low tide. He had a distinctly well-equipped, that is sensibly equipped (to my eye,) boat that as it turned out was custom designed and built (cold molded) by the owner himself and had circumnavigated 2 and a half times. So for some the question may be, should I carry a fourth anchor or not?

[onestepcsy37]

depends on where and how you are sailing. day sailing - one or two.

a long term cruiser once told me that you can tell how long a cruiser has been out there by the size and number of their anchors. the longer they've been out there, the bigger and more numerous their anchors....

[svchinamoon]

We carry 3, but as others have said it all depends. We wouldn’t consider heading out with just 1 anchor but there are loads of folk who do...

[PHR]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

It depends on where and how you sail. An anchor (1) is not always required. Two anchors are sometimes required. Sometimes there will be three anchors on a boat too. It all depends on where you sail and how you sail.


b.

I agree with this too. It depends. I read about some cruisers who have sailed years with only using one bow anchor. But I was recently advised to have a stern anchor at some nearby anchors, or else be prepared to sit in NW swells more than other boats. I have two bow anchors, but on a 50' boat, that seems a minimum. I am resisting the stern anchor but I have one available. You have to be prepared for the conditions in which you plan to sail. Of course.