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14-07-2022, 17:55
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 82
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stern anchor
What are your opinions on the necessity of a ready to deploy stern anchor..in ten years through most of the western hemisphere I never had occasion to use the one I had . Do most of you world voyagers carry one at the ready ?
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14-07-2022, 18:31
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 699
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Re: stern anchor
I carry a second anchor relatively ready to use. It has been used as a stern anchor a few times, as a second bow anchor a few more times than that, and as part of a Bahamian mooring the most. Still doesn't get deployed that often.
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14-07-2022, 19:01
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Oahu, Hawaiian Islands
Boat: Nauticat 43
Posts: 412
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Re: stern anchor
We have a Danforth anchor at our bow ready to deploy if a second anchor is needed quickly and we carry a 25 pound Fortress anchor which is stowed. The advantage of the Fortress is it is light enough to carry easily in the dinghy to either place or retrieve it. We've used the Fortress as a second bow anchor when Storm Isaias come over us, set about 60 degrees apart from the primary anchor. And, we've used the Fortress as a stern anchor when we anchored in narrow rivers and didn't want to swing with the current.
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14-07-2022, 20:15
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: On Vessel WINGS, wherever there's an ocean, currently in Mexico
Boat: Serendipity 43
Posts: 5,549
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Re: stern anchor
We have and use a stern anchor.
There are few spots where we occasionally anchor which become rolly at night. Deploying a stern anchor keeps us into the swell and makes for a more pleasant night. We rarely had need for it during our circumnavigation, but we had it.
It is a smallish (12lb) Fortress stowed in a lazarette with a short piece of chain and 150ft of 3/8 twisted nylon. We've set it from the big boat by backing into the shallow part of the anchorage, then dropping the Fortress and motoring out to the limit of the 150 ft to drop the main anchor, and setting that while tending the stern anchor rode. Picking it up is done in reverse.
At other times we set the stern anchor with the dingy (or pick it up that way).
I can't say I feel good about having a stern anchor out because it limits our freedom to get going in a hurry if needed, but we could cast it off, buoyed, and retrieve it with the dingy later.
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These lines upon my face tell you the story of who I am but these stories don't mean anything
when you've got no one to tell them to Fred Roswold Wings https://wingssail.blogspot.com/
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14-07-2022, 20:20
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#5
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Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Minnesota
Boat: Tartan 3800
Posts: 5,416
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Re: stern anchor
I am not a world voyager but have occasionally used a cheap Bruce copy as a stern anchor to point the stern towards shore keeping it in shallower water for people swimming.
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The best part of an adventure is the people you meet.
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14-07-2022, 23:06
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: On the boat!
Boat: SY Wake: 53' Amel Super Maramu
Posts: 885
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Re: stern anchor
Here in the Med, we have one and use it occasionally, but more often if it's cross swell we're annoyed about, it's easier and quicker in and out to tie a line to the main anchor chain and winch the boat to the angle needed for the swell. You can set it and adjust it easily, drop it in a hurry, swing more or less normally, and leave without worrying about recovering another anchor.
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14-07-2022, 23:30
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#7
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always in motion is the future

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: in paradise
Boat: Sundeer 64
Posts: 20,114
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Re: stern anchor
Oh my, it’s been a long time that I posted about Jedi anchoring rules
#1 use only one anchor in 99% of all cases. If it doesn’t hold, buy a bigger one instead of deploying a second anchor.
There are many reasons for this rule; most important is that it prevents countless problems.
So, in case of cross swell, for more comfort, instead of a stern anchor, use a long bridle from anchor chain to cockpit primary winch, to turn the bow off the wind, into the swell.
The 1% exceptions are for very tight spots or tidal currents that reverse. Bahamian Mooring is the solution for that.
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“It’s a trap!” - Admiral Ackbar.
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14-07-2022, 23:30
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#8
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2008
Location: cruising SW Pacific
Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar
Posts: 21,561
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Re: stern anchor
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sojourner
Here in the Med, we have one and use it occasionally, but more often if it's cross swell we're annoyed about, it's easier and quicker in and out to tie a line to the main anchor chain and winch the boat to the angle needed for the swell. You can set it and adjust it easily, drop it in a hurry, swing more or less normally, and leave without worrying about recovering another anchor.
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Springing the boat around to face the swell works well... until the wind drops out... which it seems to do just after you finally get to sleep! But as you say, it is easy to do and undo, so worth trying.
Jim
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Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II, lying Port Cygnet Tasmania once again.
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15-07-2022, 03:58
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#9
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registered user
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: back in West Australia
Boat: plastic production boat, suitable for deep blue water ;)
Posts: 1,194
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Re: stern anchor
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15-07-2022, 05:13
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#10
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Little Compton, RI
Boat: Cape George 31
Posts: 3,233
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Re: stern anchor
Having a stern anchor ready to deploy at a moment's notice would add too much clutter to my already overcrowded aft area, and I can think of exactly zero times when I really wanted a stern anchor with a moment's notice.
Better to have a kedge and rode conveniently stowed out of the way, since 100% of the times I want a second anchor I want it off the bow.
__________________
Ben
zartmancruising.com
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15-07-2022, 05:27
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#11
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 31,284
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Re: stern anchor
I use a stern anchor for Med mooring my boats on quays etc..
It gets annoying having passers by gwaking into the saloon evenings and provides privacy in the cockpit during the day.
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You can't oppress a people for so many decades and have them say.. "I Love You.. ".
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Self Defence is no excuse for Genocide...
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15-07-2022, 05:31
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#12
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 51,805
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Re: stern anchor
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Cate
Springing the boat around to face the swell works well... until the wind drops out... which it seems to do just after you finally get to sleep! But as you say, it is easy to do and undo, so worth trying.
Jim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s/v Jedi
...
So, in case of cross swell, for more comfort, instead of a stern anchor, use a long bridle from anchor chain to cockpit primary winch, to turn the bow off the wind, into the swell...
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See also "ANCHOR SPRING LINES" [2003] ➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums....html#post2642
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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15-07-2022, 06:09
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#13
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always in motion is the future

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: in paradise
Boat: Sundeer 64
Posts: 20,114
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Re: stern anchor
Quote:
Originally Posted by GordMay
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Very good diagram, I saved it! This is one of the best tips for cruisers who didn’t try this yet
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“It’s a trap!” - Admiral Ackbar.
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15-07-2022, 06:36
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Rochester, NY
Boat: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Posts: 6,975
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Re: stern anchor
I have no good way to stow a stern anchor (with the rode) for quick deployment, so I keep mine stowed below. If needed, you grab the anchor and the attached crate of rode, then bring it on deck for deployment. So far, I've yet to have any occasion to use it at all. In an emergency, I can almost certainly dump the primary off the bow faster than I could grab and hand launch the stern anchor.
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15-07-2022, 16:28
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#15
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, in Tasmania, Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 29,961
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Re: stern anchor
Quote:
Originally Posted by myketch42
What are your opinions on the necessity of a ready to deploy stern anchor..in ten years through most of the western hemisphere I never had occasion to use the one I had . Do most of you world voyagers carry one at the ready ?
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It will depend a little on your boat. Here are a few thoughts that might make it easier for you, because yes, there will be a time (or many, depending on how far afield you go and how long you cruise for) when you will want one, and then it is best if it is ready to go.
1) install a stern roller to save the boat from the chain on the anchor, and to facilitate retrieval. Set up a lead from the roller to one of the cockpit winches, so that setting the hook is easy.
2) If you can, install the anchor permanently near the pushpit so that it is ready to go more or less instantly. (Imagine, you're in a river, engine cuts out, and current is setting your boat down on a closed bridge, and you need the brakes!) If this simply won't work on your particular boat, you should store the emergency anchoring "system" in something like a milk crate. Leave the bitter end sticking out, so you can cleat it off before you deploy the anchor (you can splice an eye in it to drop over the cleat). Leave the anchor and chain on the top. For retrieval, you hand over hand the line, straight into the milk crate, where it sort of flakes itself.
Our stern anchor is a 20 lb. Danforth HT. It has held us bow into the waves many times, and also off bommies. If your boat dances at anchor, it can be used to diminish the bow blowing off.
However, I agree with Jedi, that using a 2nd anchor is rare. It is just that when you do need a stern anchor, it would be awful to not have it.
Ann
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