Hello, Rohan, sorry for your woes.
The
Fortress or as donradcliffe wrote, the Danforth-style anchor, is known to have difficulty resetting, and even a clam shell can keep it from doing so. The so called "new generation" anchors do a way better job of re-setting. However, Jim had a 20# Danforth HT anchor for his 30 footer, on about 30 ft. of chain, and the rest was rope rode.
What we did do, that no one has mentioned so far, is never stay more than overnight in one place, or if you do, then up anchor and re-set before nightfall. If in a tidal stream, do that also, re-set the anchor and avoid tangling difficulties. What happened to you was that the chain or rope rode got caught around the shank of the anchor and the wind and tide conditions conspired to wrap you up like a
Christmas present, and it is as if when you pulled the string to open the
knot, you pulled it through the bow and made a serious
knot.
If you intend to stay in the Chesapeake, I wouldn't think you MUST go to all chain rode. The bottom there is very sticky mud--good holding. People seem to be able to set even plow type anchors there and not drag very much. However, if you want to go farther afield, a new generation anchor will be better. The big strong point for the
Fortress anchor is that it has very good holding
power with its large fluke area, and easy handling because it is light weight. It is a superb storm anchor, until the wind shifts! The aforementioned Danforth HT has been used more than once, when we have wanted two anchors to keep from dragging.
Take a look at noelex's thread Photos of Anchors Setting (use the CF Custom
Google Search in the menu under the Search button), and Panope's Videos of Anchors Setting.
You may want to re-think your plans if you plan to go to other places, and there's plenty of
food for thought there.
When you have a fouled anchor, first force yourself to calm. Do not start the
engine. Form the habit of always checking quickly before you start the
engine, to be sure there are no lines in the
water, every
single time you want to start the engine. (This kind of habit can be a lifesaver.) Force yourself to calm, and then decide if you need to wait for daylight. Your best course of "action" might be to take a nap! or wait for sunlight.
Often, all you have to do is to deploy a 2nd anchor by dinghy [flake the chain and rope rode separately, so they leave the dinghy untangled], and lie to the 2nd anchor while you figure out what you need to do. You may have to dive down several times, and figure out which way the boat needs to turn by Braille, if the visibility is poor. Jim and I got dive tickets, and carried air
tanks to address this sort of problem. It helps where there is good visibility, and not too much current running.
I agree with Montanan that you will want to get the boat out of the
water and figure out what all damage was done. Things I would look for are ? bent shaft? condition of cutless bearing? ?rudder damage? in a worst case scenario, there could be damage to the
transmission, too. This is going to be an expensive lesson, I'm afraid. Sorry....and good luck with it all. It is possible it won't be that bad. I hope so.
Ann