Anchoring tip for visitors to South Australia.

[GILow]

Well, it was a pretty eventful weekend, what with one thing or another.

In all the excitement, I forgot the one event that is worth mentioning. On Friday night I was anchored at Port Vincent on the Gulf St Vincent, when the anchor alarm went off at 2 am. It was blowing a honking 20 plus knots all night, and my faithful SARCA finally became a giant sea-grass tumbleweed and started skipping across the bottom.

The irony is, last week I sold my Marsh Stockless, which has been my bullet-proof sea-grass anchor these last few years. I sold it because I am leaving South Australia this week and it was a bit too heavy for my old Muir 3000 anchor winch plus a PITA to get over my bow rollers. Neither of these problems are the fault of the anchor itself, just a reality of my boat’s setup.

So, the message is, if you are coming to South Australia and plan to explore, grab a Marsh Stockless. Except, they are not called that any more as Marsh closed shop a while back and they are now sold under another name by North Haven Marine in North Haven. But call Rob and Mandy at the chandlery, they’ll know what you need.

Matt

[noelex 77]

The Marsh stockless is a very simple (but surprisingly expensive) specialist weed anchor (see photo). Its thin flukes are good at penetrating weed although it has a very small fluke area so the substrate under the weed has to be reasonably firm for it to develop enough grip.

It was once extremely popular for local cruising boats in South Australia and is still commonly seen, but on my last visit to the area Rocna anchors were starting to outnumber the Marsh for the local cruising boats. Keep in mind Spade anchors are very difficult to buy in Australia as there is no distributer (a great business opportunity waiting for someone) so this does not help settle the “which is better in weed, Rocna or Spade” debate.

The more widespread use of the Rocna may be due to the poor availability of the Marsh, but hopefully it was due to modern anchors becoming versatile enough that a specialist weed anchor is no longer justified.

[GILow]

It is a bit pricey, but that’s probably because of the low turnover. North Haven Marine sometimes have secondhand versions on their shelf (like mine) at a good price.

There’s also a LOT of steel in them, they are heavy, which is why I reluctantly decided to let mine go.

I’m feeling guilty that I never found the time to do a video test like Panope does, but I can say it set relatively easily every time I used it, though it would skip a little on hard sand before biting in extremely abruptly.

Wind shifts never caused me any difficulty, which makes sense as it is truly symmetrical. If it flips with a wind shift it does not need to right itself.


In seagrass it set instantly every time and will only come out with a direct pull upwards, which is easy enough with a bit of care.

[groundtackle]

GILow, Matt. Sounds like you were aware of the drag and caught it in time.
I looked into the Marsh a few years ago and need to get one in hand to play with. I've never seen one in the PNW and believe it will work up here as we hold multiple patents on eel grass, kelp etc. We also invented rain and other forms of precipitation.
I looked at your pics and see the bow sporting a Super SARCA. This anchor is developed and manufactured by Rex Francis at Anchor Right Australia. I know that anchor intimately.
I made a vow years ago not to bash other anchor designs online and have generally stuck with this unless threatened or feel the need to defend our products.
So... I'd like to take this opportunity to knock an anchor design but it in this case it's my own.
From personal experience I don't believe any unballasted roll bar themed anchor is good for grass. I've seen them on the sides or inverted simply gathering giant balls of hay along their journey. Grass accumulates on the fluke and roll bar like a kid decorating a xmas tree with tinsel. The weight distribution changes and fluke or control surfaces are muzzled. I put my boat on the beach in Mexico after dragged thru weed using a genuine Bruce. Also dragged up in the Sacramento rivers cabbage patch using Danforth, that's all I had. Those two anchor foul and then its game over. I found the Danforth had stick in it after removed 1000lbs of lily pads and their roots. The key is to penetrate the curtain as quickly as possible with an anchor in its proper attitude and any appendage will be detrimental.
I can also use the xmas tree analogy for penetration. Throw those light ornaments at a tree and they may stick or bounce. Chuck a toe weighted dart and it might come out the other side.
That darty clean shape is why Spade succeeded and now what I feel to be slightly better is an Excel.
The Rocna is a sorta hybrid as its fluke and toe are heavy by design but still sports a roll bar. Once a roll bar has done its job to orientate its becomes a negative.
I'll also add that a roll bar can fail to orientate in thin ooze like glacier till. It sails along in any orientation and won't dive to find something a little more compact. I've switched out a roll bar for a CQR in exactly those conditions. CQR found itself 20'+ underground and took hours to remove after it blew 50kts off the ice mountain for a day. I used the CQR because it was convenient but was about to dig out Fortress if it failed too. Glad I didn't as that Fortress would still be there.
The Super Sarca has its purpose and its a great anchor. When anchor testing I swapped back and forth between an Excel, Super Sarca and others to observe behavior. Those two work as promised in most substrates or conditions but feel the Excel has the edge for reasons stated above and its sharp nose for biting really hard stuff.
That sharp concerns me in rock as it might lock into boulders for good. Super Sarca might not jam because its blunter, has a roll bar and with its rock slot you have a chance to recover.
Super Sarca is the go to anchor for the commercial oil spill recovery industry to anchor booms. They don't have the luxury in choosing a nice place to drop the hook as spills happen anywhere. Rail line along raging rivers or deep lakes lakes strewn with rock and log. Halibut or deep water fisherman love them because they have no idea whats down at 500' and they hold on short or basically no scope. Again in these last two conditions you might get your gear back.
If you know whats down there we should deploy the correct anchor. We cant see the bottom after 12' most times off the year and I'm not jumping in for a peek unless its an emergency. That's where we keep our beer cold.
Cheers, Chris

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by groundtackle

From personal experience I don't believe any unballasted roll bar themed anchor is good for grass. I've seen them on the sides or inverted simply gathering giant balls of hay along their journey. Grass accumulates on the fluke and roll bar like a kid decorating a xmas tree with tinsel

Do you mean like this:







But this is a convex plow anchor, in only light weed. Not a roll bar in sight. The weed on the anchor is not attached to the seabed but is clinging to the fluke.

The difference is that this plow anchor is on the seabed. When raised, this anchor was almost clean so the owner has no idea what is occurring.

Some people believe that the flukes of convex anchors don't become clogged in these circumstances. It is simply that when a convex anchor is raised to the surface often weed will fall off before breaking the surface, leaving little sign.

On the bottom, where it counts, there is a very different picture. These types of “giant balls of hay" are quite common on convex plow anchors. Dont believe the fluke of the anchor is not becoming clogged just because when it raised the anchor looks clean.

The secret to avoiding clogging with weed is to have an anchor that sets quickly, and convex plow anchors unfortunately take a long time to set.

To understand what is happening with anchors you need to look at the anchor on the seabed.

[groundtackle]

Noelex, is that an Excel because I cannot tell from those pics?
One day you will physically see an Excel and I can only dream of you actually trying one.
The Excel does not perform like that unless it had an outside factor like garbage or a shell on the toe. If any anchor drags for any reason in weed or gets mudded then that's what it looks like. The Excel is different in many ways compared to a Delta and has double the holding power.
I don't know what else to say other than you are not giving out true information and misleading the public.
I would never say its perfect but I personally believe the Excel is the best all around anchor in the world at this particular moment in time. I don't sell or do anything but the best, its a fault sometimes.
Just because I live in PNW doesn't mean I've not physically seen anchors setting. I'm a surfer and sailed a little. Spent some time in, on and around the water. Its my life.
Chris

[GILow]

Originally Posted by groundtackle

GILow, Matt. Sounds like you were aware of the drag and caught it in time.

I looked into the Marsh a few years ago and need to get one in hand to play with. I've never seen one in the PNW and believe it will work up here as we hold multiple patents on eel grass, kelp etc. We also invented rain and other forms of precipitation.

I looked at your pics and see the bow sporting a Super SARCA. This anchor is developed and manufactured by Rex Francis at Anchor Right Australia.


...

Thank you for clearing that up for me. I’ve always called it a SARCA but I note your correction, you are absolutely right.

It came with the boat and lots of glowing praise from the previous owners, even though, according to Rex, it is a size or two too small.

It is my plan to buy an Excel of the correct size for the boat when I get a chance, some time in the next few months, then I’ll keep the Super Sarca as my backup.

Incidentally, the super sarca did look almost exactly like the anchor in the photos when it dragged on the seagrass on Friday night. But otherwise it has never let me down, while that particular anchorage is notorious for boats dragging.

[inchcailloch]

A word of warning! From my understanding when sailing in NSW last year it is illegal to anchor in seagrass which can lead to substantial fines. Apparently there has been much damage done to the vegetation, breeding ground to young fish etc.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by inchcailloch

A word of warning! From my understanding when sailing in NSW last year it is illegal to anchor in seagrass which can lead to substantial fines. Apparently there has been much damage done to the vegetation, breeding ground to young fish etc.

Good to know, thank you.

[HankOnthewater]

Like you Gilow, I too carried for years an anchor too heavy, too big kind of anchor, and I sold it last year, too difficult to stow, to use and to retrieve. In my case it was a fisherman type. And I used it over 15 years.... only once for trying it out, it lived on my previous boat 5 years and 10 years in the shed, before it got the boot.

Although I have now two anchors on the bow, I used exclusively one anchor .... lets say brand X, it has a sharp point, no roll-bar, it is excellent for me sofar. By the way, my second anchor is concave one, with roll-bar, and it comes to the surface with weed, unlike my first anchor.... but then again like Noelex said, it may have dropped off.

The sand around here is very hard and often covered with lots of weed. Although maybe not as much as you have in your neck of the woods. Sofar, so good, and I sleep well.

Back to your first question, what anchor to use in the weed of South Australia? I have never anchored there, but a friend (with his boat next to mine) has anchored all around SA for many weeks, when he sailed from Queensland to WA. He has the same anchor as I have, but a size smaller. It worked for him.

On edit, I have used the Sarca Super (the one with the roll-bar), was very good in sand...... my experience of this anchor in weed, OK up to 15 knots of wind and little wave action, but anything more, didn't hold.

[Mr B]

Not sure where you were parked at Port Vincent,
But looking at Google maps,
I would have thought that parking just off the beach in front of the Port Vincent sailing club would be protected from winds,
Just to the west of Surveyor point,
Is there a lot of seagrass there or is it only in certain spots,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Not sure where you were parked at Port Vincent,
But looking at Google maps,
I would have thought that parking just off the beach in front of the Port Vincent sailing club would be protected from winds,
Just to the west of Surveyor point,
Is there a lot of seagrass there or is it only in certain spots,

Which is why one should never use Google Maps as a navigation tool.

It’s about three feet deep there.

The seagrass is kinda all over. Patchy, but coming in at midnight you really can’t rely on finding a sand patch, and even if you did, any drag and the anchor is in seagrass again.

Best just to use the right tool for the job, in this case the Stockless.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by GILow

Which is why one should never use Google Maps as a navigation tool.

It’s about three feet deep there.

The seagrass is kinda all over. Patchy, but coming in at midnight you really can’t rely on finding a sand patch, and even if you did, any drag and the anchor is in seagrass again.

Best just to use the right tool for the job, in this case the Stockless.

Google maps is good for an over all Picture of the area, Thats it,
Its also good for getting a restuarant on land that I can park near, and walk too,

I use a Garmin GPS with C Maps for navigation,
My draught is 600 MM, and I can park on the sandy beaches with the tide out,
,
But thanks for the heads up on the sea grass all over,
My GPS and Google dont mention that,
My GPS only gives submerged rocks,

I was more concerned with parking in a place that is protected from the wind and waves coming up from the south,

My new anchor has come up covered in weed or growth of some kind,
But it wont come up without my using the boat to break it free from what ever its Buried itself into,
I do have to pull it out backwards, The slot works,

My new anchor has held in excess of 30 knots so far, Rock solid,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I was more concerned with parking in a place that is protected from the wind and waves coming up from the south,

I’ve found Port Vincent to be a great anchorage in just about any wind direction.

Technically it is exposed to a North Easterly, but those are rare and the one time I experienced one there I didn’t feel in any danger.

All other directions are fully protected by the shallow reef that runs out from the land to a point about 3 nautical miles to the North East.

[groundtackle]

Originally Posted by inchcailloch

A word of warning! From my understanding when sailing in NSW last year it is illegal to anchor in seagrass which can lead to substantial fines. Apparently there has been much damage done to the vegetation, breeding ground to young fish etc.

An interesting and timely topic.
I've a concept within my backyard to mandate boaters using only certified SHHP (super high holding power) anchors within our marine parks and other sensitive ecological areas. The feds and other groups are onboard. Rather than banning all anchoring let's get the best equipment into the ground and minimize environmental damage.
Anchor Right Australia has completed this very time consuming and expensive certification. Both the Super Sarca and Excel have it.
Look at your own anchor for a stamp if compliant with SHHP designation.
This directive has traction up here in the PNW.
GILow, Rex is looking fwd to your call.
Chris