CQR 74#, Finally found, a use

[Nicholson58]

This POC failed to set 1 of 5 times on our Camper & Nicholson Ketch. It dragged many times. Replaced with 121 # Rocna. I tried to sell it through the marina, Michigan West Coast. It’s reputation preceded it.

It seems well suited as a mooring for my 20 foot, 342# Tornado catamaran. It has not dragged yet but I’m keeping an eye on it.

[model 10]

There have to be many fond memories of boats living through a little storm on a CQR. I know we thought several times, holy crap, if it drags now we are done for. The Rocna has drug several times since ditching the CQR some years ago. It ain't perfect either.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Ecos

There have to be many fond memories of boats living through a little storm on a CQR. I know we thought several times, holy crap, if it drags now we are done for. The Rocna has drug several times since ditching the CQR some years ago. It ain't perfect either.

Aint that the truth.

[Nicholson58]

Our Rocna has never dragged except on hard pan rock. In any reasonable anchorage it doesn’t move more than a shank length. For us, this is set and forget.

[SailFastTri]

My Rocna has dragged in soupy mud. And it's really ugly to try to wash off the mud ball the hoop brings up. Other than that it's been great, but I think my prior anchor (manson supreme) had better tip penetration in hard-pack and weeds.

[Greg Mason]

There're only 2 types of anchors. The ones we swear by and the ones we swear at. Take your pick.

[NevisDog]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

...It seems well suited as a mooring for my 20 foot, 342# Tornado catamaran. It has not dragged yet but I’m keeping an eye on it.

Two worthless, oversize, carefully dug-in CQRs/ploughs/Deltas, length of chain between, mooring rope attached mid-chain, will make a great mooring. I've seen heavy fishing boats moored this way using a pair of massive fisherman anchors back-to-back with one fluke removed from each - never moved during hurricane.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Nice!

I gave away the CQR that came with my boat to a guy who had no anchor, other than a very small Danforth, but I gave him full and fair warning.

My Manson Supreme has never dragged.

[Dr. Sea]

I ditched my CQR in favor of a Spade. It has only failed to set twice, once when it landed in an antique abandoned lobster trap at Block Island--the Harbormaster came to the boat to remove it. The other time was in Charlotte Amalie harbor in St. Thomas. This is one of the easiest places anywhere to set an anchor. My friend was doing the anchoring and tried about 4-5 times to get it to set and it wouldn't. So I swaggered up to show him how the real salts do it, and it took me about 4-5 tries to get it to set. I never had a problem in this harbor before or since then. What could have made such a huge difference that time?

[alansmith]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sea

What could have made such a huge difference that time?

Was alcohol involved? smile

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by alansmith

Was alcohol involved? smile

Unfortunately, no. That might have helped.

[NevisDog]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sea

I ditched my CQR in favor of a Spade. It has only failed to set twice, ...

We know Spade is a great anchor (never used one but that's never prevented me offering opinions before...) so it would be good to figure some explanation for a SHHP anchor failing to set, what, eight-ten times in a row???

What is the bottom there - very, very soft soup? Solid kelp?
Was it blowing 50 kts+?
Did you go full astern with 200hp?
Did you lift anchor all the way to the surface to check for weed/mud/fouling?
No alcohol involved - so what's left that we haven't ruled out - levitation? Spider crabs scurrying? Very large flounder???

[Dr. Sea]

[QUOTE What is the bottom there - very, very soft soup? Solid kelp?
Was it blowing 50 kts+?
Did you go full astern with 200hp?
Did you lift anchor all the way to the surface to check for weed/mud/fouling?
No alcohol involved - so what's left that we haven't ruled out - levitation? Spider crabs scurrying? Very large flounder???[/QUOTE]

The bottom in Charlotte Amalie harbor is ideal for anchoring, a thick sand that looks like cement on your anchor when you bring it up. That's why I was surprised at having so much trouble getting the anchor to set. The wind was around 5-8 knots, no problem.

I believe we lifted the anchor to the surface to move the boat and try again, but we may not have paid attention to what was on the anchor. In Split, Croatia, we raised the anchor and it had what looked like a body bag on it. We didn't investigate it very carefully.

[Dolphin460]

I could not give my CQR away, no one want it, so I left it in a boat yard in Leros Greece with a sign, "take it at and use it at your own risk". But here in the Med I find most rental sailboats are still using them. When I see one go down I move. I am currently using a Ultra 35kg SS, with an Ultra swivel shackle plus 85+/- meters of SS-316 Italian chain So far after three years I still swear by it. If I was to change I would buy the next size up.

[GALAWA]

I have a SPADE anchor and found the following shortcomings :
Unlike the ROCNA, it has no arch to let the anchor roll tip down.
To lower the center of gravity close to the tip, lead is added inside the tip, but the spade is not welded shut over the lead. The lead is exposed to sea water causing electrolysis between lead and steel.
Because of this, or possibly because they are not properly galvanized in the fist place, SPADE anchors rust fast.

I wanted to re-galvanize my spade anchor.
To prevent the lead from melting away and getting lost in the molten zinc , I had my anchor welded shut.
The galvanizer informed me that my anchor had floated on the molten zinc bath !
Apparently the manufacturer of the anchor did not put enough lead in the tip.
This may explain why my SPADE anchor fails to set into grassy bottoms.

The shank is hollow to keep the center of gravity close to the tip. As a result the shank is not strong enough and I bent it by hoisting the anchor while it was stuck amid rocks.

All this is shoking from such an expensive anchor.

My next anchor will be a ROCNA