If You Could Only Have One Anchor What Would It Be?

For only one anchor , the lifting ability of the windlass should be evaluated , and the largest anchor you think you can safely bring aboard would be the choice.

On some boats a tiny bow roller will limit the choice , but bow rollers are not hard to replace.

In many large marinas you will see the anchor you think would fit on someines boat.

Most folks are friendly enough to lend it to you for a test fit.

Lower it into your dink, and see!

One choice? The one that came with the boat.

One choice? The one that came with the boat.

What if the boat was a dockside cottage?

HopCar said:

PGI, why rope and not chain between the anchors? Interesting idea, let the anchors choose which one will do the work. Some will point out that the anchors could foul each other if the boat swung around, but I gather that hasn't been an issue for you.

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I used line instead of chain for both the weight and so as not to damage the boat. After each anchoring, the delta is raised to its stored location, then you reach over the bow rail and pull in by hand the fortress. Always wire tie the shackle that holds the line or the pin will back out..

Pgitug,
How often often does the Fortress fail to set?

When ever you find grass and weed I suppose. And how often is that?

My thinking is that you could just use the Fortress as a primary if it sets and holds 90% of the time. And now and then when it fails .. hook up the Delta. Would seem to be less trouble .. but would it? So far I have always not carried an anchor on the bow roller and rigged whatever anchor I choose and safety wire the shackle. So it would be easy for me to adopt your method as I recently purchased a bigger claw thinking I'd hang it on the bow roller like most skippers do.

How often does one drag enough so they both set?
Seems to me there are things to be learned from this "out of the box" anchoring method.

Pgitug is this your idea or did you learn it from somebody else. If from somebody else what anchors do/did they use?

manyboats said:

I think the best anchor is the SARCA but it's not availible so I shoulda prolly put down Supreme. But I couldn't because I don't have enough experience w it and the same goes for the SARCA.

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Actually when I ordered my SARCA EXCEL it was done with a phone call and the anchor arrived in three days. Except for the great time visiting with REX the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.

and the cost...

Well with the exchange rate the way it is, the total on my credit card came to be $1050 USD for a 36 kg model.

If you look at the competing "new age" anchors in the West Marine catalog the price I paid is pretty much on par with those prices except my price was delivered to my door.

Original Bruce. Original Danforth for backup. Mixed chain/1/2 inch 3 strand nylon rode.

manyboats said:

Pgitug,
How often often does the Fortress fail to set?

When ever you find grass and weed I suppose. And how often is that?

My thinking is that you could just use the Fortress as a primary if it sets and holds 90% of the time. And now and then when it fails .. hook up the Delta. Would seem to be less trouble .. but would it? So far I have always not carried an anchor on the bow roller and rigged whatever anchor I choose and safety wire the shackle. So it would be easy for me to adopt your method as I recently purchased a bigger claw thinking I'd hang it on the bow roller like most skippers do.

How often does one drag enough so they both set?
Seems to me there are things to be learned from this "out of the box" anchoring method.

Pgitug is this your idea or did you learn it from somebody else. If from somebody else what anchors do/did they use?

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I am going to say that 70% of the time the Fortress set, 20% the Delta set and 10% of the time it was apparent that they both set. However in defense of the Delta, the Fortress will set much quicker than the Delta. So I assume that many times the Delta would have set but the Fortress stopped the boat from backing up before the Delta had a chance to dig in.
I came up with the idea of two anchors for peace of mind and not really seeing a down side.
Some theories of how to anchor include running a mid line weight to maintain a better scope. In my mind the delta provides that for the Fortress.

Pgitug,
OK the Delta acts as a Kellet or perhaps as a substitute for chain but I saw you have an all chain rode except between the two anchors. Of course I'm immediately inclined to say why bother w chain but that's another thread.

What do you suppose would happen if you got a bigger Fortress? As you hang on the Fortress 70% of the time it can be assumed the Fortress is your primary anchor and the Delta is backup. How big/or heavy are both anchors at this time?

Since we're not talking about just ONE anchor is this off topic?

OT? Don't think so since the OP got us on this parallel track.
Anyhow ... interesting idea, practical results ... keep talking ...

Related ... an ultimate anchoring schema ...



Related ... mentioned above, anchoring helper ... a kellet ...



... quite possible the Delta is acting as a kellet for the Fortress in the OP setup.

Richard yes we've talked about tandem anchoring before. It may depend a lot on what anchors one chooses and what anchor is rigged first and last. Also if one planed to set them both or not. But I like the way Pgitug does it using the very light Fortress as the 2nd anchor and the convenient way he rigs it.

Always before tandem anchoring has been approached as using two anchors to increase holding power. For that both anchors would need to be set and lined up to the boat. But Pgitug uses it to expand the range of bottoms his rode will work on. This is a very novel approach IMO. Most of us have 95% (+) sand and/or mud so would not find Pgitug's method very useful.

In the typical tandem anchoring rode it would be difficult to get both anchors set and capable of withstanding lots of tension on the rode. Since one would have to rely on both anchors to be set. If that couldn't be consistantly done the total anchor weight on the rode would need to be doubled. Not a good performance scenario.

Richard have you ever used anything similar to the rig in your pic?

Have not used anything similar to one in the picture or to Pgitug's setup ... yet. I am thinking about it since I will get another different anchor and keep both anchors on board, as well as spare short chain and spare long 200'+ line that are already there.

The Pgitug's setup works in the conditions he experienced that are similar/same to my situation. I will try his setup this season ... line + chain + Delta (fixed and permanent), then a short line + Fortress at the end (removable for storage).

I like the fact that he uses soft line rather than hard chain for the extension, it seems to work while less chance of damage to the boat/roller/windlass if things not go as planned.

The only question I have for Pgitug is ... how/where do you tie the extension to Delta anchor? Any pictures? TIA.

Richard W said:

Have not used anything similar to one in the picture or to Pgitug's setup ... yet. I am thinking about it since I will get another different anchor and keep both anchors on board, as well as spare short chain and spare long 200'+ line that are already there.

The Pgitug's setup works in the conditions he experienced that are similar/same to my situation. I will try his setup this season ... line + chain + Delta (fixed and permanent), then a short line + Fortress at the end (removable for storage).

I like the fact that he uses soft line rather than hard chain for the extension, it seems to work while less chance of damage to the boat/roller/windlass if things not go as planned.

The only question I have for Pgitug is ... how/where do you tie the extension to Delta anchor? Any pictures? TIA.

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The anchors I am using is a 55lb Delta and a FX23 Fortress.
The Delta is at the end of my all 5/16 chain rode. At the plow end of the delta, high on the horizontal is a hole. I assume this is for a trip line. I have a large shackle pinned in this hole. The Fortress has a shackle attaching the 5/8 lines spliced eye. The free end of this line has a spliced eye with another shackle. This is the working shackle that I use to attach the two anchors. With six feet of line I can easily pull the Fortress back aboard with enough slack to "Shake" the mud off before bringing it on deck.
It sounds cumbersome and some would say that it was. But after using this system I find myself waking up several times a night at those anchorages when I "Cheat" and only put down the Delta.

Thanks ... appreciated.

Better ask than assume, I thought the trip line attachment point is best suited for this. Sounds like a good setup, flexible, and not difficult to deploy/retrieve. I will try it out this season ... I think it will work for me ... will post my observations in the fall.

Now, I need to hop to HopCar site and order Fortress anchor and custom made short line with two thimbles.

Richard, I'll splice the line myself!

Parks, I've got the shipment. All looks great ... thank you!

I will report on how the dual anchor setup works for me later in the season.

I've delivered lot of different boats and had CQRs and a bruce's before and I thought these "Roll bar" anchors were just a gimmick (How could it be that different). But last spring. I bought a boat and it had a 22 Rocna (44lb)with an all chain rode (WOW). If you want to sleep well on the hook ("What's sleep worth"?) "This is the set up"! Sets right where you put it. Every time! Great for those crowded anchorages. I used to have to reset the bruce all the time. I probably would never have bought one. Now I wouldn't have anything else!!

I recently got to see a roll bar spade type anchor set in about 3ft of water. A friend we cruised with recently, with a Resort 35, has a thing about anchoring in minimal depth water. I forgot to ask the brand, it sat evenly, roll bar only proud of the bottom, the rest well dug in, chain straight, it and shank hardly visible. If I had the Nikon in the dinghy I might have got a pic, without getting me or a camera wet. From recollection it`s unusual to see pics of well set anchors, usually it`s of the failed kind.

deepsix,
Are you related to Marin?

BruceK,
I would think "well dug in" would exclude seeing anything but perhaps the aft end of the shank. But our waters are not clear so we rarely see anchors set. Perhaps the're all like that.

manyboats said:

deepsix,
Are you related to Marin?
.

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No, he's not. I've never met him or heard of him until his post. But he's obviously a very smart boater.

There you are Marin. I thought you were on assignment again as your PM seems turned off.

I don't think that guy is any smarter than the rest of us and if he is that would mean the rest of us (a clear majority) aren't so smart. Agreed on one thing though that that anchor does very well in most of the anchor tests.

manyboats said:

There you are Marin. I thought you were on assignment again as your PM seems turned off.

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I turned it off some time ago.

I don't think that guy is any smarter than the rest of us and if he is that would mean the rest of us (a clear majority) aren't so smart.

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Your words, not mine.

Richard, I havent forgotten I still owe you a couple of those nice self locking shackles. At least you'll be able try it with the regular shackles.

Any friend of a Rocna is a friend of mine.

That said I just picked up two of these for the boat I'm running now. Used 80 kg. Ultras with #16 Ultra swivels on both.

Anybody want to buy one or two used polished SS swiveling shank CQR style 60 kg. anchors?

That pic of the Bruce and the CQR.
I'd reverse them.
The Bruce is designed for short link to rigs.

Let the CQR bite first then Bruce will set if req'd. (Or you drive them in.)
and always keep short chain /rope if you have Bruce nearest to boat.
I've had them. Don't now for yachts.

Personally.
I use CQr/Plough for preference to port with smaller to Stbd as secondary that I can swivel link to chain of first pick and swing on them.
Simple after you've done it a coupla times, like leaving boat in strange harbour for a while.

I also always have a BIG Admiralty pick with oversize time blades as an emergency anchor on deck.
They always dig in and the only one I'll normally go to sleep on in strange waters.
(normally sailed by myself).

I have/had steel offshore yachts.
Once you've tapped a container you will too.
I could put my fist in the dent. but NO leaking (34ft. 6mm plate. 8mm Keel sides)
We get a few around Australia.
nearly all shipping routes once you get clear of coast.

And a well set in anchor??.
Some of us are divers. ALWAYS check set b4 relaxing.

Best we ever found were the Plough type.
Several ft of chain and anchor down in the mud or sand
took some digging out at times.