Aft Anchor type and size?

[Nomad Willy]

Caltex wrote;
“I did deploy one out here off the ICW a couple of times in a similarly narrow spot very much like a Delta slough, but in our case all we had was the backup Danforth and frankly it was a real PITA to retrieve.”

Yup ... a Dan buried in mud can be hard to retrieve.
You might try a Super SARCA and take advantage of the slotted shank. They set real well on almost any bottom imaginable. Then pull it out backwards.

Fly wrote;
“anchorages like The Bedrooms”
You anchor in communal bedrooms?

 

[socalrider]

SoCal cruising we use bow & stern a lot off Catalina and the Channel Islands - it's often quite deep. I have a big 60lb Super Sarca on 300' of chain on the bow, and just picked up a Fortress FX-23 for the stern to replace an older cheapie Danforth that came with the boat. Stern anchor goes in the shallow water close to shore to keep the boat aligned.

I like having a smaller stern anchor, particularly if I'm rowing it out - no need for any tackle to launch and deploy. The way we use it it's less critical than the bow anchor and I'm comfortable with a lower safety factor - but conditions here are pretty benign. I could certainly see wanting something bigger in some cases, or if you wanted it as a backup main anchor as well.

 

[FlyWright]

Fly wrote;
“anchorages like The Bedrooms”
You anchor in communal bedrooms?

I didn't name them but I sure sleep well there!

 

[bayview]

I dont understand.
If the anchorage is crowded you want to swing with the crowd. If not what is the purpose.

It is customary to do what other do so that all boats behave similarly.

 

[socalrider]

I dont understand.
If the anchorage is crowded you want to swing with the crowd. If not what is the purpose.

It is customary to do what other do so that all boats behave similarly.

Not sure exactly which post you're referring to, but in SoCal many of the anchorages are crowded, some are small, or offer limited protection so you want to orient yourself in an optimal spot to get out of the swell or at least avoid having it on your beam.

 

[caltexflanc]

Fly, did they clear the water hyacinth out of the bedrooms? It's been over 15 years since we've been there but last time they were pretty jammed up. Many happy memories though. Prospect and Sutter sloughs were other pretty places for bow and stern. So is The Meadows but it was too much of a party zone for us to ever want to stay for long.

Bayview, yes, he was speaking of places where everyone is on bow and stern. Even the mooring fields at Catalina are set up that way out of necessity.

 

[markpierce]

I'm presuming a California Delta mid-channel islands cove I anchored at 40+ years ago is now covered in hyacinths. Recall my newlywed and I swam around the little island with PFDs, in tea-colored fresh water.

 

[markpierce]

A Lehmar "Bruce" is my primary anchor with an all-chain rode. Have a Fortress with short chain with nylon rode as a back-up and possible stern anchor. Haven't needed the Fortress yet. Both anchors work well in the heavy muds of California Delta (San Francisco eastward).

 

[FlyWright]

Fly, did they clear the water hyacinth out of the bedrooms? It's been over 15 years since we've been there but last time they were pretty jammed up. Many happy memories though. Prospect and Sutter sloughs were other pretty places for bow and stern. So is The Meadows but it was too much of a party zone for us to ever want to stay for long.

The hyacinth comes and goes...worst in the fall just before the temps drop and they start to die off. Bedrooms 1, 2 and 3 were clear all summer until August. As the cold comes, they release from the bottom and float off. I had to pull my dink from its slip in Korth's due to weed buildup in the SW corner due to the prevailing winds. Some years are worse than others...

The Meadows has calmed down unless the SeaRay Club is doing their circle-raft up. That's normally on Labor Day, I believe. It's one of my favorite anchorages in that part of the Delta. Tiki Lagun Marina is doing well again with bar/restaurant and store nearby.

 

[Spinner]

I’m interested in the advice to have the stern anchor and tackle match the main anchor’s capability... to my mind, that would require a windlass and tie off point at the stern to match the one at the bow.

My main anchor is 66 lbs with 300 feet of chain. No way could I pull that in or even deploy it safely without a windlass. What do you think?

 

[FF]

I’m interested in the advice to have the stern anchor and tackle match the main anchor’s capability...

To recover a huge stern anchor the usual is to drop back, and pick it up with the windlass fed.

A far smaller stern anchor with a used sailboat 2 speed self tailing winch makes sense if it is handy enough to be passed to your dink to help getting un stuck from a grounding.
A rope winch helps with docking and in locks too.

 

[RonR]

Were set now, 55lb plow with 300' of chain on the front.
Options of a 44lb claw or a 24lb danforth and 20' of chain with 150' rode for aft.
Can also use the claw/chain and add a tag to the main if it gets bad, or any combo one sees fit. But if its that bad out, I would try to find a harbor to hide in first....

 

[Thud]

The Bruce / Claw types do seem to be better liked in the PNW than most other places. In general, what kind of bottoms do you typically encounter? Personally, I'm using a 73lb Rocna Vulcan, but that choice was driven as much by what would fit in a comfortably large size as it was by performance. But I'm not sure how different the bottoms in my typical anchorages are from yours.



The windlass and chain sound well sized, so it should just be a matter of sticking something bigger on the end.



If you haven't seen the SV Panope videos, it might be worth giving them a look, as they do a good job of showing some of the strong and weak points of various anchor designs.

Yes- my second to search "Panope" and "anchor tests" to find info -- a fellow sailor has become quite the anchor guru. He tests with live video go-pro watching the anchors set and reset. He also has put together some great charts of his results.

 

[ttompkins]

My suggestion:
Fortress FX-16 with about 15 feet of chain. You will be amazed at how well this will work for you. It will also be plenty easy to handle. I am 75 years old and have no problems with mine.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I would think you’d want an anchor that had almost no trouble w unusual sea floors. And the Danforth types are not of that type.

I would look for an anchor that steve G had little if any trouble setting. Setting is IMO the weak link in anchor performance. I’ve had lots of setting problems and need to admit many of my anchors have been modified so a good chunk of my setting failures are due to that. But I’ve had no failures of anchors not holding.

So for the OP dependability is probably most important.

 

[Island Cessna]

Ron if you’re set on a Dan go on CL and find an “S”. I have one but i"m not sell'in.

Here’s one: https://bellingham.craigslist.org/bpo/d/ferndale-danforth-anchor-25-fluke-style/7276448580.html

 

[caltexflanc]

A straight off the stern-use anchor has pretty different requirements than a main anchor.

1) the boat is not going to swing on it much at all. It needs to be good at setting and holding in a straight line.
2) It needs to be very easy to handle and stow, as deploying it is typically an occasional exercise, a manual process, and you don't have a pulpit back there. Breaking it out and retrieving it are also mostly manual; you don't usually have a windlass back there either.

All of these issues are what make a Fortress the ideal weapon of choice, or other Danforth style anchors secondarily.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I can think of one big one. Weeds
The anchoring we’re talking about is done in very shallow water and weed growth is common in shallow water where more sunlight gets to the sea floor.

I like Danforth type anchors and have two of them. They are sensitive to unusual bottom types also.
But they are not a good choice for this gig.
However they are light (even the steel ones) and that’s a plus for this application. And they would be easy to stow if you had the right shaped space. Three inches of a hanging locker would do the trick.
And as Island Cessna points out they are plentiful and cheap on CL.

Putting the anchor straight aft of the boat would cause extremely high loads on the anchor. Almost at a right angle would give lots more holding power.

 

[FlyWright]

One of the California Delta anchoring rules I try to live by is to drop the hook(s) in water at least 15 ft deep to avoid weeds. In our area, sunlight cannot support weed growth at 15 ft or greater. I almost always pick up a weed-free anchor when I get to this depth.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Al,
In Alaska I never had a weed problem .. your reasons x2.
Almost never had a mud problem either. Do you suppose they could be related?

 

[caltexflanc]

Again, I would only deploy a stern anchor in situations where I do not want the stern swinging into a narrow channel or into the bank of the channel. Or, holding a small boat in line with other boats backed to a beach. Putting some sort of kedge rig out in that situation won't work, and there aren't going to be dramatic loads in either case.

There is use in some situations for a kedge, holding the bow of the boat into a swell with a prevailing wind crosswise, but maybe it is a matter of semantics, as I don't consider that a "stern anchor" as it may be deployed off a quarter or even a midships cleat, and almost always requires being set with a tender. Though in otherwise calm anchorages, I have seen folks run it straight off the stern. Not much different than those who run a stern line to a rock or tree or even a ring in the rockface onshore in various spots.

 

[FlyWright]

Maybe this image will help show the use of stern anchors in a mild Delta cross current at Bedroom 1, Fig Island, my new summer home. The current runs mildly L-R.

The 3 boats against the treeline are all anchored to shore with the hooks buried deep in the tule weeds. They typically run 2 stern lines in a Y and set them with dinks.

The rest of us hang on the hook in 10-30 ft with 1 or 2 stern hooks to keep us from shifting too much. It also keeps some from drifting into the 3 ft muddy and weedy shallows nearby.

Many of the boats here stay all summer while owners come and go in dinks and ski boats. Some return to work or other home trips for the week while the rest of us watch their boats. They're friends with the island owner.

These are very benign and wind protected conditions and probably similar to those CalTex refers to.

 

[markpierce]

Found it!

https://www.richmondyc.org/files/Delta Cruise Guide.pdf

 

[markpierce]

Other than a place to anchor, what are the immediate attractions at/near Fig Island such as sources for ice and groceries, or whatever. Or is just a good place to hang out "camping" on one's boat?

 

[FlyWright]

Other than a place to anchor, what are the immediate attractions at/near Fig Island such as sources for ice and groceries, or whatever. Or is just a good place to hang out "camping" on one's boat?

That's a really great Delta guide, Mark! BR1 is within an easy dink ride to many destinations on the Delta Loop. Your guide mentions several of them, but it's a bit dated. You're only limited by the speed and comfort of your dink.

The funny part is that the writer, Harley Gee, has his boat in my photo above from last summer! He's a great guy and plays Amazing Grace on the bagpipes on certain evenings. It's a great experience at sunset!!

 

[jclays]

So what does everyone recommend for the PNW area then? I see a lot of Bruce/Claw and several hinged Plow style at the marina. We are planning on anchoring out a lot, for fishing and for overnight. It has a Lofrans Tigres 1200w 12v with 300' of 3/8 chain.

And if I was to upsize the bow, would the Bruce work for an aft with say 10' of chain?

I have a 20kg Bruce (44lb) on my 39ft Mainship. I would suggest a 66 lb Genuine Bruce if you wanted a Bruce style. Do not buy a Lewmar or Claw copy. They are not the same.
If I where to buy a "Modern" style it would be a Spade. However my search for a genuine Bruce was successful hence I am very happy with my Bruce.

OBTW 22lb Danforth for stern anchor. fifteen feet of 5/16 chain on 180ft of 5/8 three strand .

 

[markpierce]

My Lewmar claws have always worked for me.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Mark, the Lewmar Claw has a very wide throat angle and “fat” fluke tips. In soft bottoms it gets by fairly well but given a hard bottom you’d be looking for something else. Hard bottoms can be hard to penetrate.
What size anchor do you have? 44lb?

 

[caltexflanc]

A Bruce type anchor is pretty unwieldy to store and deploy as an aft anchor.

 

[jclays]

39’ Mainship trawler
20kg genuine Bruce main anchor with 100ft 5/16 HT chain and 300ft 5/8 3str nylon line
Stern
2-20h Danforth anchors. One modified to open 45 degrees for a mud anchor. 15’ 5/16 HT chain, 150’ 5/8” three strand nylon line. Also 2 hand coils 100ft 5/8 3str nylon line to add on as needed.