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Old 09-05-2018, 03:29 PM   #41
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In my experience and the vast majority I have crossed paths in boating in anchor discussions....danfoths are great for holding, not so great at catching..the hi-tensile ones are better...

.....but I still won't trust one as my go to, all around, especially emergencies.... anchor..

Thats for less than say 35 pounds or so, as they go up in size, like many anchors....catching gets getter.
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Old 09-05-2018, 03:52 PM   #42
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I've used danforth anchors on ships and boats. My storm anchor is a 6' danforth. I've never had one fail to hold. They always seem to catch something. The navy added a danforth to most new ships about 1960. They still carry the old standard mud anchors, but when I've seen them anchor, they use the danforth. People I see having holding problems usually have too small an anchor by weight. Sometimes their rode is too short.
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Old 09-05-2018, 08:54 PM   #43
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Lepke,
What is a 6’ Danforth? 6’ shank or fluke?
Hard for me to look at the Navy anchor as a “mud anchor”. IMO a mud anchor should have a very large fluke area to cope w a very soft seafloor. The Navy anchor has small flukes.
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Old 09-05-2018, 09:45 PM   #44
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As you found out, Danforth can hold very well. I think you need to either straighten the flukes or better still replace it. They just don’t hold nearly as well if the flukes aren’t parallel. A lot of people straighten them but it weakens them. They bend a lot easier next time.
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:18 AM   #45
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I put out a 22 pound danforth in a mud bottom and it held my Cape Dory 25D (and another boat that dragged in to me) in 125 mph winds in Hurricane Elena in 1986. We tried to break that Danforth free for two days after it was over. It’s still there!
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Old 09-06-2018, 08:35 AM   #46
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I love my tried and true Danforth--never had an issue with it in Florida gulf coast waters.
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:49 AM   #47
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I like a pound of H Danforth for every foot of boat for overnight.

Our 50 ft lobster boat uses a 60H , and we sleep well, depending mostly on who is anchored up wind.
Stern anchor is 12H or 20H .

The 33 ft 90/90 uses a 35H .

For waiting for a bridge or lock the 12H does well with 3/8 line .
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Old 09-06-2018, 01:24 PM   #48
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I love my tried and true Danforth--never had an issue with it in Florida gulf coast waters.
But for every boater I talk to that swears by them, there are at least 5 that curse them and the rest out of 10 never really anchor and carry whatever came with the boat.
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Old 09-06-2018, 02:15 PM   #49
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But for every boater I talk to that swears by them, there are at least 5 that curse them and the rest out of 10 never really anchor and carry whatever came with the boat.
One of the challenges, I think, is that "Danforth" has become like "Kleenex" or "Xerox."

Are those folks cursing a forged, hi-tensile Danforth or some POS stamping that looks similar?
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Old 09-06-2018, 02:15 PM   #50
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psneeld,
You’re over stating it for some reason but you’re right there are some that don’t like’um .. you and Mark come to mind.
I’m not a huge fan of them but I have at least three.

Anson,
That’s prolly it. Most Danforths aren’t Danforth anchors. And the unbelievably cheap copies are everywhere. Aratio of copies to Danforths is well past 5-1 IMO.
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Old 09-06-2018, 02:43 PM   #51
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Not sure I am overstating it and what actual statistic can place doubt on my experiences? You can disagree, but not flat out state I am exaggerating.

Between thousands of students in my boating safety and captains classes reporting their dissatisfaction , living aboard full time talking to boaters day after day, coming upon hundreds of broken down boaters drifting on their danforths or describing the trouble getting it to stick....I think I have a pretty solid feel for it. And yes I am factoring in all the lousy anchorers.

I did say the Danforth HT has a slightly better rep, but in smaller sizes it still fails to hook for the same reasons. Not sure some of the knockoffs aren't just as good as regular danforths....and just as bad at the same time. Some may be better...who knows that for sure?

For those with good experiences...can't argue...but I can't in good faith recommend one as a primary anchor that I would drop first in an emergency.
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Old 09-06-2018, 03:54 PM   #52
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I think it comes down to what type of bottom you are anchoring in, if it's consistently mud or sand they are fantastic. If it's mixed and you factor in grass, kelp, rocks and such, they are not so great. The HT's break through kelp and grass better, but are still pretty useless in rocky bottoms.

That's why I didn't consider one for my primary anchor on the new vessel even though I own a couple. I have had much better luck with my "name brand" new generation anchor with mixed bottoms, adding more chain hasn't hurt any I am sure...
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Old 09-06-2018, 04:16 PM   #53
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As a primary they work fine w bottoms that are mostly soft. Then on the rare occasion they don’t hook up just switch to the backup. I have three anchors for general use. The primary varies. The backup is a H12 S (forged shank and plate or sheetmetal fluke flanged one way only) and my storm is an 18lb XYZ.
Like you say Doug. The biggest variable in anchoring .. the bottom

But most bottoms are mud. Florida has quite a bit of sand I hear. So it’s really an odd bottom that would give a Danforth trouble. And since they hold so well why not take advantage of that and go for the backup when necessary. Their lightweight is great for deploying and retrieving.

Around here (PNW) most all bottoms are mud. But good Danforths are only available used. However the Fortress is very available new. One can anchor a big boat by hand w those babies. I see both frequently on CL.
However if 1/4 of your typical bottoms are weed rock or whatever the Dan dosn’t like It surely shouldn’t be a primary.
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:40 PM   #54
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Soft like mud?

Perfect place to jam a clam shell in between a fluke and shaft...or impale it on a fluke tip....nope.... one of the worst bottoms in many East coast waters. No clams in West Coast mud? Had shells and rocks in Kodiak mud bottoms...no guaranteed Danforth hookup there.

Or if there are oyster shells around...another nemisis.....or heaven forbid a clean bottowm without seaweed clumps or grass clumps...or sand hard enough they just slide across....

Danforth have moving owrys to fail...and they often do.... Many here swear by KISS......me too when it comes to moving parts on an anchor.

Yep....had them or have watched them fail in so many ways......I will only use them when I have the luxury of knowing I can set and reset them multiple times.
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:47 PM   #55
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Between thousands of students in my boating safety and captains classes reporting their dissatisfaction , living aboard full time talking to boaters day after day, coming upon hundreds of broken down boaters drifting on their danforths or describing the trouble getting it to stick....I think I have a pretty solid feel for it. And yes I am factoring in all the lousy anchorers.

I did say the Danforth HT has a slightly better rep, but in smaller sizes it still fails to hook for the same reasons. Not sure some of the knockoffs aren't just as good as regular danforths....and just as bad at the same time. Some may be better...who knows that for sure?

For those with good experiences...can't argue...but I can't in good faith recommend one as a primary anchor that I would drop first in an emergency.

Is it the anchor's design that you fault for questionable performance? Do you have experience with the Fortress which pretty much resembles the Danforth. I ask not only because I own a Fortress (still new in the box) but of all the favorable reports I have read over the years. And now there are two versions of the Fortress with the newer version being much less expensive.
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:53 PM   #56
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One more time, anchoring is 80% technique. Newbies and casual boaters taking a class will have dragged all sorts of anchors given the opportunity, but Danforths being the most common, they win the "drag race" by default.

Back to the OP, never drag the boat to the anchor with the windlass, and never ever try to break the anchor with the windlass. The engine(s) are for the former and snubbers and cleats are for the latter.
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Old 09-06-2018, 08:00 PM   #57
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Had lots of experienced boaters in both the safety classes and captain licensing classes. Many with as much or more experience than many here.

Hard to believe that I am smart enough to weed out unreliabe info....but I do know the difference.

My point is.... my cross section of reports was/is as good as any other source of anchor opinions and that iit wasn't just my own opinion of danforths. It iis an overwhelming majority of experienced boaters who graduated from them and CQRs and Bruce's and just about every other type to the Nexgen models.

The failures of Danforths I am talking about are generally NOT technique, but failre of the flukes to attain the correct position or impaling something and failing to dig in.
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Old 09-06-2018, 08:06 PM   #58
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Is it the anchor's design that you fault for questionable performance? Do you have experience with the Fortress which pretty much resembles the Danforth. I ask not only because I own a Fortress (still new in the box) but of all the favorable reports I have read over the years. And now there are two versions of the Fortress with the newer version being much less expensive.
Yes, plenty reports of Fortresses jamming flat so the flukes can't bite or something jamming on the tips and it not having enough weight to punch through.

The small Fortresses in a strong current have been known to flutter down as they are so light....and they can foul the rode. Sure that might be overcome with the right combo of chain or no chain....but an issue till rectified.

I think as Fortresses and Danforths become large enough, a lot of these fouling issues may be overcome by sheer scale of the anchor. But we are usually talking danforths much larger than used on manh if the boats many of us have.
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Old 09-06-2018, 08:35 PM   #59
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Had lots of experienced boaters in both the safety classes and captain licensing classes. Many with as much or more experience than many here.

Hard to believe that I am smart enough to weed out unreliabe info....but I do know the difference.

My point is.... my cross section of reports was/is as good as any other source of anchor opinions and that iit wasn't just my own opinion of danforths. It iis an overwhelming majority of experienced boaters who graduated from them and CQRs and Bruce's and just about every other type to the Nexgen models.

The failures of Danforths I am talking about are generally NOT technique, but failre of the flukes to attain the correct position or impaling something and failing to dig in.
I have no idea what anchor works best in typical New Jersey bottoms (or even what the bottoms are there). But, Danforth style anchors work pretty well in the mud/sand bottons we have around here, and that’s probably why you see so many of them here, on recreational and commercial vessels.
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Old 09-06-2018, 08:44 PM   #60
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I have experience boating from Mobile, Al to NJ and Kodiak, Ak. Anchored hundreds of nights between NJ and the Keys in the last 6 years.

Sure there's lots if Danforths around, lots of inexperience boaters who barely lunch hook every once and awhile who typically have them. But I know there are rock solid captains and cruisers who swear by and regularly use them. I just happen to have been burned by and seen and heard from too many others to trust my boat to one.

I usually caught quite a few as the drug into the surf or mud flats because their danforths were fouled...that's not including the ones who had no clue how to anchor or had 1 to 1 scope out.

Guess what anchor they had the next season?

Within 2 miles of my home marina there are at least 5 different bottom types that are similar all up and down the coast. Including hard sand, soft sand, and a variation including more and more mud till it's all mud.
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