Nomad Willy—— your thoughts

[FF]

When folks are attempting to sell lumps of cast iron or welded steel for prices even aircraft mfg would blush at , their advertising is their entire business.

On a budget purchase an old standard (not a commy junk yard copy) CQR , Danforth. Northill, just get it LARGE .

The old standbys can be found used for about $2.00 a pound so a Danforth 35H or 60H or CQR is a far better deal than a watch fob "new" wonder anchor for $500+.

 

[Nomad Willy]

FF,
I’m a fan of lightweight anchors not by choice but out of necessity as I weigh anchor w a capstan .. not a winch w gypsy and chain rode.

I’ve said many times “put the weight of your ground tackle in the most effective place. That is the anchor itself. And then about 20’ of chain .. fairly heavy chain. Then regular weight chain or nylon line. But the most important place for weight is in the anchor. And the most important place for weight on the rode is (I believe) close to the anchor. Marin posted a study (I believe) that said about 8 to 10’ up the rode from the anchor is best.
One can see how well the old anchors work looking at older boats w the anchors you mention plus the Claw. Most fishermen use a Claw if they can’t find or afford a Forfjord. They would probably be better off w a Bruce.
Steve in “Anchor setting vids” tried a 40lb Claw w only anchor line and it failed miserably. Shows how important some chain (or weight) is on the rode but my experience says not much is needed.
But weight in the anchor is golden.

 

[Arc]

I need way too much scope for my fortress to start to bite. I gave up on it. My Claw is drop and forget. It always holds. We have mud / sand bottom

 

[Nomad Willy]

Arc,
Is your Fortress perfectly straight and true. I hear Danforth types tend to fail if they are bent. Especially flukes or shank.
If not take it to a machine shop w a hydraulic press and ask for it to be aligned perfectly.
And take a look at Steve’s Anchor Setting Videos. Watch the vids and see what the Fortress can do. I don’t remember but I’ll look.

What Claw do you have?
What’s your rode?
Boat and anchor size?
And bottom type?

 

[ranger58sb]

I need way too much scope for my fortress to start to bite. I gave up on it. My Claw is drop and forget. It always holds. We have mud / sand bottom

IIRC, Fortress recommends 5:1 while setting, and then adjust afterwards. (Can't find that on their website, just now...)

If I'm remembering correctly, it always seemed to work OK for us... in Chesapeake mud.

-Chris

 

[Nomad Willy]

Good input Ranger,
That’s more or less what Steve’s vids shows.
His testing also shows excellent holding .. at 5-1. He ran at full power in fwd gear and was unable to pull the 10lb Fortress out. That’s 100lbs of holding per lb of anchor.

Interestingly thats what Rocna recommends ... to set at 5-1 and shorten up.

 

[ranger58sb]

Well, since Arc was focused on setting... I was really only talking about the setting scope. Afterwards, shortening that might be necessary in some anchorages, but also lengthening it could be common, too.

-Chris