One anchor or two?

[Bigsfish]

Steve

There is always the case of losing an anchor due to various reason such as a shackle breaking or line parting due to chafe or what happened to me in the Bakamas once. I was anchored in about 20 feet of water at night and a Bahamian fishing boat came too close to me and picked up my anchor rode, it drug me about 100 yards and then my line parted. The part I drug back in was black from tar recently put on the fishing boats bottom. I never found my Anchor and just assume the fishing boat wrapped it on his prop and kept going. I was glad I had my insurance Anchor on that trip.

 

[MurrayM]

When we first got into boating I shared my newfound knowledge about SHHP (super high holding power) anchors with the owner of a marine supply store in Prince Rupert, BC. He listened patiently with a distant, far off look in his eyes then nodded to a pile of Lewmar Claws in the corner and said, "Yeah, but we get a lot of repeat customers".

Our plan is to have two anchors on the bow. One will be Lewmar Claw good for 30 knot winds to be used most of the time at normal depths, and in anchorages with past logging activity which may have sunken logs and/or heaps of discarded heavy wire cables on the bottom. The other will be a SHHP storm anchor good for 60 knot winds (have plans for winter cruising) and anchoring in 100' depths to avoid drying shelves in tiny bays with estuaries or fresh water ice near creeks.

The third anchor will live in the lazarette to be used for up wind deployment while stern tied.

That should about do it, until...

 

[diver dave]

Steve

There is always the case of losing an anchor due to various reason such as a shackle breaking or line parting due to chafe or what happened to me in the Bakamas once. I was anchored in about 20 feet of water at night and a Bahamian fishing boat came too close to me and picked up my anchor rode, it drug me about 100 yards and then my line parted. The part I drug back in was black from tar recently put on the fishing boats bottom. I never found my Anchor and just assume the fishing boat wrapped it on his prop and kept going. I was glad I had my insurance Anchor on that trip.

Agree Fish! I'm amazed at the rather cavalier attitude that one is enough on this thread. It was a different thread where I told the story of a routine day anchor deal in the islands, calm, folks were snorkling in the water. I had 60' or so of 5/16 chain in the water to a Delta in maybe 20' of water. Anyway, an out of the blue wave stopped by and jerked the boat up on a swell. I had no snubber deployed.
The impact caused the anchor system to draw up tight, the plow was under the edge of a steel shipwreck. I bent the shaft to the windlass, and it sheared a quite important swivel fitting near the hook. The boat was adrift, and had to be chased down. anyway, a lot of lessons learned there, but an anchor, alone on the bottom, is highly ineffective! And, if #2 is needed and not there, its pretty exciting.

 

[Steve Bedford]

Totally agree that having a second anchor for insurance is a good idea. That is the primary reason I carry the second anchor with the Super MAX Main bower. We had a customer anchor his catamaran in the harbor of New Smyrna Beach for hurricane Matthew. The cat washed ashore, fortunately with minimal damage. What he found was the nylon rode frayed and the 20’ of chain with the anchor on the bottom somewhere in the middle of the sound. Now a second anchor can be of no use when your not on board to deploy but the point is, “stuff can happen even with the best anchors.” An anchor is only one component of the ground tackle.

Steve

 

[AKDoug]

I have had my anchor line "fuzz up" where it passes over the roller after sitting on the hook for a few days in heavy wind. I add chafing gear, but also try to move the line over the roller a few feel several times a day.

I often tie up the line over the roller with a figure 8 hitch and double the line up going over the roller and loop the hitch a couple of times over the Sampson post to spread the load and wear.

My only concerns anchoring are wear at the roller, and the hook coming loose from the bottom. Never had the hook come loose once it was well set, even with tidal swings. But I have been fooled into thinking it was set a couple of times over the years

 

[GoneFarrell]

I have chocked my second anchor up forward on deck, mainly to get 20# off the flybridge, free up valuable room in the locker and have the anchor "available for use".

But I feel without a second rode handy it may not be much more than a trip hazard on deck. So, hair(less)brain idea for the day is to see if I can add a "second story" in the upper part of my chain locker that would support a nylon rode above the bottom of the downpipe for the chain.

That will have to wait until spring, as we are having fun snagging the bottom of Bahia de Conception with a MacGreagor 26.

And I want to add a stern tie-off spool and rope for parts north, that could suffice in an emergency as well if my 2 story idea does not work out.

I find you can never have too much good line handy when you really need it in a hurry.

 

[tadhana]

We carry one anchor on the bow roller but have second in the anchor locker with 40 feet of chain and 200 feet of rode. It could be set in a matter of seconds. It only gets wet when i wash out the anchor locker. Been 25,000 nautical in the past few years. Still never needed to set that spare.. Also have a stern anchor. Not need it yet either.

 

[Bigsfish]

Like insurance, you hope you never need it but when you do you need good insurance.

Just my SSO.

 

[Sabre602]

We carry the primary "best bower" anchor at the bow; I've never been in a situation where a second bow anchor was needed. We keep a high tensile Danforth with a short section of chain and nylon rode coiled and ready to go in the rear cockpit (in my sailing days this was a Fortress). This does get used on rare occasion...admittedly not nearly as often as a shore-based stern tie here in the Pacific Northwest...but can easily be rowed out/rowed ashore when it is desirable to prevent swinging about the primary.

I learned from an old salt how useful the stern anchor can be when you're running down a narrow fairway and have a propulsion failure...it's a handy e-brake! It can also be used as a kedge to back off a shoal or to heel the boat should one want to reduce draft.

 

[AKDoug]

I have a pair of Danforth 20 HT's left over from my last boat, but there is no easy way to carry one as a spare on my vessel. In certain bottom types you can't beat them, the plow types will store in a more reasonable space where the Danforth doesn't.

I wouldn't think carrying a second anchor without a second rode would be particularly beneficial... The shackle would have to come unscrewed, and I wire mine.

 

[dhays]

The only reason I wish I had a second anchor on board (I don’t) is in case I foul the first and can’t retrieve it. With limited vacation time, it would be a real bummer to catch an anchor on a submerged logging chain or sunken log and have to abandon my ground tackle. It may take a couple days to find a diver to retrieve the anchor (if possible) or find a replacement.

What I’d like to do is get a spare anchor that I can keep in the other side of my anchor locker with a bit of chain and a lot of nylon 3 strand. If the anchor was collapsible like a Fortress even better. The other option is the Sarca Excel like I have but in the collapsible version. Fortress is a better value proposition I think.

 

[Sabre602]

Dave, this is indeed something we should all think about up here in the PNW. All those sunken logs and chains and wire cables...it's amazing more anchors aren't lost!

 

[ranger58sb]

What I’d like to do is get a spare anchor that I can keep in the other side of my anchor locker with a bit of chain and a lot of nylon 3 strand. If the anchor was collapsible like a Fortress even better. The other option is the Sarca Excel like I have but in the collapsible version. Fortress is a better value proposition I think.

Starting from disassembled and in the bag... there's some assembly time required with a Fortress. Not horrible, but the anchor isn't immediately, if that's what you're thinking.

Assembled but stored flat, maybe with the flukes lightly captured so it's a single-plane profile, could be much faster if you have a way to store it like that... maybe upright, on the side of your locker?

That'd require a guesstimate in advance about which fluke angle might be best for a surprise situation...

-Chris

 

[FF]

"It may take a couple days to find a diver to retrieve the anchor (if possible) or find a replacement."

A trip line might solve this problem,

but reality is some time an anchor setup IS lost.

Having back up requires not only a new anchor , but all the rest that is used.

Making a couple of sets up , and having them on board is the best insurance of all.

 

[BerettaRacer]

One thing I've noticed that no one has mentioned, the need for two anchors for solid stern to or Med mooring. When ever we stern to moor (a lot) it's standard practice to climb upwind, drop the first hook, back and set, let the bow fall off the wind and drop the second hook, back into the dock and put your four stern lines on. Adjust your anchor tension to keep your stern few feet off the dock/wall.

 

[Lucky Chucky]

We have 2 bow anchors, a stern hook, a flatline and one sea anchor which I love deploying once a year to practice. As a retired mountaineer, I've always believed in redundancy and back-ups.

 

[markpierce]

I have two anchors on the pulpit. I lowered the “second” anchor about ten years ago to see how much chain was attached to it. Other than that, it only gets wet when it rains!

There are times we deploy a stern anchor in addition to the primary anchor on the bow. However, I have never had the need for a second anchor from the bow.

Notice, for the sake of civil discourse, I have not divulged what type of anchors I have on board...

Ray, we know your anchor of choice is a Bruce and the hardly-used alternate bow anchor is a plow. Don't know what your stern anchor is, but wouldn't be surprised if it's Danforth-like. Bruce-bow (all-chain rode) and Danforth-like-stern (rope with some chain) is what we have.

 

[markpierce]

One thing I've noticed that no one has mentioned, the need for two anchors for solid stern to or Med mooring. When ever we stern to moor (a lot) it's standard practice to climb upwind, drop the first hook, back and set, let the bow fall off the wind and drop the second hook, back into the dock and put your four stern lines on. Adjust your anchor tension to keep your stern few feet off the dock/wall.

I've only seen stern lines while Med mooring attached to the dock and not an anchor. Since when is the dock always/mostly down wind, and how does one avoid fouling the stern rode, and what use is a stern anchor rode that is vertical when adjacent to the dock?

 

[markpierce]

The only reason I wish I had a second anchor on board (I don’t) is in case I foul the first and can’t retrieve it. With limited vacation time, it would be a real bummer to catch an anchor on a submerged logging chain or sunken log and have to abandon my ground tackle. It may take a couple days to find a diver to retrieve the anchor (if possible) or find a replacement.

What I’d like to do is get a spare anchor that I can keep in the other side of my anchor locker with a bit of chain and a lot of nylon 3 strand. If the anchor was collapsible like a Fortress even better. The other option is the Sarca Excel like I have but in the collapsible version. Fortress is a better value proposition I think.

That's what I have. Haven't used the anchor yet, but it takes several minutes to assemble the anchor from my experience.

 

[Giggitoni]

Ray, we know your anchor of choice is a Bruce and the hardly-used alternate bow anchor is a plow. Don't know what your stern anchor is, but wouldn't be surprised if it's Danforth-like. Bruce-bow (all-chain rode) and Danforth-like-stern (rope with some chain) is what we have.

Genuine Bruce is our primary. Never failed in SF Bay and Delta muds and silty mud. CQR rides next to the Bruce on the pulpit. Fortress in the lazerette and is used as a stern anchor when required. There you have it!

 

[ksanders]

We have hundreds of nights at anchor in very remote areas, in a variety of boats and I have never had the need for two anchors.

Just make sure your anchor is a bit oversized.

We do carry a second anchor and rode. Not because it is a safety issue, just because we have the room and if we loose an anchor we do not want to have to cut a trip short and return to port.

 

[O C Diver]

I have a double anchor setup on my boat. Have never tried to Bahamian anchor. Have done the bow and stern anchor several times. Have a Rocna and a genuine Bruce, but only ever use the Rocna. I like the redundancy of the second anchor ready to go in an emergency.

Then there is the "cool" factor. Looking out the pilothouse window, it definitely looks impressive.



Ted

 

[danderer]

I like the redundancy of the second anchor ready to go in an emergency.

Then there is the "cool" factor. Looking out the pilothouse window, it definitely looks impressive.

 

[MVDarlin]

Second anchor good idea. Mine has 200 ft of rode and 20 ft of chain. It is stowed below decks. This is insurance against total loss of chain and anchor, or as second storm or stern anchor if needed.

 

[diver dave]

but reality is some time an anchor setup IS lost.

Having back up requires not only a new anchor , but all the rest that is used.

Way early on, I witnessed a boat owner toss the anchor out, and apparently assume the bitter end was tied off. It wasn't. ALL lost.

 

[AKDoug]

When working for the fire department, we were required to dive a half dozen times every three months. We would find anchors, less chain and rode, just lying on the bottom in one of the anchorages (Sunny Cove at Fox Island Kevin) and we knew the owners hadn't safetied the shackle pins and they had backed out.

We never found a complete rode, but several anchors. I sometimes used a plastic wire tie to safety the pin, but usually use stainless safety lock wire (aviation stuff) and multiple passes through the pin and around the shackle. I was always afraid that little piece of steel in the plastic wire tie would break or rust out...

 

[diver dave]

I've seen quite a few on the FL reefs. People would anchor on the 50' deep reef, then can't recover their system. Usually 50 to 100 ft of line all over the reef.

Same with the deep shipwrecks. Lots of bottom hardware snagged on the superstructure. I've anchored lots on 200 ft deep wrecks, but always got my anchor back. Normally at the end of the dive, we would unhook from a railing or such. Sometimes took a lot of muscle to pull the flukes back, and then I would go on a sleigh ride downstream, sailing over sand a hundred feet below during decompression. Would hate it if/when the anchor rehooked on the bottom, then had to deco in strong current. Or, get lost from the boat above.

 

[MVDarlin]

Last time I pulled my anchor the pin let go. Had a diver retrieve it. $500 was saved.

 

[GoneFarrell]

Dave, this is indeed something we should all think about up here in the PNW. All those sunken logs and chains and wire cables...it's amazing more anchors aren't lost!

It has happened to me, years ago, with a charter boat on north side of Orcas.

Snagged a big chain that used to hold a dock (long gone.). We raised the chain to the surface with great effort and got that anchor back in about 20 feet of water.

Watching that dock chain go back to the bottom is something I will always remember.

Now, I am not shy about asking for history lessons from locals about anchoring in their neighborhoods. I have been told of "stay away from" places that otherwise look like scenic protected anchorages, usually WWII or logging legacy stuff in my waters.

Does this sort of info wind up in Active Cap or some such place?

 

[MurrayM]

In Barnard Harbour on BC's north coast we were setting our Bruce anchor as normal and it immediately dug in and stopped Badger with a jolt. I thought for sure we were going to leave it behind.

Before leaving the next day I read the Karl Hinz book on anchoring and mooring about strategies for disengaging a stuck anchor. One thing he suggested was to start the boat up, get some slow forward momentum going, put some tension on the rode, then do a slow circle around the anchor.

Luckily our anchor came up as normal so didn't have to try the above technique.

What would you do?