Anchor trend?
Just got in today from a two-week trip through the Gulf Islands in BC. A mix of harbors and anchorages. And I was quite surprised by the number of rollbar anchors we saw this year as opposed to our previous annual trips.
One was a Manson as evidenced by the slotted shank (which the owner of the little Ranger Tug it was on was wisely not using-- his rode was secured to the hole
) while the others all appeared to be Rocnas. These ranged from relatively small ones on 25 to 30-foot sailboats and cruisers on up through 44, 55, and 66 pounders on power and sailboats, to huge ones on a couple of yachts as well as a purse seiner we saw in Nanaimo.
Where on previous trips north ours was rare enough to elicit the occasional comment or question from dock walkers, rollbar anchors now seem to be quite well known in the area. I was not keeping any sort of count but I'd guess we saw perhaps 30 boats all told with them in the Gulf islands. And I've been seeing more of them on boats-- mostly power but a few sail-- in the Seaview North yard here in Bellingham.
Ours was not challenged much during the trip as we had surprisingly dry and calm weather the whole two weeks. The most we experienced at anchor were a couple of days of 15-20 knot NW winds in an anchorage open to the Strait of Georgia. We anchored in sticky mud, loose mud, heavy grass, and last night clean sand. The anchor set solidly the first time each time.
No anchor is perfect or foolproof but so far this one is sure trying to be.