Which type anchor?

I have as 43 ft president trawler. My boating is done in waters that the anchor would rest in mud . Whst is the best anchor type and size ? Thanks

I have 30 ft of chain the rest is line

I have had poor results in sloppy mud with a standard danforth and plow anchors, but a Fortress in the "mud" position grabbed instantly and held like a bulldog. Shovel like the SuperMax aso do well.

rgano said:

I have had poor results in sloppy mud with a standard danforth and plow anchors, but a Fortress in the "mud" position grabbed instantly and held like a bulldog. Shovel like the SuperMax aso do well.

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I modified my West Marine Performance anchor (Danforth copy) by enlarging the slot that determines the angle of the flukes to open to 45 degrees like the fortress. It does work in slop fantastically. This is my "Mud" anchor. the local bay here in Long Beach Ca is thick mud to soup. It holds very well. Not adjustable like the Fortress however It was a spare and I dont have to pay for a fortress.

Great idea with enlarging the slot, but now the anchor is not so useful in sand. The aluminum Fortress is SO much easier to deal with. I carry a disassembled one in my bilge in this lil boat on the off chance I ever need to have a second anchor in a big blow. I had three big Fortress anchors as part of my hurricane hole plan on my trawler, all bought on eBay at reasonable prices.

As I stated in my post this is my Mud anchor. I only use it in the soup and mud.
My standard anchor is an original Bruce.

:lol:

Simi 60 said:

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What about a roncar

I have a Fortress FX37 on our President 41 as the backup anchor and for mud. We bought a refurb one that looked brand new and had a new warranty but was quite a bit cheaper.

KEVMAR said:

What about a roncar

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You mean Rocna? Nah. Try one of these:



Super Sarca.

What do you use fir your main anchor

BruceK said:

You mean Rocna? Nah. Try one of these:

Super Sarca.

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KEVMAR said:

What do you use fir your main anchor

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That there is a Super-Sarca, (aka sand and rock combination anchor), and it does for everything..! Take our word for it, eh Bruce..?

Fortress for mud. Lightweight and designed correctly - I recommend one size up from what's recommended [as I recommend for every anchor purchased].

Peter B said:

That there is a Super-Sarca, (aka sand and rock combination anchor), and it does for everything..! Take our word for it, eh Bruce..?

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Sure is. It should come out of the mud nicely using the sliding slot. Mine`s at home, waiting for the Integrity 386 to arrive from Melbourne.

KEVMAR said:

What do you use fir your main anchor

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We have a 44 pound Delta. It took quite a bit of grinding on our bow pulpit to get it to fit. A PO put a sheet of S/S on the bottom of the pulpit and it was tough to grind it open enough to fit the 44 Delta. No way to possibly fit a rollbar anchor. So far the Delta has been good. We have the FX37 as a backup and for soft mud, never had it in the water yet but have used Fortress anchors on previous boats with good results.

BruceK said:

Sure is. It should come out of the mud nicely using the sliding slot. Mine`s at home, waiting for the Integrity 386 to arrive from Melbourne.

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Okaaay, Bruce. So you took the plunge eh? Doriana is gone, and Integrity 386 soon to arrive. Congratulations. You kept the S-Sarca, so presumably you have checked it will fit the Integrity pulpit design. Does it have a name yet, and of course we'll expect photos. I must say if I had been in a position to get a much newer boat, the Integrity series was right up there.

MUD is soft so requires large surface area , an H series Danforth would be first choice.


20H, 35H or 60H depending on boat


Probably the 60H would be sleep well anchr for a high windage boat.

Our Chesapeake mud ranges from hard (sometimes) to soft (usually) to slimy soup (not uncommon). An oversized Delta didn't work all that time, an original "right-sized" Danforth worked sometimes...

But we've had best luck with Fortress (usually on the mud angle) and the adjustable SuperMAX. Latter is our primary, and we've never had to change the setting to soup. This one is adjustable while in the roller.

The Fortress always works too, but changing the angle needs complete disassembly/reassembly, and it stows flat better, hence it's our backup... and kedge. We've never had a problem with it when currents reversed; usually it's buried so deep the change in direction doesn't seem to matter.

Fortress published their Chesapeake mud tests here on the forum and you should be able to find those. I tried to get them to include a SuperMAX, offered to loan ours, but there are some other issues at the time so they demurred.

-Chris

The other theory of holding is a good anchor will dig through the soup till it hits dense enough bottom to hold. Just because a Fortress et all stops digging is it meets the resistance required...but could still be in soupy mud....


As the pulling increases...it digs until the needed resistance is met.


Other anchors,depending on which ones, will just go deeper quicker...eventuall meeting the required resistance.


Yes there are better soupy mud anchors than others, but that doesn't rule out all the others.


One part of anchoring, the part that some call the "art" of anchoring...is don't pick an anchorage of soupy mud on a night when it's gonna blow.

psneeld said:

The other theory of holding is a good anchor will dig through the soup till it hits dense enough bottom to hold. Just because a Fortress et all stops digging is it meets the resistance required...but could still be in soupy mud....


As the pulling increases...it digs until the needed resistance is met.


Other anchors,depending on which ones, will just go deeper quicker...eventuall meeting the required resistance.


Yes there are better soupy mud anchors than others, but that doesn't rule out all the others.


One part of anchoring, the part that some call the "art" of anchoring...is don't pick an anchorage of soupy mud on a night when it's gonna blow.

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Absolutely - Anchoring is an art! - Art

See Chesapeke Bay mud anchor test on page 13 of “anchors and anchoring”. It’s the thread with 845 posts .. on page 13.

Speaking of mud most all boaters will be anchoring in/on mud. That explains why so many boaters have used the Danforth anchor .. down through the years since 1938. Most bottoms are mud and the Danforths work great on/in mud.
But as you can see one or two anchors didn’t do well in slimy mud (see the Chesapke Bay anchor test) but in most common mud even they do acceptably well.

Only thirty feet of chain? That’s not nearly enough and you should go up a size. Also what ever anchor you decide on is too small and the wrong kind.

Simi 60 said:

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jclays said:

:lol:

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Art said:

Absolutely - Anchoring is an art! - Art

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This true. We have a 77lb Rocna. It has never failed in mud, rock ect.

ASD have you anchored in a gale yet.

Not anchoring in gale force winds is the "art" part of anchoring...just because it's blow'in a gale doesn't mean you have to accept the full force of those winds by selecting a better anchorage.


The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots(Wikipedia).


Short duration winds may or may not (usually not in my experience) have the same effect as an all night or all day blow.

Nomad Willy said:

ASD have you anchored in a gale yet.

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psneeld said:

Not anchoring in gale force winds is the "art" part of anchoring...just because it's blow'in a gale doesn't mean you have to accept the full force of those winds by selecting a better anchorage.


The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots(Wikipedia).


Short duration winds may or may not (usually not in my experience) have the same effect as an all night or all day blow.

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Actually yes I have more than a few times. I also have 550 feet of chain rode. So far it has performed quite well.

Yup ... that’s where I start having faith in an anchor. 50 knots bang’in back and forth w/o dragging for a day or so builds lots of confidence.
I have 5’ of chain (oversized) and haven’t dragged. I think chain is mostly to help an anchor set. Once set anchor size, weight and design takes over. Giv’en enough scope the Rocna is almost the highest holding power anchor in existence. IMO

I don't think the OP realizes quite yet he has asked almost a religious question. Kind of like coming on and asking - "I'm getting religious, which one should I join?"

I will link you to this blog that does a decent job on explaining the various types, their strengths and weaknesses. Generally get a "modern" anchor for your primary and get a fluke type (like a Danforth or Fortress) for you secondary.

https://www.anchoring.com/blogs/anc...guide-how-to-choose-the-best-boat-anchor-type

Peter B said:

Okaaay, Bruce. So you took the plunge eh? Doriana is gone, and Integrity 386 soon to arrive. Congratulations. You kept the S-Sarca, so presumably you have checked it will fit the Integrity pulpit design. Does it have a name yet, and of course we'll expect photos. I must say if I had been in a position to get a much newer boat, the Integrity series was right up there.

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There`s a lot of IG in an Integrity. Starting with the hull, "36ft" IG became "38ft 6" by extending the hull under the swimstep. The interior design is way improved.
The search took 3 years, including a false start survey fail in Qld, and there are things to fix. Yet to sell the IG, now with a broker, sorry to part after 10 years, but this is more a major update than new territory.
Pictures etc when it arrives. 650Nm Melbourne to Brooklyn via Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea(Pacific Ocean), in what looks like a good weather window. We were not welcome onboard by the delivery guys who added radar to it at a minimal cost, the mover is a marine electrician recommended by the broker. Seems ok, first move was to do a fuel usage test to check on distance/quantity for the twin Cummins 210s, which was a smart move.