Vulcan Anchor on 34T

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CaptKevin

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Joined
Aug 17, 2021
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15
I will soon get my NTM 2006 34T and will need to replace the anchor. I am looking at a 20kg Vulcan, with 150ft of chain and 250ft of rode. I cruise throughout the Puget Sound area and up into Canada so a good solid anchor is a requirement. Has anyone had any issues with putting one of these on your boat or have a better suggestion. Thanks
 
That is exactly what I used on my Pilot 34. Nice anchor- set quickly and held well.

David
 
I added a 25kg to my Grand Banks 36. If you can fit it, I would add more chain and less line. My experience is that you want to set it as close to 5:1 as you can. I've had a few problems with less than that. That can get hard in some crowded anchorages, so chain helps.
 
I have a Vulcan I have only been able to use a half dozen times.

No issue at all in holding, or doing a reset when the wind comes around 180 degrees

I will say that when it comes up backward (facing the wrong way) there is a violent flip that it does as it hits the roller. Keep a boat hook handy to spin it around the right way and all is well.
 
I will soon get my NTM 2006 34T and will need to replace the anchor. I am looking at a 20kg Vulcan, with 150ft of chain and 250ft of rode. I cruise throughout the Puget Sound area and up into Canada so a good solid anchor is a requirement. Has anyone had any issues with putting one of these on your boat or have a better suggestion. Thanks
Kevin, I have a 98 350/390 MS trawler that I'm in the process of finishing up on a new anchoring components. The anchor is a 25 kg Vulcan, a mantus swivel connected to 310 ft of 5/16 chain going through a Maxwell 8-8 1000 watt windlass. Here in puget sound and north it's been recommended on the forum to go as much chain as your locker can hold due to our challenging bottom structure. The vulcan sets and rides on the bow pulpit really nicely without any movement while underway.
Cheers J.T.
 
I have a 20K Vulcan on a 30 foot trawler and live above you on the BC coast. It has proven to be an exellent anchor and I highly recommend it. I think for most anchorages up here, 150 feet of chain is enough, but of course more does not hurt if you can handle the weight and bulk. FWT reported above that the anchor often "comes up backwards and there is a violent flip that it does as it hits the roller"- I have found the same tendencies but since I am expecting it I am not bothered by it. The boathook idea to switch it around is a good solution.
 
We loved our 25kg Vulcan we used for several years on our 37 Nordic Tug. We anchored out most nights every summer season and were out on the boat for 3+ months each year. We travelled most years to the Broughtons, Desolation Sound, and the Gulf Islands, and occasionally points north all the way to north of Prince Rupert, so a fair range of anchoring conditions. I do agree with going with as much chain as your locker will comfortably hold and supplement with rope to add length if needed. Also use a good bridle. I never used a swivel, and never found I needed one. Didn't like the idea of an added possible point of failure, and a lot of swivels are not designed to withstand a side load, and there are documented cases of failure caused by this.
Just my thoughts and experiences.
 
I have a 20K Vulcan on a 30 foot trawler and live above you on the BC coast. It has proven to be an exellent anchor and I highly recommend it. I think for most anchorages up here, 150 feet of chain is enough, but of course more does not hurt if you can handle the weight and bulk. FWT reported above that the anchor often "comes up backwards and there is a violent flip that it does as it hits the roller"- I have found the same tendencies but since I am expecting it I am not bothered by it. The boathook idea to switch it around is a good solution.
HI , Do you have a swivel on those chain anchor connections, and still get that flip reaction?
Cheers J.T.
 
Yeah, a Mantus swivel and a good wash down pump is pretty important. I usually get a lot of gunk on it.
I'm wondering what others have experienced with short scope issues on mixed bottoms. I had a couple of problems at 4:1. I'm finding this anchor really likes 5:1 on anything other than mud. That is in line with Rochna's recommendations...
 
Two things -yes keep a boat hook handy to flip the anchor. Secondly, our 40 kg Vulcan did quite well with all chain and 2.5 to 3:1 scope in up to 20 knots with a good bottom. All chain makes a huge difference in BC and AK as chain weight and catenary come into play.

BTW, scope measurement is not always viewed the same by various boaters in 10 to 20 knot tidal swings.

Eric?
 
I'll add another vote for the boat hook. My Vulcan (33kg) will flip into place (violently) if it comes up at an angle, but on the rare occasion it manages to hit the roller perfectly backwards, it just stops and can't rotate into place with a reasonable pull from the windlass due to the geometry of everything. Poking it with a boat hook to get it to pretty much any other position and then trying again leads to it stowing just fine.

As far as scope, I use mine regularly at 3.5 - 4:1 in deeper water. And in shallower water with a soft-ish mud bottom I did have it set once and pull the bow into the wind when I paused letting the chain out for a moment and the wind blew us back. I looked down and realized it had set with only about 2:1 scope out at that point. I have had a few failed sets over time, usually in the 3 - 4:1 range with harder bottoms. Harder sand bottoms seem to like a little more scope (and bringing the rode tension up gently at short scope) with the Vulcan although most of the failed sets I've had were confirmed to be debris on the bottom or a hard spot. At least one came up with some debris on the anchor tip when I pulled it to try again and in a couple of other cases it just wouldn't set in that spot no matter what I tried, but after moving a few hundred feet it set perfectly fine.
 
A 20Kg should be fine for your tug as long as it fits. That's what we went to from a 45# CQR. The 20Kg held fine until we anchored in the soft mud of the Carolinas with an added full FB enclosure. We upped to a 25Kg with no problems since although we have not gone back to the Carolinas.
 
We have a Rocna Vulcan 20Kg and 130 ft of 5/16 HT Chain and 150 of 5/8 3 strand. The anchor has been great for us. We anchor out from 5 - 11 weeks a year.
 
To answer JT kearney's question- yes, I do have a swivel on my 20K Vulcan and yes it still often comes up backwards despite this addition. Again, I do not mind the 'violent' noise as it comes up the final foot, but a boat hook to turn it around just below the pulpit is a good idea. I often go with a shortish scope in our protected anchorages as the weight of the chain does wonders.
 
If you all haven't come across this guy, see YouTUBE video below. This is the most accurate, repeatable, and useful anchor testing I've ever seen. Steve, the guy making the videos is a friend and great sailor, he's located in the Pacific Northwest and tests anchors in multiple bottom types, multiple maneuvers (EG: Forcing a 360° flip), and measures holding power with a load cell so it's repeatable and measured in pounds.

Well worth taking a look if you haven't found this guy previously.

 
I will soon get my NTM 2006 34T and will need to replace the anchor. I am looking at a 20kg Vulcan, with 150ft of chain and 250ft of rode. I cruise throughout the Puget Sound area and up into Canada so a good solid anchor is a requirement. Has anyone had any issues with putting one of these on your boat or have a better suggestion. Thanks
I would go with at least 250 chain if you have the room. Gets deep day 60 feet and you want to avoid rope most the time.
 
I would go with at least 250 chain if you have the room. Gets deep day 60 feet and you want to avoid rope most the time.
I must disagree free with the missive to "avoid rope". At the very least, a boat needs a long bridal or riding line of nylon to reduce the shock loads on the anchor and on-deck gear when the chain goes bar-tight as the boat is moving aft rapidly.

We come from sailboats, with far less windage and momentum aft than a trawler, and even there the shock loads of an all chain rode have bent bolts for windlass', deformed shackles, and broken chains. If a boat is limited to protected anchorages without significant swell and wind, all chain is fine. But, in an emergency or if trapped by an engine that won't start or an anchor windlass that won't haul the gear aboard, it can be necessary to ride out a blow amongst real waves. In that case, chain will fail much more rapidly than an appropriate nylon 3-strand rope.

Obviously, one needs to keep the rope off of rock, coral, and other sharp objects. That's easily accommodated by never letting out more rope than the depth of the water. But that's not the point. The point is that the dampening of shock due to the weight of the chain stops working in strong winds and large swell. Then there is no stretch in the system and the weakest link fails. With Nylon rope, the stuff just stretches, in many case up to 15%, and the force of decelerating the boats movement aft is spread across a long period of time allowing the equipment to continuous operate on far lower loads.

Put another way, it's easy to calculate the point at which the chain is close enough to straight to shock load the system.

The other lovely benefit of rope leading down to just above the bottom is that it's quite on board and one doesn't have to listen to the grinding sounds of the chain being dragged over the bottom.
 
I must disagree free with the missive to "avoid rope". At the very least, a boat needs a long bridal or riding line of nylon to reduce the shock loads on the anchor and on-deck gear when the chain goes bar-tight as the boat is moving aft rapidly.

We come from sailboats, with far less windage and momentum aft than a trawler, and even there the shock loads of an all chain rode have bent bolts for windlass', deformed shackles, and broken chains. If a boat is limited to protected anchorages without significant swell and wind, all chain is fine. But, in an emergency or if trapped by an engine that won't start or an anchor windlass that won't haul the gear aboard, it can be necessary to ride out a blow amongst real waves. In that case, chain will fail much more rapidly than an appropriate nylon 3-strand rope.

Obviously, one needs to keep the rope off of rock, coral, and other sharp objects. That's easily accommodated by never letting out more rope than the depth of the water. But that's not the point. The point is that the dampening of shock due to the weight of the chain stops working in strong winds and large swell. Then there is no stretch in the system and the weakest link fails. With Nylon rope, the stuff just stretches, in many case up to 15%, and the force of decelerating the boats movement aft is spread across a long period of time allowing the equipment to continuous operate on far lower loads.

Put another way, it's easy to calculate the point at which the chain is close enough to straight to shock load the system.

The other lovely benefit of rope leading down to just above the bottom is that it's quite on board and one doesn't have to listen to the grinding sounds of the chain being dragged over the bottom.

That's why you use a bridle. Mine is a Mantus with chafe guards and is quite oversized. But the weight of the chain and size of the anchor is what holds the boat.
 
That's why you use a bridle. Mine is a Mantus with chafe guards and is quite oversized. But the weight of the chain and size of the anchor is what holds the boat.
Glad to hear it, I hope the bridle is very long. We experimented with a two legged bridle with 30' lengths and it wasn't enough stretch, the shackle between the anchor and the chain still deformed. In my experience, you need a nylon rope small enough in diameter and long enough to decelerate the boat over about a 10' distance to avoid breaking things in large swell.

To get 10' of distance at 15% stretch in the rope, you need 70' of nylon 3-strand.

Allowing the boat to stretch the line means you can use a smaller and lighter anchor and chain with the same holding power because it doesn't have to deal with the shock load of stopping the boat in less than a foot.
 
When I added more chain the my rode I opted to switch out the connection to the anchor. I really like the Mantus swivels vs some other options.
 
I'll add another vote for the boat hook. My Vulcan (33kg) will flip into place (violently) if it comes up at an angle, but on the rare occasion it manages to hit the roller perfectly backwards, it just stops and can't rotate into place with a reasonable pull from the windlass due to the geometry of everything. Poking it with a boat hook to get it to pretty much any other position and then trying again leads to it stowing just fine.

As far as scope, I use mine regularly at 3.5 - 4:1 in deeper water. And in shallower water with a soft-ish mud bottom I did have it set once and pull the bow into the wind when I paused letting the chain out for a moment and the wind blew us back. I looked down and realized it had set with only about 2:1 scope out at that point. I have had a few failed sets over time, usually in the 3 - 4:1 range with harder bottoms. Harder sand bottoms seem to like a little more scope (and bringing the rode tension up gently at short scope) with the Vulcan although most of the failed sets I've had were confirmed to be debris on the bottom or a hard spot. At least one came up with some debris on the anchor tip when I pulled it to try again and in a couple of other cases it just wouldn't set in that spot no matter what I tried, but after moving a few hundred feet it set perfectly fine.
We had excellent results with a Vulcan on our Mainship 34 classic so we bought a 73lb Vulcan for our current 42LRC. I lugged it to the end of the dock, connected the chain and threw the heavy SOB overboard to pull it into the pulpit with the windlass. The damn thing set and we had to dislodge it from the sandy mud by getting a piece of rope under it before it could be hoisted! We subsequently used it anchoring on the way South, one night in Morehead City, NC, off of Sugarloaf Island with strong, reversing currents. It never budged in inch,as evidenced by our anchoring app. We're sold on a Vulcan...as the original Vulcan would say, "fascinating".
 

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