"every inch of every bottom is covered with sea life"
I second that........diving up here taught me decades ago to be extremely careful where I rest on the bottom., and having dived to recover fouled anchors......I would rather have one that is easier to handle.
Pretty much the only sandy/muddy beaches around here are in bays that totally dry out or a few slow moving river channels. Everything else........use the bruce.
As Duane said earlier every bottom is different and it pays to have a choice of anchors.
We have just got a Rocna anchor as a second anchor more to stop swinging in certain areas but also to hopefully dig into harder clays better than the Sarca main.
My concern for the Rocna is in rocky or cluttered bottoms where it may jam and be hard to retrieve, of course I could put a retrieval rope on the point provided but in many cases the bottom is unknown until you are hooked.
Will still use the Sarca as the main but did get caught last year where it dragged on clay in a high tide and wind area, we did use a large Danforth as a standby but gave up as it was unreliable in anything but sand and even dragged in that, the no 1 Sarca for the dinghy held much betther and could be retrieved in any situation except wrapping the rode around an obstruction if single anchoring.
The Danforth can stay home in the shed this year and may find something to use the bits for that are more useful although in a river situation it was comforting to know if it jammed it was no loss except the chain attached to it.
Here's an old video from two yrs ago I will be posting a new one in the next couple of weeks with all the new colour coded running rigging & new hardware I've been installing over the last few months . working on installing 7ft genny tracks right now that was a major PITA changed the design mod 5 times before I was satisfied with it but made it very simple for any one else to copy & the mod I think will look good and be very functinal with added benefits gave me places to mount more h/w without drilling anymore holes in the boat will post soon
I find the tether with the SS snap hook and the SS snap hook on the pulpit leg secure both my anchors in any conditions. There is no need to use the bow cleats to secure a Bruce style anchor in the roller.
You do have to cut off the tip of the locker cover to allow chain passage, but that is very easy. Just be sure you put some epoxy on to seal the core you will expose when you cut the locker cover.
Is it using a sledgehammer to crack a nut though?
Is there a "middle ground" that works more efficiently than the standard Danforth without incurring the costs of a mass make over?
I know that there is no substitute for a good nights kip, and the normal kit is not up to the task.... thoughts?
