Type and Size of Anchor

[Lovekamp]

My family has always done daysailing or overnighting in a marina in our prior boat. This year, we are planning to do some true cruising. What type and weight of anchors have readers had good luck with? I'm used to Danforths, but would a plow on a roller work better?

Everything I have read says "it depends on the boat, the weather and the anchorage", but obviously in a Mac, it's not possible to carry twenty different anchors, so I'm hoping to find which two types and weights of those types would be the most useful.

Thanks,
Greg Lovekamp

[Night Sailor]

Part of your cruise planning might be to call or write ahead and find out from the locals the kind of bottom you can expect. If it's rock or coral, get an anchor good for it. If it's soft mud get one for that. In most areas of sand, clay, gravel, grass etc. a big Danforth with 10 ft. of chain has worked for me, when carefully set. With any type, get one that can be rigged for retrieval without diving on it.

[Chip Hindes]

Not to put you off, but I'd say this horse has been pretty well beaten to death - several times. Try the search feature; a search on "anchor" returns 603 hits.

[Chinook]

Hi Lovecamp,

Really does depend on the area. We started out with a Fortress Guardian (danforth type) on 15 feet of chain. Had fairly good luck, but did manage to drag a few times, mostly due to not setting well enough. One time we dragged because of a shift in wind direction; the dandorth didn't reset by itself. Next switched to Hydrbubble plow type, with 20 feet of chain. It was fairly good, especially in Florida and Bahamas, and in Great Lakes. We had problems on the ICW in S. Carolina and Georgia, and the cruise guides suggested the danforth there, due to the fine silts encountered in that area. We switched back and did fine. On the way up Inside Passage to SE Alaska we had a lot of difficulty getting the plow to hook. Greater anchoring depths, and harder bottoms. We noticed lots of boats with Bruce anchors, and we switched to one in Prince Rupert. It really paid off, and I really favor the Bruce for most situations now. Because of its shape, it won't fit in the Mac anchor locker. We installed an anchor roller, which works great for stowage and deployment. I'm able to keep the chain and 200 feet of nylon rode, as well as the fortress and its 15 feet of chail/150 feet of nylon, both in the anchor locker. It works out well

Good luck, Mike Cecka

[Lovekamp]

Not to put you off, but I'd say this horse has been pretty well beaten to death - several times. Try the search feature; a search on "anchor" returns 603 hits.

Actually, I tried to do a search, but I got so many hits that none of them seemed to pertain to my question. I found lots of places to "anchor", but not much detail about which ground tackle worked well for a Mac26X. Hence, my question.

I am grateful to those who have provided helpful information about Danforths and chain lengths; I hope more will be helpful, too. I can learn much from the wealth of information others possess.

[kmclemore]

Not to put you off, but I'd say this horse has been pretty well beaten to death - several times. Try the search feature; a search on "anchor" returns 603 hits.

Actually, I tried to do a search, but I got so many hits that none of them seemed to pertain to my question......

Try searching on "anchor chain rode" and be sure to select the "Search for all terms" button.. you'll only get about 52 hits (one is this thread), and about 1/3 of them are applicable to your query. Hope that helps!

Here's two from that search that may be useful: (HERE) and (HERE)

And as others have noted, it's *very* important to know the sort of bottom you'll be anchoring in - rocky, grassy, muddy, sandy, shallow, deep, etc... all of this, combined with the wave, tidal and weather conditions you'll be expecting makes a very important difference on your anchor choice. Choosing an anchor, I'd venture to say, is about as easy as choosing a motor - and if this board is any guide, just as controversial!


As for me, my sailing & powering conditions are almost exclusively inland lakes or coastal bays with grassy, muddy or sandy/firm bottoms, with 4-15 foot depths, and where tides and strong currents are rarely encountered. I also don't go out when foul weather is expected, but I believe in being reasonably prepared in case that should arise.

Here's my choices:
I carry a Danforth Standard 9-lb. fluke-type anchor in the bow locker, with about 3.5-ft. of galvanized chain and considerable line. IMHO, it's a pretty good all-around anchor. (And according to Danforth, that's supposed to be the correct weight for a 27-ft boat.)

Fluke Anchor

I also keep a mushroom with about 3-ft. of vinyl-coated chain in the cockpit locker for when I need one to toss over aft for double-ended anchoring, or if I'm in particularly muddy conditions. It's also useful if you're in coming in during particularly windy conditions and want to quickly drag a little weight to keep from crashing the dock!

Mushroom Anchor

Finally, I use a Land Anchor for when I'd like to tie onto the shoreline, and I keep that anchor and it's attached line in the anchor locker, along with a 1-ft. peice of pipe for use as a lever to help screw it into the more firm soils.

Land Anchor
(...also works great on *really big* bottles of wine. )

[Catigale]

I like that land anchor Kevin - is that hard to find ?

On the 'correct size' issue - I echo the sentiment above that you dont pick the anchor for the boat as much as the bottom.

The Mac has a high windage so for anchoring in weather frequently it would be prudent to move up a range to the 30 foot recommendation if you will be relying on the hook for an overnight say.

Im partial to the Bullwaga (picture in Mac Mods Page) but there are several that people have been happy with despite the dire predictions of their competitors marketing...

Carry a back up too. We have a Fortress knocked down and kept below decks in case we need another, as well as a mushroom for either lunch or keeping the Mac Dance (swinging at anchor) minimised. Barbara says Im too old for swinging anyway..

Primary anchor is on a roller on the bow - ready to go. Lotsa tides and shifty winds and things to hit where we sail.

[Scott]

Cat wrote

I like that land anchor Kevin - is that hard to find

Cat, I bet if you went to the local pet supply store and looked in the Dog Chain section you'd run across the task specific "Sailboat Land Anchor".

Just a hunch

[Divecoz]

Allow me to ask what is the little hole on the Bruce anchor for ???????

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

McLemore - that land anchor holds my Chiahuahua...but Ill stick to tying up to a pier post....HA...

[jmclemore]

If you call it a land anchor, the price goes up ten-fold . . .

Seriously, there's nothing like it for sandy beaches. If you're in a remote spot (the best kind!) with nothing handy to tie up to, this is the perfect item. As a bonus, you can also tie the family Chiahuahua to it - the Mac doesn't mind.

(We don't recommend using the land anchor on the Chiahuahua.)

[mtc]

I've used a group of anchors and have found that each work better in different circumstances - just as you've heard.

The main anchor I'm using now is the ROCNA, which is probably the best designed and fabricated anchor I've ever seen or used. It rotates without loosing hold, so when you spin on the hook at night, you won't have to worry about re-setting and that period of time you're not really connected to anything as you drag along the floor.

I'm sounding like an ad, but I tell ya, if I were to make an anchor - I would have made the ROCNA.

Excellent, though a bit pricy.

Michael

[Jack O'Brien]

That land anchor is available at The Home Depot. I used a bunch of them for the hurricanes.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Divecoz,

The small hole at the front of the bruce is for a trip line. If you are anchoring in large rocky areas or places with logs, etc, the trip line is good thing to rig. The Bruce design is a great grapling hook and once under something like a log it can be hard to pull it up by the shank without lifting the entire log. Rigging a trip line will allow you to pull the anchor out backwards even if it hooked under a log or rock.

I also use mine for securing the anchor in it's bow roller with a stainless caribiner.

Here's my setup, a 16.5lb Bruce on the roller and a Guardian G-16 on the bow pulpit. The locker is split for both rodes and eliminates the problems of one rode on top of the other. The two different style anchors cover about all the bottom types you could encounter. Both can be deployed quickly without any unstacking or tangles. Both are sized bigger than will fit in the locker anyway. Besides big anchors, don't skimp on the chain either.

[kmclemore]

Indeed, the Land Anchor may seem silly, but it actually does do the job very nicely. (Of course, if you want to use it for double duty to tie down your dog, horse, camel, hamster, dragon - whatever - it will do that as well!)

Now, for those of you looking for a *really* serious Land Anchor, here's a couple of very nice ones:


I've used the LA for a sort of quasi- "mediterranean mooring" on lakeshores... works great.