Over the past 7 years working at and now managing a municipal marina along the ICW, I've gotten to know a lot of liveaboard cruising boaters. Most liveaboard spend most of their time at anchor, so setting and holding has a high priority. From what I have seen and heard from them, the order of preference and frequency of use of their anchors appears to be:
Rocna Mantus (a less expensive Rocna) (One or the other of these two are probably on 40-50% of the boats. And I'm starting to see the versions of the Rocna (called a Vulcan) and Mantus anchors that do not have the "roll bar" across the top, because these versions work well on most bow rollers.) Spade and Bruce (or a Bruce knockoff like the Simpson Lawrence Claw) - these two are about even in frequency and are on maybe 25-30% of the boats Almost all of the other anchors I notice on cruising boats are some sort of plow type anchor The cruisers who have a Danforth type anchor (including Fortress and Guardian) aboard seem to view it as a lunch hook (or kedge anchor for getting unstuck if aground) and not a primary anchor. (I will say that I got the idea for carrying the Fortress FX23 I have aboard Imzadi for a lunch hook, and the FX37 I carry as a 3rd storm anchor, from some cruising friends of mine. The Fortress and Guardian anchors break down and store easily when not in use, and they are light to schlep around the boat when you do use them.) Danforth type anchors seem to be ubiquitous on smaller power boats (if they have an anchor at all), and on sailboats and larger power boats that spend their lives at marina docks. Most of the cruisers seem to favor big anchors. The rule taught me many years ago by an old USCG Mater Chief was 1 pound of anchor for every foot of boat and at least 1 foot of chain for every foot of boat. Most of the cruisers seem to follow that sort of norm, and I see a lot of even heavier anchors. A 40' trawler in the marina right now has a 25kg Rocna as a primary anchor. On another observation based on my experience: The anchorage area off the marina in Washington is soft mud running from about 6 to 16 feet deep, with reversing current in response to strong and/or changing winds. In 7 years the only boat than has never dragged is a 34 Hunter that uses a 15kg Rocna and 100 feet of chain (I asked). Virtually every boat that uses a Danforth has been in the weeds at least once (one of them went into the Highway Bridge 3 times before the owner wised up). Different anchors have different benefits. A Danforth is supposed to be good in sand and suck if there is shell, gravel or weed, for example. So I don't see that there is a WORST anchor. But my guess is that a Danforth is in the running for the title of LEAST RELIABLE anchor because it gets flipped out if your boat gets blown over the top of it by wind or current, and it doesn't want to reset. But it makes an good lunch hook if you are on the boat and awake. Rick Brass Washington, NC -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Christian Tirtirau via CnC-List Sent: Monday, October 24, 2016 7:53 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Christian Tirtirau <christian_tirti...@yahoo.com> Subject: Stus-List Choosing an anchor for a C&C 35 mkll I second Dave’s view on the 3rd generation anchors. CQR is in fact the worst anchor ever made, that’s why they had to be heavily oversized to work. Delta is a 2nd generation anchor, good but not great. For such a critical piece of equipment the choice should be one of the 3rd gen anchors. Spade is the best anchor in the world, followed by Rocna and Mantus. The Spade is also the most expensive anchor in the world, so for most sailors it’s a toss between the next two in line. I have a Rocna 15 kg with 300 feet of 5/16 Acco chain and, consequently I spend most of my time tending other people’s anchors and boats rather than mine. All that tackle is handled by me with the help of an electric Maxwell windlass. Chris C&C 37 Northern Light _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
