Anchoring in Weed!

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statgar

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Is it me or, as some pundits would say, global warming is contributing to a serious increase in marine weed growth in warmer climbs. I don't think my anchoring skills, acquired over 50 years, are diminishing and my 25 kg Delta anchor attached to 80 metres of chain still looks the same on my 30 tonne SQ55 but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get a reliable set even this early on in the season. Is anyone else out there experiencing the same problems, is there a solution, change of anchor maybe?
 
Get a rocna or a mantus or similar, cuts through the weed into the seabed. Get lots of Seagrass in Spain deltas are useless, they just slide over the top.
 
I would change the anchor anyway but I know that wasn't your question.
We upgraded from a Delta to a Rocna a few years ago and the difference was dramatic.

As far as weed is concerned:-
When we are in Mallorca and the wind is strong, we anchor a lot in Palmanova where there is lots of weed.
The old Delta didn't really hold at all - the Rocna is much better.
Delta anchors are ploughing anchors so they really don't set - just keep ploughing until they stop (mostly).
Modern anchors like the Rocna seem to dig in better.

Sorry - this could digress into an anchor thread!!!
 
Modern anchors have become very versatile, providing good holding in a wide range of substrates. However, heavy weed can sometimes still be a challenge. There are dedicated weed anchors (the old fisherman’s is still very good in weed), but these anchors have poor holding in other substrates.

The Delta anchor is not the greatest in weed so a change to a more modern anchor will help, and as a bonus it will provide better holding in other substrates. The Mantus anchor is great in weed. Its long thin fluke helps to slide or cut through the weed to gain some traction in the substrate below. The Rocna and steel Spade are also good.

Oversizing does help. The weed structure does not change, so the relative size and significance of the weed decreases as the anchor size increases. The monster superyacht anchors of several hundred kilos seem to barely notice thickish weed even though the anchor designs are not very sophisticated.
 
Just came back from our anchorage, so I put the question to my wife who’s job is to find a bit of sand for me to drop the anchor on. She say, that anchoring and swimming, she’s finding a lot more weed (sea grass?) than she used to.
Now we can go back to drifting this into an anchor thread. My two pence, ditch the Delta. A plough is good on a tractor but has no place on a boat:disgust:
 
statgar said:
my 25 kg Delta anchor attached to 80 metres of chain still looks the same on my 30 tonne SQ55
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aren't you a bit on the "light" side?
I used to have a 15kg bruce copy on my 12ton 43ft mobo, now got a 20kg Mantus, totally different anchoring experience!

cheers

V.
 
vas said:
aren't you a bit on the "light" side?
I used to have a 15kg bruce copy on my 12ton 43ft mobo, now got a 20kg Mantus, totally different anchoring experience!

cheers

V.
Click to expand...

tend to agree, I'm 32kg Rocna on 21 ton
 
Here is mine - 48 ton boat

First a comparison between Delta and Rocna

serve.php


And the Rocna fitted - doesn't fit as well as that on some boats.

serve.php
 
Thanks to all contributors, on the button as always. Looks like a 40 kg Rocna is my answer, anyone strong folk around in Corfu to give me a lift! Just hope my Lewmar will cope with the extra weight.
May all your anchors set first go and hold throughout the storms.
 
statgar said:
Is it me or, as some pundits would say, global warming is contributing to a serious increase in marine weed growth in warmer climbs. I don't think my anchoring skills, acquired over 50 years, are diminishing and my 25 kg Delta anchor attached to 80 metres of chain still looks the same on my 30 tonne SQ55 but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get a reliable set even this early on in the season. Is anyone else out there experiencing the same problems, is there a solution, change of anchor maybe?
Click to expand...

An interesting question (completely missed by most above as it developed into a true anchor thread, your fault for mentioning the "A" word. :rolleyes:)

Anyway, could it be that we have gone from most people anchoring and so keeping the frequented anchorages clearish of weed to more only using marinas and only having an anchor for show?
We have as much weed here in the cool west coast of Scotland that I do not imaging warming would make a difference unless it is the type of weed. So are there better holding types of weed in cooler water?
 
statgar said:
Thanks to all contributors, on the button as always. Looks like a 40 kg Rocna is my answer, anyone strong folk around in Corfu to give me a lift! Just hope my Lewmar will cope with the extra weight.
May all your anchors set first go and hold throughout the storms.
Click to expand...

I don't think that the extra weight of the Rocna will make a huge difference to your windlass performance.
I changed the chain from 10mm to 12mm at about the same time as upgrading the anchor from a Delta to a Rocna.
What is the model number of your Lewmar windlass?
We had a V4 which I upgraded to a V5 by changing the motor (the V4 and V5 are the same apart from the motor).
BTW - the V5 motor wiring is different to the V4 so anyone doing an upgrade from V4 to V5 needs to be aware.

The problem with upgrading the chain is the extra weight when anchoring in deep water.
Although, we have never had any problems with the 55Kg Rocna and 12mm chain.
That said, we never anchor in anything deeper than 18m.
It did struggle a bit last year in a windy bay but nothing very alarming.
 
Kingfisher 5 said:
Did you fix it on your roller OK ? …. What is it … 15kg?
Click to expand...
The one in the photo is 110 kg and is as tall as a short man!
Twenty fits perfectly on your bow roller (as long as they haven’t changed from year to year) but be careful coming up as it can put a little nick in the gelcote :(


 
statgar said:
Is it me or, as some pundits would say, global warming is contributing to a serious increase in marine weed growth in warmer climbs. I don't think my anchoring skills, acquired over 50 years, are diminishing and my 25 kg Delta anchor attached to 80 metres of chain still looks the same on my 30 tonne SQ55 but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get a reliable set even this early on in the season. Is anyone else out there experiencing the same problems, is there a solution, change of anchor maybe?
Click to expand...
I used to have a 60kg Delta on my 40t Ferretti 630 and even that dragged occasionally in weedy and soft sandy bottoms. I changed it for a 55kg Rocna and that is without doubt the best anchor I've ever had. A 25kg anchor on a 30t 55ft boat sounds a bit light to me. Spend a few quid and upgrade to a 40kg Rocna. Also its worth checking whether you've got the maximum size of chain that your windlass can handle. If your windlass can take a heavier chain its also worthwhile upgrading that too
 
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