anchors - a different question

Neeves said:
Why do people carry Fishermans as a 'storm anchor'?

Weed anchor, yes - artifact in case donation needed for Yacht Club decoration, yes - storm anchor??

Jonathan
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We inherited the fisherman's, along with the CQR and Bruce, when we bought the boat. It is so big and cumbersome that it only comes out if a storm is expected. We rig it on the side of the bow so that it can be deployed by one person if necessary. It has been used in anger once - when I was on board alone for a fortnight last year. It held well in hard sand and gave me added confidence that we would be unlikely to drag (we were using the CQR as the main anchor at that time).
 
Every off-Solent cruising boat should have a monster fish' anchor hidden away somewhere for those once-in-a-lifetime occasions one is tucked into a kelp-infested wee sea loch with a storm building. This is mine, by designer Ian Nicolson - who knows a thing or two about anchoring on the West Coast......


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It weighs about 58lb in old money, and the oversized flukes unbolt, to fold or stow separately.
 
I've got two... One on the bow roller that is a sort of CQR plow type of thingy as supplied by Bavaria... And which I have been entirely satisfied with over seven seasons...

I also have a steel sort of fortress thing...

Like the one in the background of the piccy above....

With 20 meters of chain and a bunch of rode bunged down below in a convenient spot. And which I have never exposed to daylight.

Anyways... I do wonder how many of the various anchors that the hoarders seem to own ever actually do anything more than stub toes?

Ps... Buying another or a different anchor is not even on the list...
 
10g Bruce on 20m 3/8'' chain as bower, a small 'flying' thing bought from Jimmy Green a few years back as kedge.

Now we're cruising away from the east coast, I need a lot more chain but it's not easy to find 3/8'' to fit over the windlass.

Oh, yes. I need a 10k Kobra, if it will stow in the bow roller, too.
 
Manson as the bower, large Fortress as a kedge( doubles as a bower), small Fortress and a couple of small Danforths in the shed and a grapple dinghy type also in the other shed
 
Spade on the bow with 40 metres of 10mm chain.
Fortress in the locker as a kedge with a few metres of chain and 50 metres of nylon rode.

I have sold off any spare anchors as I don't see any point in having them cluttering up the shed or garage.

Can't remember the sizes of the anchors listed above except they're the recommended ones and I can't check as I am typing this from Cyprus and the boats in Scotland.

There's a tiny grapnel for the dinghy somewhere and I keep meaning to add at least twenty more metres of chain to the bower anchor.
 
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Urm.... This has caused me to stop and think!

I've got 2 x 35lb CQR, a 12lb CQR, a very large fisherman, a large danforth (about 10Kg), a little tiny CQR for the tender and a grapnel.... will be buying a large (35Kg) Delta soon.... across these, i've got 120m of cable, and a goodly length of anchorplait!!!!

.... a bit of rationalising needed.... and get rid of the rubbish CQRs!
 
To refute the original statement, i have bought four boats, all of which came with CQR anchors. In each case replacing them with something better was almost the first thing I did, in two cases before the boat touched the water. Each was sold or given away, replaced by Deltas. I now carry a Rocna, Delta and Fortress, plus a small grapnel for the dinghy, on Straitshooter and a Delta on Cecilia. The only anchor I have in my shed is the Rocna we cut up for mechanical testing for YM but there is not a lot of it left now.
 
vyv_cox said:
Ah, but there is 50 metres of chain in there. We are led to believe by some posters that it's the chain that does the holding and the anchor makes no contribution. So maybe point not proved? :D
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And that suggests your 50m. of chain + the remains of a Rocna are, taken together, quite effective at resetting when the tide stream reverses in the vicinity of your shed..... Good choice! Must tell Alain Fraisse... :cool:
 
I have only owned this single yacht. I have owned a total of 5 anchors, but now have only 3.

On the yacht I have a 40Kg Rocna up front and a Fortress in the locker for a kedge. I also have a mini Fortress for the dinghy. I have yet to use either Fortress.

In the garden I have the CQR that I was supplied with the yacht to its previous owner and proved lacking.

When I had the yacht coded for chartering, I had to have a steel anchor for a kedge, so I had one in addition to the Fortress, but as soon as I gave up with coding, I got rid of the steel anchor. Not sure where!

TudorSailor - currently sitting in very wet Croatia

www.zebahdy.blogspot.com
 
tudorsailor said:
.When I had the yacht coded for chartering, I had to have a steel anchor for a kedge, so I had one in addition to the Fortress, but as soon as I gave up with coding, I got rid of the steel anchor.

www.zebahdy.blogspot.com
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That's an interesting one. What was their objection to a Fortress, widely regarded as an excellent kedge? Presumably an aluminium mast was OK? ;)
 
vyv_cox said:
That's an interesting one. What was their objection to a Fortress, widely regarded as an excellent kedge? Presumably an aluminium mast was OK? ;)
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I asked that question too. Basically I was given a set of requirements to meet coding, and they included the need for a steel kedge anchor of a minimum weight. No specification about design. I got the cheapest one that met the surveyors needs and planned to use the Fortress if required.

I can find the specs if you are interested?

Ts
 
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