Another anchor question 😀

Flat anchors such as Danforth, Fortress, etc hold very well in thin mud, as the tests carried out by Fortress a few years ago illustrated so vividly. They do have the reputation of not resetting after windshifts but many owners would dispute this.

Having carried Deltas for many years all over western Europe I switched to Rocna after mine dragged several times in soft mud, admittedly in wild conditions.
 
While the Danforth would probably dig deeper in the Newtown mud, there are fairly strong tidal flows, particularly at springs and Danforths do not cope as well with major changes in direction of pull.
 
Danforth.

The one supplied with a Catalac used to be a clone with the flukes the opposite way to a genuine danforth. The original one supplied with my boat worked well for many years until it got slightly bent .....

Now have a 15kg rocna having found a 10kg delta useless in mud.
 
Stemar said:
Our main anchor is a Delta, but we also carry the Danforth that is original equipment on a Catalac. In places like Newtown Creek, where the bottom is much stirred mud soup, which would you use?
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I carried an oversized Danforth for muddy regions for years.

I believe MTBoats of WWII carried them as standard of SE coast of UK.
 
If you Google 'Fortress Chesapeak mud tests' and or use the search facility on the Fortress website you will find the results of tests in thin and soupy muds. Practical Sailor has a summery, I recall a key word being 'Soupy Mud'.

Fortress was obviously the best, they paid for the tests, but Danforth did well. For once size is important, in thin mud, one size bigger would be a good solution. Of other designs even a bigger anchor will not develop adequate hold under arduous winds. The Chesapeake tests included a simple weight and it performed as well, or as badly, as many conventional anchors - underlining their inadequacies.

Most other anchors simply offered inadequate hold and were totally unreliable.

Anchors are compromise, you need to carry more than one style of anchor if you desire security.

But

Fluke anchors, Fortress and Danforth, but not necessarily clones, may not offer security in big wind shifts but they so outperform other designs, Delta, Excel, Spade, Rocna in thin mud you need to accept the downsides.


Contradictorily my extrapolation of the results suggest the original roll barred Viking and finned Odin would be a good choice. They are effectively fluke anchors, crown at the heal, but fixed fluke. Odin is the better choice as the fins enable efficient self righting even in thin mud. Both Viking and Odin offer the same weight saving (by using HT steels for the complete anchor) as Fortress does with aluminium - so weight is not the critical factor - its fluke size and crown angle. Odin/Viking will offer similar hold to the similarly weighted Fortress with the Fortress set at 30 degree shank angle. With the shank set at 45 degrees the hold increases significantly.


If you find difficulty in accessing the test results I can post to this thread but am currently travelling The Silk Road, next stop Kashgar, and internet access is unreliable (I lost access halfway through scripting this post). The Silk Road might seem to be unacceptable thread drift - but there are many ships of the desert still providing an essential;l service. :)

Jonathan
 
Thanks, everyone.

I now need to find a galvanised shackle with flush pin that I'll have a chance of undoing to change anchors. The only one I could find has a shallow slot that gives no chance once it's been under water a few times.
 
Stemar said:
Thanks, everyone.

I now need to find a galvanised shackle with flush pin that I'll have a chance of undoing to change anchors. The only one I could find has a shallow slot that gives no chance once it's been under water a few times.
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Wichard make an Allen key headed stainless Steel shackle in 6,8 and 10mm sizes. I've used the 10mm size for my chain and it's fine. No problem with corrosion so far.
 
PetiteFleur said:
Wichard make an Allen key headed stainless Steel shackle in 6,8 and 10mm sizes. I've used the 10mm size for my chain and it's fine. No problem with corrosion so far.
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I have been using two of these, one on the Rocna, the other on the Fortress, for more than 20 years. This photograph taken in 2007 is the originator of my three chain links idea, now used worldwide. The Wichard shackle was not new then and is still in use. After 5 years or so the galvanising appears to be lost from the chains but sufficient zinc-iron alloy remains to inhibit corrosion.

The three links and the shackle are 10 mm, chain is 8 mm.

Wichard, Kong and links.jpg
 
Petersens is distributor for K&W - check their website.

You could use the trick, oft quoted by Noelex, to cut the lug off the appropriately sized shackle and cut your own slot (so as to allow you to use a screw driver). Noelex suggests drilling a fine hole in the remnants of the lug to allow mousing, I'd suggest Loctite. Don't cut the lug too fine - the enlarged shoulder on the pin is there for a reason. But cutting the lug off and leaving the shoulder 'works', as does Loctite.

Good shackles from the Crosby range, G80, are not so expensive - buy two and replace the rusting one (maybe abrade and paint) using your spare.

Crosby shackles are freely available in the UK, try Tecni.

The alternatives are to use G100 Hammerlocks or Omegas links. They are commonly powder coated, not galvanised. The coating lasts surprisingly well - but again buy spares and replace.


Sorry I cannot provide website links, reasons already mentioned.


Jonathan
 
vyv_cox said:
They do have the reputation of not resetting after windshifts but many owners would dispute this.
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I use a battered and worn copy Danforth which came with the boat. I've used a *lot* over 10 years. It seems fine in terms of holding. (Admittedly, as it happens, I seem to exclusively anchor on mud.)

*However* this last Saturday, anchored off Pilsea Island, I pulled it up in the morning to find the cable wrapped 3 times around the crown. (Only two of those can be explained by tide changes.) It had clearly been pulling on the crown and lifted crown first. (Rightly or wrongly I hadn't used any chain.) We hadn't noticeably shifted during the night despite the hefty tide that flows past there. It's never happened before although I'm surprised it hasn't because I typically anchor in places with 180 degree tide changes.

The real issue with Danforths is they're primarily a device for snipping fingers off. Holding boats in one place is a secondary function.

Despite all that my answer to the OP would be Danforth every time. And when it's on the bottom your fingers are safe.
 
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I wouldn't use a Danforth but would use use a Fortress, weight in an anchor is overrated.

I think you will find it exceedingly difficult to source a genuine Danforth (in the UK). I'm sure some copies are good but most seem to be sold without any brandname - and if the manufacturer is not prepared to brand his product we, personally, are not going to trust him (or her).

Any anchor under reverse tension may not reset, it may catch a 'something' in the toe, oyster shell, seaweed, old beer can - and again personally think the resetting weakness of Fortress et al is overstated - I've seen lots of yachts drag - none using n Danforth nor Fortress, Our Fortress never dragged (and we used it frequently) its major characteristic was to set deeply and be a devil to retrieve.

We would use a Fortress in thin mud, otherwise its a secondary (kedge, call it what you will). We would always carry a Fortress.

Your dillemma is what out of a decently long and healthy list are you going to choose for your primary - any of the 'good' ones will suffice.

Jonathan
 
My "dilemma", provoked by having some difficulty getting my Delta to set in thin mud, is whether it's worth making it possible to use the standard equipment Danforth (clone?) which is already available as it was standard equipment on the Catalac.

Clearly, it is, so all I need is a shackle that I'll be able to undo without an angle grinder, which isn't a problem if I can use stainless.
 
There are seabeds where a Danforth and Fortress will simply be inadequate - primarily weed but also any pebble seabeds (though in our experience pebbles are a bit like hens teeth. Weed is a different issue and we would want something with a bit of bite, and the Excel, Spade would be top of our list - both of which are expensive.

I would not want to rely on a Delta in weed, actually given the current choice I would not want to reply on either Delta nor Danforth (copy) for a reassuring night's sleep.

If your Catalac is a keeper and you intend to anchor over night fairly frequently the costs of an anchor is insignificant.
 
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