Best kedge anchor.

[Bav34]

Our boat (34' /5 tons) has a large deep cockpit locker that takes tender, outboard, holding tank plus numerous buckets, boat hooks and 'stuff'. It also has a fair sized locker that is long but a foot deep ...maybe a bit more. It happily holds 5 large fenders, lots of warps and even more buckets (!).

We are long term cruising this year from St Vaast round to Morbihan and would welcome your suggesitons re weight/ type of kedge anchor, and how much chain and warp you would carry.

I know the official answer when it comes to anchor and chain is go as big as possible but HMS Victory declined to help.

A CQR would fit in both lockers but any anchor would be a pig to pull up out of the large crowded locker, so perhaps a Danforth in the smaller locker??? My thoughts on the amount of chain are motivated by the worry about transom damage as you drop/recover.

Any thoughts based on your personal experience welcomed.

Then I'll move on to my Gas/Gaz/Propane/Butane question /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Cornishman]

Danforth is as good as any, and probably the easiest effective anchor to stow. As an RNLI SEA Checker I would recommend that your anchor wieght should be in the region of 7 kilos, or 15 lbs in old money. A couple of metres of 6mm chain (1/4 inch) plus as much 10mm (3/8 inch) as you think you can safely carry, but probably about 40m or 50m should be enough. Make sure it is NOT polyprop, 'cos it floats and you will want it to sink to get a good catenary.
How about getting a visit from a SEA Checker who will advise you on all sorts of gear from lifejackets to DSC radios, flares etc etc.

 

[Bav34]

Thanks Mike. Good point re Sea Checker. Just read the latest PBO (am I allowed to say that on the YM forum?) and didn't do as well as we wished on the 20 questions .

 

[jimbaerselman]

A Brittany anchor has the same characteristics as a Danforth, but usefully, doesn't have the pointy bits sticking out each side of the fluke. Makes it much easier to stow in a locker full of ropes and fenders.

 

[wagenaar]

The best ketch anchor in my opinion is a fortress. It is light and easily handled. I made a gadget to hang it on the pushpit and put the rode in a special bag, which had a fortified hole in the bottom. The rode went trough this hole and was continuously attached to a cleat. To use the anchor I threw first some of the chain and then the anchor to make it go down faster. If the anchor is thrawn first one sees it going down like a leave from a tree. Once the ship was tied to shore the rode was tightened and made fast to the cleat. Worked OK for me and I found it quite simple. The bag was bought at a chandler and was specifically made for this purpose. It hang outside on the pushpit and when taking the rode in, it could be done without scratching the pushpit, pulling it below the bar.

 

[michael_w]

Another vote for a Fortress. In a straight line pull, the holding power of the puny looking FX-8 is quite amazing.

Never used a Brittany, but I've seen quite a few of them bent to bu**ery to give me any confidence in them.

 

[snowleopard]

And another vote. It can also be dismantled for compact storage. Being light it can even be thrown overarm to get you off the putty! The soft mud setting is a godsend when your normal anchor drags in a very soft bottom.

 

[starboard]

An alloy Fortress...easily stowed and light enough to handle if needed to run out in the dinghy, 5 metres of chain, 10 if you can manage the weight then a good 30m of 14mm line........in the recent tests in YM the fortress performed excellant..........I am a great "Delta" fan but yes the Fortres woukld be my kedge choice

 

[Channel Ribs]

Fortress + 5m 6mm chain + 50m 10mm rope (if you can get the rope on a drum that helps alot with the storage/tidyness).

The whole set up should cost less than 70 quid and be nearly as useful as the ship's kettle. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bav34]

Marty, if you can get all that for £70 I'll give you £80
The nearest size Fortress is £300 ...or am I missing something?
Rgds Steve

 

[dickh]

I also have used a Fortress FX-16 on my Moody 33 with just rope and was very impressed. I'm going to add 10m of 8mm chain this year though which will make it better. Bought new on eBay for about ¼ the retail price - just keep looking. one at the moment with 21 hours to go - FX 11, which I believe is OK for 28-32' and only weighs 3.2kg.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fortress-anchor-fx...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Channel Ribs]

Yer, I was kind of costing the budget versions. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jimbaerselman]

[ QUOTE ]
Another vote for a Fortress. In a straight line pull, the holding power of the puny looking FX-8 is quite amazing.

[/ QUOTE ] Almost certainly the same as an identical fluke area Brittany or Danforth if they're being pulled level, or else the laws of physics will be found wanting.
[ QUOTE ]
Never used a Brittany, but I've seen quite a few of them bent to bu**ery to give me any confidence in them.

[/ QUOTE ] I'm aware that individual experiences have no real validity in predicting the general behaviour of anchors, so my lack of bent Brittanies over 15 years is irrelevant, as is my bent (genuine) CQR and Fortress.

Didn't some recent test bend a Fortress? Or find it difficult to dig in on hard sand? My memory seems to be failing nowadays . . .

 

[A_7]

S/S Danforth on a bracket on the pushpit with long line on a drum next to it.

 

[Mirelle]

Good oh! Another anchor thread!

Seems to me that a kedge has three different jobs to do:

1. In rocky areas, it is there to keep you in the right place when anchored with the bower anchor.

2. In muddy and sandy areas, it is there to be rowed out in the dinghy when you go aground

3. It can the the thing that you chuck over in a tearing hurry when your best laid plans go pear shaped...

(a case of (3) that sticks in my mind was literally hurling a 15lb CQR off the foredeck of a 32 footer with a rope round the prop and a spring ebb tide..had to surge the warp but it certainly stopped us!)

Now, it seems to me that one's choice of kedge may be determined by cruising area, but if its at the bottom of a cockpit locker it is not ideally located for (3).

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Good oh! Another anchor thread!

Use 4. Short stay in benign conditions

Use 5 (really Use 4a), anchoring in weak wind and adverse tide, to wait for new wind or change of tide. This often has to be done at considerable depth, so a lighter anchor than can be recovered without a hernia is a nice idea.

 

[Mirelle]

Re: Good oh! Another anchor thread!

Having once mis-read an old Seafarer echosounder (fathoms for feet) and tried to anchor in 25 fathoms with 22 fathoms of chain and no windlass, I know exactly what you mean...

Seriously, I lay claim to one tiny little spark of originality in the kedge anchor department.

Sailing where I do, my main use for the kedge is (2) - kedging off when aground.

Sod's Law dictates that you will never go aground pointing straight to the deep water, so a substantial snatch block clipped onto the bow fitting which allows you to lead the kedge warp to the warping drum on the windlass or to the primary winches can come in very handy.

(Messrs Lewmar may send cheques for commission on increased sales of big snatch blocks direct to Mirelle...)

 

[jimbaerselman]

Re: Good oh! Another anchor thread!

[ QUOTE ]
so a lighter anchor than can be recovered without a hernia is a nice idea.

[/ QUOTE ] assuming you're not using a chain rode?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Good oh! Another anchor thread!

No more than a few metres of chain on a kedge.

 

[Duncantaz]

Re: Good oh! Another anchor thread!

Yet another vote for the Fortress, can be disassembled for storage if required, and their guarantee really works, I bent the shank on mine through user error and they replaced it FOC, no quibbles.