Channel Islands - anchoring

B

blup

New Member
Joined
2 Sep 2003
Messages
12
Location
East Sussex
Visit site
We are planning our first cruise to and around the Channel Islands next month. We have a 16kg Danforth on our 40ft Beneteau and I'm wondering if this is big enough and do I need a second (kedge?) anchor and would it need to be a different type? Any advice will be more than welcome.
 
Cant comment on the type of anchor.

but you will need a fair bit of chain / rope with a typical rise and fall of about 8-10 metres on springs in the CI's.

Have a great time.
 
regardless of your destination you would seem to be a little 'light' on your main anchor according to anchor guide

the good news about the CIs is that you should be able to find a good sheltered anchorage from all directions, the bad news is the tidal currents and range

if it was me I would retain your existing gear as spare/kedge and go to a 20kg CQR, plough or delta or equivelant spade for your main.
 
I would say two anchors is a minimum to carry when cruising. There can be an advantage in having two kinds of anchor in that it may be a help depending on what you use the anchor for and the type of bottom on which you are anchoring. I use a 16Kg Delta and a 12 Kg Brittany, this is for a 37 ft swing keel cruiser. Normally I use the Delta as a main anchor and the other as a stern anchor when needing to check way when entering a tight mooring or going into a beach. However I have had problems with the Delta when anchoring on grassy/weedy bottoms in the Channel Islands, I believe the Danforth would have the same problem. A fisherman anchor is good for weed but they have to be heavy and are a nuisence to have on board. Nigel Calder recommends a 16 Kg or 20 Kg Delta or CQR among others; personally I believe the length of chain you ride to and its weight has a great bearing on the anchor size. In your case I would suggest a 20 Kg CQR as your second anchor, but other people with more experience of the Channel Islands may well have better ideas.
 
I'm with the others on this that you need 2 anchors anyway so swap the existing one to kedge duty and add a Delta, CQR or perhaps a Spade as the main one. I also like chunky chain and carry 200ft of 10mm with our 35lb Delta which we have considerable faith in, it sets quickly and it will then hold all of our 44hp in reverse so I feel I can sleep easy! We previously had a 45lb CQR (genuine, not a cast lookalike) and again slept easy once this was dug in properly. The Delta came with our present 41 footer and was used successfully in the Med by the previous owners, I was going to replace it with a CQR but was so impressed with it have decided to keep it having used it now for 3 seasons from Poole to Southern Brittany. The makers rated the holding of a 35lb Delta the same as a 45lb CQR but I might have bought a 45lb one had I bought it myself but as I say so far I'm well impressed.

One thing I always add is to use a separate line to transfer the anchor load from the windlass to a foredeck cleat and ours includes a rubber sausage shaped snubber wound into the nylon line. This line hooks onto the chain with a cast S/S chain hook and then a bit more chain is let out to hang loose in a loop, all the load now on the snubber line. Doing this will stop all the noise from chain on the bow roller but more importantly will take any snatch loads off the anchor, IMO what will cause any anchor to be jerked out of the bottom.
 
We regularly anchor over here and on 38' boat use 20K bruce and min. 20 - 30m chain. If you intend overnight anchoring off Belvoir Beach in Herm you will need to be out in the tide and a fore and aft anchor might be adviseable for peace of mind! In Sark Havre Gosselin and Greve de la Ville are cluttered with visitors' buoys but there is space in the other bays - Grande Greve/Dixcart and N. of Brecqhou.
 
The best anchor around for the CI waters is def a bruce style anchor. I have tried and used many and never had any slippage in any bay or harbour with the bruce but the way to do it is as follows.

Get to your anchor point lower anchor and as much chain as you need (NB do not reverse when doing this let the tide take you but keep throwing out as much chain as possible until desired length is achieved. Cleat off and then leave it.
 
I fully agree with most comments: it is advisable to have at least two anchors on your boat.

When I started sailing “full time” on my boat, I had very little experience on anchoring.. and I followed the usual advice of buying different types..
- 13 years after, spent most of the time at anchor.. I have a different opinion: - most anchors work quite well on "standard" sea bottoms, and doesn't work on "difficult" ones ( hard sand and coral, weed.. )

Therefore, my suggestion would be slightly different: - take an anchor which works well on difficult sea grounds.. and it will also work perfectly on “standard” sea bottoms.

(I have had problems with the Delta when anchoring on grassy/weedy bottoms in the Channel Islands, I believe the Danforth would have the same problem)
Plough anchors are notably poor on weed.. and so are “fluke” anchors too.. so why choosing two different types of anchors??

“A fisherman anchor is good for weed but they have to be heavy”

Again this is a common belief which is supported by nothing.. take ANY heavy (big) anchor and it will hold better than a small one!!!.. :0)

Compared “weigh for weight” with the “new technology” anchors, the Fisherman anchor is outperformed in all aspects, including holding in weedy bottoms..

“I believe the length of chain you ride to and its weight has a great bearing on the anchor size.”

The length of your mooring rode!.. yes, I fully agree.. For those with a “mathematic oriented” mind who want to know more on this subject, there is a very interesting web page “Tuning an anchor rode”: http://alain.fraysse.free.fr/sail/rode/rode_b.htm

You can improve the holding power of just about any anchor by making the warp longer (increasing the scope)

I also fuly support the comments of ROBIN “use a separate line to transfer the anchor load from the windlass to a foredeck cleat and include a rubber sausage shaped snubber wound into the nylon line.”

Shock absorbing effect of the chain alone is not enough.. you must always (in case of bad weather) include a sort of shock absorbing product.

But I have to disagree with the comments of “depSol” (I apologize DepSol!)
I’m not absolutely sure that “The best anchor around for the CI waters is def a Bruce style anchor” but I will not underline again the very poor holding results achieve by this type of anchor in absolutely ALL anchor tests performed all over the world..

Where I fully disagree is with the anchoring technique

“lower as much chain as you need (NB do not reverse when doing this let the tide take you but keep throwing out as much chain as possible until desired length is achieved. Cleat off and then leave it.”

You should ALWAYS check if your anchor is well set.. I use an anchor that I also consider as “The best anchor” :0) but it happens at least twice, that the anchor fall down in a old fisherman net lying on the bottom, and once the tip of the anchor was engaged in a “beer can”.. and “best anchor” or not.. in this case it didn’t work.. :0)..

ALWAYS check that your anchor is well set by reversing your engine at full throttle, a 50 Hp engine is giving less than 500 kg of pull on your anchor..
 
eek. Bruce type anchors crap, as shown over and over again. Get a modern anchor with decent penetration in most seabeds and one which doesn't come unstuck when tide changes 180 deg.
 
Just to add a word in support of Hylas and BrendanS. Couldn't agree more.

We just shipped one of our 15Kg models to Guernsey, bought by some guy with a 32' cat who was sick of dragging his older style (Bruce or plow, I forget now) around.

Do your research properly. Read the (recent!) reviews and comparison testing articles by publications such as Practical Sailor.
 
The last bit about reversing at full throttle will need to be tempered for most motorboaters: 500-800 hp backwards in Newtown Creek might cause a few raised eyebrows.

dv.
 
"If one wants to carry an anchor that will set, with an insignificant percentage of failures, in any but the foulest bottom, a Bruce is the undisputed choice." (Practical Sailor, February 1, 1998)
Anchors are like religions (atheist point of view).
 
also stows/self stows easily etc

I use one all the time anchoring in easy conditions for fishing (but that can include as last weekend 60m water and 2knots of tide). I also know that I could have similar holding from a spade half the weight - however as I can handle 10kg easily enough it's not a problem!
If I didn't want easy self stowing on my existing stem head I would definitely have a spade - as it is it works for me in the circumstances I operate.
I find Bruce bashing as unpleasant as Microsoft bashing - they are not at the top of the holding to weight tables and their holding power diminishes quickly as the angle of pull moves from horizontal but they set/reset well.
If I only had 20kg to play with, and was setting off on a cruise in a 40ft yacht, it's a different matter as indicated above...........
 
[ QUOTE ]
"If one wants to carry an anchor that will set, with an insignificant percentage of failures, in any but the foulest bottom, a Bruce is the undisputed choice." (Practical Sailor, February 1, 1998)
Anchors are like religions (atheist point of view).

[/ QUOTE ]

I said recent.

"Anchors that failed our 400-lb. minimum were the Bruce, Claw, Danforth, Vetus and NE lightweights, the Box and Hans-C Anchor." - Practical Sailor, January 99 (and even that is not very recent).

Agree with the religion analogy though.
 
Thanks to one and all for your usual sage advice. I had been seriously considering upgrading to a heavier bow anchor and had been thinking of a Delta but not so sure now. I would then use the danforth as the kedge. I'll let you know how I get on.
 
I would agree with most of this (after mentally applying scaling factors re. our differently sized boats!), particularly on the use of a snubbing line.

I have recently made one slight modification to my system. Following an annoying incident a month ago, my lovingly made up snubbing line (chain hook, plastic hoze anti-chafe and all) now lies on the bottom of Puilldobhrain anchorage. Its replacement now has a permanent attachment to the boat...
 
[ QUOTE ]
Following an annoying incident a month ago, my lovingly made up snubbing line (chain hook, plastic hoze anti-chafe and all) now lies on the bottom of Puilldobhrain anchorage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although this is not only related to Channel island anchoring,

I also had a problem with my own snubbing line: - in less than one night, the plastic hose anti-chafe must have moved, and the line has been cut..

Now, I have replaced this part by splicing directly the rope to a small lenght of chain, just at the bow roller level.. it will take much more time to wear it!..:0)

http://www.bluemoment.com/warpchainsplice.html
 
Most of the people I know around here use Bruce style and never had a problem as long as you use the procedure I set out above.

If you try and pull the anchor in to set it thats what causes the problem. I am talking here from years of experience boating in and out of all the islands and France and I have used the other anchors about fishermans, brittany etc etc although I have not used the anchor mentioned above from this manufacturer so I cant comment on that.
 
I take the point, and replacing the rope with chain where it passes over the bow roller is probably a worthwhile precaution - perhaps with the chain in turn covered with something soft to protect the boat if it somehow jumps out of the roller ... there's no end to the possibilities!

My "annoying incident" in fact did not involve chafe, but was more a specific example of the universal law which ultimately determines the destiny of all objects not actually tied down to the boat!

For an alternative approach, there's a development opportunity here if the following does not currently exist. How about a chain hook with some kind of sprung "keeper" which would keep it attached to the chain when the load is taken off the line? Apart from avoiding loss by the careless, it would make taking up the slack while letting out chain much easier. Anyone know of such a beast? Alternatively, in true PBO fashion, perhaps half a metre of bungey cunningly applied...
 
[ QUOTE ]
How about a chain hook with some kind of sprung "keeper" which would keep it attached to the chain when the load is taken off the line?

[/ QUOTE ]
There is one manufactured by Wichard "main de fer" but be carefull, its working load is much lower than the one of the chain

On my own boat I have manufactured one very simple.. but I still don't understand how to publish a photo on this Forum.. send me an E.mail at hylas@free.fr and I will send you the drawing and the photo.

Untill I loose it with my snubber line, it has be working perfectly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

Rivers & creeks
What size outboards to replace inboard?
2
Replies
32
Views
849
Rivers & creeks
Rivers & creeks
T
Astro nav advice wanted, and which Atlantic Chart.
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
zoidberg
zoidberg

Share this page

Top