Kobra anchor

We went up two or three sizes on the Kobra data sheet. 35 feet, 12 tonnes, 30 nights or so at anchor each year in quite sheltered areas, no sign of a bend :)
 
At around £160 for a 16kg Kobra2, I sleep easy knowing that the anchor has set well and isn't going to cost the earth to replace even if the shank ever does bend, which it has shown no sign of doing over the past few years.
 
garvellachs said:
Since dragging our Fortress all the way across Lowlandman's Bay in F6/7 (blowing down off the Paps) I have been looking for something at a modest price that will dig through the Scottish weed when necessary and not just dredge it up by the cubic metre. Have you tried that Delta copy yet in a weed-infested loch?
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Can say that both cqr & rocna make good kelp dredges.
As a bit of a joke a friend of ours suggested that we drop all our chain (well, 35m or so) in a pile before dropping back after we had made half a dozen attempts to get on in Canna. He said it might pull the kelp out as it straightened. For some logic defying reason this seems to help but cannot understand why.

Also, never, ever, ever going into Craighouse again, mooring or anchor. Had one too many swelly nights in there - horrible to wake up feeling a bit queezy. Edit: oops, read yr post again and for some reason I read Craighouse for Lowlandman's bay !
 
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garvellachs said:
Have you tried that Delta copy yet in a weed-infested loch?
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Nope, mostly in sand so far, and it's been pretty good. We managed to un-set it once when we were carrying some forward speed as it hit the bottom, and once we fell back it pulled out. Which isn't the anchor's fault.
Tbh I'm saving up for something like a Manson, just the new boat needed something to get us through the first season, so I thought I'd give the cheapie a punt.
 
garvellachs said:
Since dragging our Fortress all the way across Lowlandman's Bay in F6/7 (blowing down off the Paps) I have been looking for something at a modest price that will dig through the Scottish weed when necessary and not just dredge it up by the cubic metre. Have you tried that Delta copy yet in a weed-infested loch?
Click to expand...

We've anchored in Lowlandmans bay with the wind whistling from the west off the Papas and been good with a Kobra (16kg on a SO34). When the wind picked up from nothing to a 5/6 I had to let out from 30m to 40m of 10mm chain. Sat happy all night looking forward to a great sail home to Crinan the next day..... it then went flat calm! :(

As with all bays on the west coast, you need to pick your spot with reference to the current and previous wind directions (swell) to have a comfy night.

The more I read all these anchor threads, I get the impression that too little recognition is given to the size and amount of chain put out as the basis for most problems in normal leisure sailing with all the focus being on the lump of metal at the end. Could it also be that too many take on too much advise from too many sources rather than experimenting with their own boat / location / equipment?
 
ctva said:
.....

As with all bays on the west coast, you need to pick your spot with reference to the current and previous wind directions (swell) to have a comfy night.
.....
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The problem we found at Craighouse is that it did not seem to make much difference. The last time we went in was at the end of last season and it must have been 10 years or more since our previous visit. Swmbo remembered there might have been swell the previous time so before deciding to go in we dug out the old log book and sure enough there was a comment saying how unpleasant the night had been. The wind that time was and had been from the nw and now the wind had been from the sw so we thought it may be ok. Looked around at the other yachts before picking up a mooring and all the masts seemed to be still and we could see no swell.

However, some time before midnight the tide changed in the sound and slowly we started to rock. Too late (& lazy) to move so we just had to endure another unpleasant night. As I said, never again !
 
Kelpie said:
Nope, mostly in sand so far, and it's been pretty good. We managed to un-set it once when we were carrying some forward speed as it hit the bottom, and once we fell back it pulled out. Which isn't the anchor's fault.
Tbh I'm saving up for something like a Manson, just the new boat needed something to get us through the first season, so I thought I'd give the cheapie a punt.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thoughts Kelpie and Storyline. At about a lb for a pound the Delta-copy is a cheap way of putting something heavy and sharp down that might get through the weed and bite. Observations in Canna suggest that fetching up kelp at the end of a stay is almost inevitable, but I'm more interested in getting through/under it in the first place.

We have one of those folding fisherman's anchors which is also over 35 lb - not much fluke area for holding but I reckon that should get through the weed? Unfortunately I have never tried it and we didn't have it on board at the time in L's Bay.
 
ctva said:
We've anchored in Lowlandmans bay with the wind whistling from the west off the Papas and been good with a Kobra (16kg on a SO34). When the wind picked up from nothing to a 5/6 I had to let out from 30m to 40m of 10mm chain. Sat happy all night looking forward to a great sail home to Crinan the next day..... it then went flat calm! :(
Click to expand...

Until this Delta-copy appeared it was a Kobra I was wondering about, so thanks for that. Our friends 100m away managed fine with their heavy plough-type anchor. We eventually gave up and went down among the shallows to Craighouse for a buoy at 2230 - wonderful when it's light that late!
 
If it's Canna that you have in mind, there are now ten visitor buoys, although in the peak of the season this isn't enough for everyone!
 
Have mixed feelings about the new moorings on Canna - on one hand they must be good for the local economy as they attract more visitors (especially because of the kelpy reputation) but there are a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, for me they take away a bit of the wilderness feel of the place and secondly they introduce a little bit of unwelcome stress - will there be a mooring free when we get there, should we try to get there early to get one, is that boat going to get there before us and get the last mooring ?

So we prefer to anchor - zero stress (apart from the prospect of kelp !), no hassle of getting the anchor off the bow roller & it is free :)
 
Still plenty of room inbetween the moorings- they have been delibrately placed so as to preserve anchoring space, rather than to force people to cough up.
Agree it must be good for the local economy. It would also be good if more yachties used the cafe. Recently re-opened by a lovely young couple who moved across from Skye. They told me almost all of their business comes from the day trippers arriving by RIB, almost none of the yachties go in. Shame, as it's a lovely wee place, licensed, got lobster on the menu, what more do people want?
 
Kelpie said:
Still plenty of room inbetween the moorings- they have been delibrately placed so as to preserve anchoring space, rather than to force people to cough up.
Agree it must be good for the local economy. It would also be good if more yachties used the cafe. Recently re-opened by a lovely young couple who moved across from Skye. They told me almost all of their business comes from the day trippers arriving by RIB, almost none of the yachties go in. Shame, as it's a lovely wee place, licensed, got lobster on the menu, what more do people want?
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Where exactly is the cafe? I've not been to Canna since the moorings were laid, but hopefully next year and am always happy to eat ashore.
 
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