Meanwhile.. down in the cuddy....

[bbilly]

Hi,
When I bought my boat (used) it came with an umbrella type folding anchor. The previous owner (boatyard) probably didn't intend to anchor on a warm evening in a mediterranean cove, down below in the cuddy having a snooze or better! Any recommendations (for the anchor and my "peace of mind" of course)?? BTW the boat is a V hull, 7m, 1500 kg. Bottom is sand or rock - I think!

And I've got loads more questions for the "salty dogs".

Will

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[Divemaster1]

Some of the umbrella types, if the right weight and backed up with decent chain are actually quite good on both rocks and sand. Digs down OK with the weight from the chan and the grapnels holds well against rocks. these are used quite frequently in Norway (where I have done most of my boating) on the smaller crafts. (5 - 8 M). Several other good ones on the market, my personal prefrence would be for the "Bruce" type anchor, but you need to remeber that you need a decent length of chain irrespective if you want to rely upon it holding properly. (have seen leaded core rope used in Norway, but nowhere else).

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[bbilly]

Alf,
That's good news. More money saved for uvver goodies! Got any idea how big it should be (kg.s) and type and qty of chain? Is there a ratio or an old mariner's rule-of-thumb?

Thanks

Will

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[jfm]

mca guide

If it's any help you could use the minimum standards set out in the MCA yellow book. For your boat this means:

9kg weight
8mm chain
12mm warp
Length of chain + warp to be at least 4x lenght of boat (but I'd get a bit more)

The 9kg anchor weight assumes it is a high holding power type ie a Bruce, CQR, Delta etc, not a grapnel/umbrella like the one you currently have

Also, the the 9kg is a "minimum" but the MCA regs are quite severe, so there is no need to go much above this minimum, ie get a 10kg and you will be fine, and for most cases a 7.5kg would do (and is easier to pull up) with chain plus 10mm rope

As someone said, lead cored rope is availalbe. If you are in the med ask for lazy line rope, this is always lead cored and is sold in a 10mm dia size

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[bbilly]

Re: mca guide

Thanks for the low down. So a 9kg anchor + (5 x 7) 35m of warp. How much of the 35m should be chain? I will buzz off if it gets too choppy so maybe I could use 7.5kg - what do think?

Will

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