Rocna anchor from Latvia

[sailaboutvic]

I've had my NZ manufactured, 15kg Rocna for close on ... must be ten years now, when there was only one European distributor - in Holland. As you mention, it had no markings but had metallised labels affixed both sides of the shank with what seemed to be contact adhesive (as shown in the image in message #38, peeling away) that I anticipated would not last for too many mud-burying sessions, so easily prised them off - they still reside on a shelf on-board.

After one year of use the galvanising was gone in a number of places that had, presumably, had some knocks against the bow-roller on retrieval. No response from NZ until I posted on Scuttlebutt, with this photo:

That elicited a response from the then production manager, Grant King. We quickly agreed that the logical course of action was that they would pay for local fresh galvanising - there was still no distributor in Italy for a new one, although the shipping cost from Holland had not been excessive. In the event, the cost of galvanising was a trivial €20, which, had I known, I wouldn't have bothered to make a fuss.

The good side to this, as you mention, is that the galvanising problem is indicative of Bis80 steel, so I am not complaining about the areas of rust now appearing after all the years of frequent use every summer in the Adriatic. Years of faithful service, of instant setting and solid holding - once in 2012 in a 60 knot bora gale while others were skidding past me frantically trying reset their anchors and deploy a second.

Hi Barnacle
We had a very different experience with Rocna as said in #20 they where very quick to put the problem right, maybe they have learned by pass mistakes.

To be honest our rust problem was so small, I felt guilty in the end for contacting them.
even the guy who exchange the anchors for us, when he sew the problem, try hard not to laugh.
Must had tho bloody English,

Like you we have sat out a few Boras in Croatia and like you our Rocna has kept us put,
It's only when it's blowing 50/60kts you can see the bow for spay, let alone hear what the person next to you saying you get to know how good your anchor is.
I not for one minute suggest Rocna is the best anchor in the world, if you talk to other people who live full time on their anchor like Andy on Norna Biron he swears by his Mantus.
And so he should, his Mantus have been through some testing times, just like our Rocna.

What I would say is to them looking at buying a NG anchor is, don't judge the Rocna because of a problem that's now been sorted out,
If you want to judge it at all, judge it by how well it works.
Thread drift over

 

[noelex]

Merry Christmas everyone!

Interesting you liken a Rocna to a Bugel, the latter I always think of as a welded interpretation of a danforth (and it is not the only example where the danforth might be the inspiration).

I think the study of anchor design is fascinating. Relating the physical properties with how the anchor works underwater provides an insight into anchor design.

The Rocna anchor was a development of the Bugel. The improvements incorporated were to make the fluke concave as well as varying the thickness. This allowed the fluke area to be increased significantly plus it adjusted the balance to provide more toe weight while reducing the weight at the back of the fluke. This was a major improvement over the simple constant thickness of the Bugel fluke. In addition, the skids noted in the earlier posts raised the base of the fluke and allowed a much more aggressive setting angle.

The combination of much larger and better shaped fluke that provides better holding power and the more aggressive setting angle that allows the anchor to penetrate more rapidly, facilitates setting in more difficult substrates such as hard sand and weed. The Bugel was good and the Rocna is better.

The Danforth anchor is very different to the Bugel and the Rocna. The fluke is pivoting rather than fixed. The anchor is symmetrical. This removes the need for a device like the roll bar (as in the Rocna) or a large amount of ballast weight (as in anchors like the Spade) that are needed to ensure the anchor adopts an upright setting position.

In short, it is hard to imagine two anchors more different than the Bugel and the Danforth.

 

[BrianH]

Hi Barnacle
We had a very different experience with Rocna as said in #20 they where very quick to put the problem right, maybe they have learned by pass mistakes.

To be honest our rust problem was so small, I felt guilty in the end for contacting them.
even the guy who exchange the anchors for us, when he sew the problem, try hard not to laugh.
Must had tho bloody English,
[ ...]
What I would say is to them looking at buying a NG anchor is, don't judge the Rocna because of a problem that's now been sorted out,
If you want to judge it at all, judge it by how well it works.
Thread drift over

Hi Vic, Not such a thread drift, we were both keeping to the OP's anchor brand and Jonathan had introduced the rust theme. Like you, I rather over-emphasised the problem that was easily resolved. The present minor blemishes can be settled by suitable treatment followed by, I am considering, painting with white enamel, which will have the asset of easy visibility when deployed on the eastern seaboard of the Adriatic.

A very merry Christmas to you and yours.

Best,

Brian.

 

[Neeves]

You can safely regalvanise.

As long as the galvanising process temperature is no higher than that originally used you will not 'further' impact the strength of the HT steel. Most galvanising is conducted at the same temperatures so its not an issue. Any degradation of strength, of the HT steel shank, was achieved during the original galvanising - as long as you do not breach that temperature the strength will remain as is/was.

A bit of drift now:

The same conditions are true for HT, or G70 chain. (As an aside - I think Maggi chain may originally have been a G100 quality, they may use this as they 'make' a genuine G70 quality - this would explain the less than stellar quality of galvanising they achieve, as HT chains do not coat well by HDG. But G70 can safely be regalvanised - but being a pretty critical component its not a practice I would follow without back up testing).

The only aspect you do need to watch, for an anchor with HT shank (or HT chain), is to ensure it is not pickled, acid cleaned, prior to re-galvanising. The answer is sand/grit blasting and then galvanising as quickly as possible, within a few hours. Some galvanisers have grit blasting on site - or talk with the galvaniser so he knows what you require and then grit blast and get to the galvaniser ASAP (steel starts to corrode quickly). If the anchor was originally painted it will need to be grit blasted anyway to get the paint off.

If the anchor is a Spade or Manson Plough you need to melt the lead out prior (weigh before and after so that you know exactly how much to add, cast, back), Most 'weighted' anchors, Kobra, Excel, now use steel as the ballast and it should not be an issue. A decent blow torch works well. To recast a gas stove, camping type, blow torch and old saucepan works (outdoors, leather gloves, no pets or children nearby). Old roofing lead can be cheap, at scrap merchants. If you are not sure, drill into the ballast chamber and check the turnings from the drill. You may need to do this anyway to convince the galvaniser there is no lead in the toe - and its steel.

Make sure any air holes are free, hollow roll bars for example.

I paint all my anchors - so that they are more easily seen under water. I've taken to also painting marks on them so that I know exactly how deeply they are set and at what angle. I have noted that painted anchors are surprisingly common in the Med. I similarly mark my chain, 1m marks, so that I know how much chain is buried - as often the anchor simply disappears.

Apologies for the drift -

And Merry Xmas

Jonathan

 

[Mikedefieslife]

I has a little surface rust on my Rocna. I just rubbed it off and sprayed some kind of galvanising spray on it. Pretty much every anchor here has something on it.

Rocna, comes top or close to top in pretty much every anchor test in every magazine throughout the world, and I doubt they have the largest marketing budget.

 

[Neeves]

I has a little surface rust on my Rocna. I just rubbed it off and sprayed some kind of galvanising spray on it. Pretty much every anchor here has something on it.

Rocna, comes top or close to top in pretty much every anchor test in every magazine throughout the world, and I doubt they have the largest marketing budget.

Sadly - It is a measure of success when your product is cloned, which is why you need to be careful of what you are actually buying. The problems, of cloning (of any successful product), are only going to get worse.

The OP had a very valid question.

Jonathan