Rough night at Anchor!

[Vagabond]

Well I am glad I spent the cash on a new anchor at LIBS!

The wind got up during the night and I sent SWMBO out on anchor watch thinking that it would be calming down by the time I was needed ..... it didn´t!

Portinax, Ibiza.

This is the boat next door also at anchor...

One of the many waves that went past.

It´s calmed down now so we can come ashore!

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[Skyva_2]

Don't keep us in suspense - what is the anchor????? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Vagabond]

Ah sorry... /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I have a Spade plus 50Mtrs Chain and 30mtrs line. Had 40 mtrs out.

The guy in the pictures has a QCR and 140ft of chain out.

 

[Athene V30]

Was the guy with the CQR still there in the morning? The cinics on these forum seem to suggest the anchor is useless - personally I like them having been at anchor (CQR) in the River Fal throughout the Fastnet gale of '79

 

[Vagabond]

Yes he was .... Must admit I was surprised when he said he was swinging a QCR .... Having just converted to a Spade.

 

[Spyro]

looks a bit close to shore for comfort

 

[iain789]

Hmm, still a bit breezy down there is it? I crossed from Ibiza to Mallorca on Thursday, and it was as rough as I would have liked to be out in, with a big swell from the NE. Still, the spray was reasonably warm.

 

[Marmalade]

Have never budged an inch with our CQR

 

[jprstoney]

Agreed. We grew up using CQR's and never had a problem as long as the correct rode length was used.

 

[Bajansailor]

More agreed. We have sat on our CQR on a rope cable and a few metres of chain in 60 knots of wind with a lee shore beckoning, and it held like the proverbial rock (note I said rock, not rockna).

 

[Sinbad2222]

Would you not have been even more secure with a Delta (used by lifeboats??) rather than a CQR.
What do fellow forumites think?

 

[craigsmith]

Well if you're asking is the Delta better than a CQR, then yes, but how much more secure can you be than not dragging? I assume he doesn't think he needs a new anchor. Good for him.

As to the thread starter and the Spade vs CQR, of course without a detailed description of the rode and scope used by the respective boats, together with a comparison of sizing of the anchors and the boats, not to mention the holding (which can conceivably vary over a small distance), plus the length of time each boat was anchored for beforehand... any comparison is silly.

 

[bluedragon]

I've long suspected that a) anchor tests use loads much higher than we experience in reality b) a properly sized anchor well dug-in is more important than its type. By "properly sized" I don't mean BIG. If windage / engine can't bury an anchor, then if the wind suddenly picks-up it may drag at a speed that it won't set. This opinion I know is contrary to the "bigger the better" school of thought...

 

[craigsmith]

The engine or existing wind, if high, will always at least begin to set the anchor. In fact too much reverse thrust could compromise the anchor's set, as you straighten the chain and so apply an upward force. In very hard stuff this can even prevent the anchor from setting at all, as it digs in a little then is just jerked out again. Conclusion: using huge reverse force is not always a good idea and bigger is still usually better.

Setting ability remains the more critical characteristic of any anchor. Poor holding power can always be compensated by upping the size. Poor setting behavior cannot.

 

[bluedragon]

[ QUOTE ]
In fact too much reverse thrust could compromise the anchor's set, as you straighten the chain and so apply an upward force. In very hard stuff this can even prevent the anchor from setting at all, as it digs in a little then is just jerked out again. [ QUOTE ]


This is the biggest anchoring problem I've observed with many modern yachts and especially charter boats in the Med / Caribbean. Too much power and speed, too soon. But with the old 8HP I've got, I really don't believe it would set an oversize anchor on many bottoms. It would just sit there on its side. I don't feel comfortable putting the kettle on until I know the anchor is buried. Unfortunately in my part of the world we have to do this by "feel"...no chance of seeing what is actually happening!

 

[Birdseye]

Am deeply suspicious of the anchor tests I read. Its one thing to run a test on a sea bed of sand with anchors carefully laid out but its another thing altogether to chance it (as we have to do in reality) without any certainty what the anchor is (hopefully) digging into, what rocks there are, what leftover industrial rubbish etc. So I doubt the pecking order that these tests give.

Some of them are biased anyway. For example I read a French test some years ago and wonder of wonder, every French anchor came out tops. Could it be that anchor tests are used to sell anchors?

Long since come to the conclusion that the best anchor giving the best nights sleep is a quay wall. Otherwise its a bit of a lottery.

 

[bluedragon]

[ QUOTE ]
Could it be that anchor tests are used to sell anchors?


[/ QUOTE ] Surely not!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I've just bought a Guardian as a kedge (poor man's Fortress, but made by the same company). It's interesting that they recommend always lying to two anchors, as you can never rely on one when the boat swings. Now...yes, sure, they want to sell more anchors, and these designs hold best in a straight line, not squirming around in a tideway, but it's not a bad point for all of us (and something I'll be considering more often this year).

 

[gandy]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a Spade plus 50Mtrs Chain and 30mtrs line. Had 40 mtrs out.

[/ QUOTE ]What was the depth?

 

[Sailfree]

We anchored our 38' charter coded boat in Santander with a CQR and 30m of chain adjacent to the yacht club that does NOT let visitors into their marina. Wind overnight was F8 to F9 and Lee shore. Waves built up over the width of harbour (2mls).

I used a mooring rope to take the tension off the anchor rope and sleeved it with spare toilet polythene hose to prevent chaff. Boat was like a bucking bronco all night. About 4 other boats dragged their anchor. Bit of a concern in the morning when harbour was empty except us and a UK flagged HR (also using a CQR). While at anchor watch the yacht club removed ALL their boats from their moorings and packede them in side by side into the marina.

Tide just influenced the angle to the wind slightly as it was at right angles so CQR did not have to reset itself.

Obviously I have difficulty understanding the many criticisms of CQR and other types of anchor, is it a boat owners equivalent of penis envy, called anchor envy!!

 

[ChrisE]

Oh my, I suppose somebody had better give you an answer. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't think that many would argue that CQRs hold like goodens once they have stuck. The difference with the modern anchors is that they stick in on surfaces that CQRs just don't.