s/s anchor

[Guest]

A recent yachting magazine included a design for a stainless steel anchor. Can anyone point me in the right direction to find it again? Has anyone tried it? I am looking for an anchor to use on the West coast of Ireland as an alternative to the CQR normally carried on a 37 foot yacht. Any suggestions?

 

[charles_reed]

I once saw a Danforth in stainless on an American boat ...

Allow about x10 the price of a forged anchor and considerably less strength.

 

[Guest]

It was in PBO - I think sometime around January or February.

I got one knocked up by a local blacksmith in stainless steel for about £15.

I provided the shank (an old 1 1/4" prop shaft) and the blacksmith provided the stainless 5mm plate, a 12mm "roll bar" and the welding skills.

It weighs in at 11 kilograms and it works extremely well.

I tested it first on a hard packed snow drift at the end of the garden so I could see it working (thinking about it - it MUST have been a January article)!

It always rolled into the right position and buried itself at a nice angle.

I've never had to use it in any severe weather or currents but attached to 8mm chain is has "set" OK so far in up to 30 metres and never broken out. (The 30 metres was a mistake - I nearly did my back in getting it back onboard - and that was with a S&L Anchorman winch!)

I slightly modified the design in accordance with the articles recommendations to make it "longer" rather than "broader".

If you need a copy of the drawings send me a private email with your email address and I can lob them over as jpeg files or in Word 97.

Best regards )

Ian D

 

[mica]

We have a s/s Delta anchor on our 43ft Bavaria. It is magnificent sitting on the bow roller, it gleams in the sunshine and is admired by all. Weighing about 25kg, it has proven a very worthy piece of equipment. Don't know where it originated from as it came with the boat, but I am told by a steel fabricator we wouldn't want to lose it as it would cost about £1000 to have another one made. They did in fact make cheaper galvanised anchors for fishermen, who apparently lose them on a regular basis, so maybe you could enquire at your local marine steel fabricating people for a quote.

Definitely recommended if you can afford one.
Regards Mica

 

[Guest]

Ian D
Thanks for the information. I have found it now on p122 of the February 2001 PBO. I'll give it a go and see how it works out. It looks as if it would do a good job of penetrating kelp which is rather my concern for the west coast of Ireland and the hoop looks a convenient handle.

The sketch shows 15mm plate for the blade. This seems quite thick. Was your 5mm OK and did you keep to the same dimensions?

Ian L

 

[Guest]

CORRECTION - Just took another look at the Drawings and found that I actually went for 10mm plate (NOT 5mm)!!

In the article it said something about "making it longer rather than wider" (or was it the other way round?) anyway the final dimensions were:

For the plate
o - 10mm thick
o - 400mm long
o - 350mm wide

For the shank:
o - 32mm diameter
o - 680mm long (with a 10mm 'loop' welded on the end)

The angle between the shank and the plate is critical. I set mine at the recommended 32 degrees. On the other hand I wasn't too keen on the two plates that held the shank away from the plate on the original design (I thought they might be a source of weakness) so the shank is welded directly to the plate and then two reinforcing plates are welded up the sides as per the original design.

The only problem I haven't yet resolved is how to stow it! It comes over the bowroller with the blade normally pointing downwards. If I kept hauling in I guess it would ultimately wear a groove into the bows somehwere but .....!! As is is I roll it onto its back and then the 'hoop' catches underneath the bowroller and with a "bungee" cord to a cleat it holds very nicely.

The only problem is that I now have this very sharp pointed lump of stainless steel crouched there just waiting for me to trip up and commit hari-kiri on the end of it. If I lift it on to the deck then the shank takes up a similar position and, with the hoop, provides an ideal tripping hazard.

I'm still puzzling this one out. Idea of the moment is to get the local blacksmith to knock up a stainless steel plate for the bow with a pocket in it to catch the point of the anchor so that it never actially comes on deck.

Hope this helps.

Best regards )

Ian D

 

[Guest]

Try www.mainmarine.co.uk there are plough and delta type anchors in stainless steel
Regards
Malc