Smallish boats and anchor and chain: Some opinions please

[Uricanejack]

Similar sise to the anchor I had on my C&C 24.
Mine was a Danforth (not a type I would recommend, Finger hazard). With approx 5 m of chain, Then 3 strand rode. Anchor secured to pulpit, Rode Down through the hawes coiled in a bucket.
It did the job. Never let me down . Never dragged it.
To be honest I can’t recall the weight. Might have been 10 kg Which would fit my personal rule of thumb. 1 lb per foot of boat. Being an old boat I bought in the US 10lbs is more likely.

Being a small boat I tended to find nice sheltered spots to anchor anyway.

I think it will do the job just fine.

it’s a lot easier to haul up by hand than the 30 pounds Bruce I have now.

Other considerations, it’s a small boat, Doesn’t take a lot of weight to affect the trim.

 

[Stemar]

Mt 2 penny'th:
1. There's no such thing as too much rode until you can't lift it when the anchor's well dug in or store it, either from the space point of view or because the weight in the bow affects performance too much. I have 17m of chain and about 40m of octoplait. I've never used it all in 17 years of pottering around the Solent and further afield, but I've come close a couple of times when the wind got up.
2. You can have some in the bow and extra chain stored somewhere less detrimental to performance, but I can pretty much guarantee that the extra will sit in its locker unused. When you need extra chain in the middle of the night, it isn't the time to be hauling everything up and faffing around with shackles.
3

Points not mentioned. Pushing rope down a hawse pipe/spurling pipe is no joke. Laying wet chain on top of rope can result in a lot of corrosion and rapid loss of galvanising. With an opening anchor locker rope is less of a problem.

Both valid points, but my 8mm chain lasted me 12 years or more of regular anchoring and it was far from new when I got it. I only changed to my current, very second hand 6mm because I was having trouble lifting it after open heart surgery. It'll see me out unless I manage to get it stick on the bottom. Yes, it takes more care to feed rope down a hawse pipe, but my octoplait isn't a problem. The splice got stiff over the years and started giving me grief, but I took that as a sign it was time to redo it. One thing I do from time to time is to pull it all out on deck in the rain to wash the salt out, then let it dry. I don't know if it helps, but I feel like I'm doing what I can.

 

[sarabande]

My word, the OP is having fun with (his) new boat !

The Fortress is a handy anchor for a large % of mooring locations, but I'd prefer to see it used as a No2 bower anchor rather than the "best" (unless the seabed is mud, when it's Skipper's Decision). There is something about solid steel that appeals. Subjective, innit.

The Pandora is relatively light so the anchoring gear follows suit. I would be more concerned with the potential ability to run out the second choice, backup, anchor with a useful length of chain, and an attachable long length of decent rope. This line gives the option of a Y anchoring, or running a line ashore, or to another boat to tow or be towed, No need for HDMPE/Dyneems, but polysteel is brilliant and some versions float (just) which has its uses in close quarter stuff (not sinking into the prop).

Making sure that the second anchor and line(s) are easy and quick to deploy is a planning matter. Making up a bag from a piece of poly carpet is a good idea as it is rotproof and doesn't bash the hull.

But OP knows all this, and I am sure his junior captain will have absorbed the practicalities by osmotic example over the years. There's no substitute for experience,, and no substitute for hours on board taking decisions as the skipper.

 

[Mark-1]

On reflection I think the OPs daughter should use the existing ground tackle for a while and see how it performs. If it's lacking she's in the best place to decide what should replace it. - If someone told me 5 years ago I'd have a Danforth on nylon and a 2kg Claw (and three metres of chain on the whole boat ) I'd have thought they were mad. In practice, it's worked brilliantly for me but I'd never have predicted that. It took trial and error.

Unlike the (far more distinguished than me) sailors who've never used more than ~30m in the Solent, I have once. I put it all out in a midwinter gale when there was plenty of space. (I think that's 43m.) Mind you, I didn't *need* it. Pretty sure less would have done and I could have simply picked up a bouy somewhere instead.

 

[TernVI]

I've used a lot more than 30m for kedging in the RTIR....
but also it can be pleasant to anchor for a while in deeper places like Whitecliff Bay, Anchoring isn't just about parking up overnight.
With a small boat that's not much fun under engine, it can be good to chuck the hook and wait for the the wind or tide to do something useful.
That's when it's nice to have sensible, manageable gear ready to hand.
If you've got half a hundredweight of chain to pull up, you will be reluctant to anchor.

 

[JumbleDuck]

On reflection I think the OPs daughter should use the existing ground tackle for a while and see how it performs.

Definitely a good idea. After all, the previous owner found it adequate and may well have been neither stupid nor mad. There is always a temptation on acquiring something new (house, boat, car, whatever) to change things about and it's almost always worth waiting to see what changes are really needed.

 

[zoidberg]

Having extra line one's dochter could add - eye splice to eye splice - is easy to live with and use when wanted. The line - indeed, all lines - could live inside its own netting bag ( easily fabricated ). I would think most of the places she might want to anchor her Pandora would be sheltered and sandy - especially those in North Brittany. I could offer a list of a score and more ( and so could others. )

She could arrange to drop anchor from her cockpit, under sail.

Should her Fx-7 prove problematic, may I suggest she try an Fx-16. I've used one on a similar boat and had excellent and very satisfactory results - enough to impress the ould harbourmaster at New Grimsby. I've rigged mine to stow in a bag and be re-assembled without tools in <2 minutes. She's be welcome to try mine pro bono.