Stowing a spare anchor?

[geem]

We carry an aluminium anchor that weighs 10kg. It stows vertically in the lazarette for quick access should we need it. Chain for it stows separately in bag. A Fortress 55 is disassembled and stowed in the bilges. Its our storm anchor. We dont carry spare steel anchors as they are hard to handle unless already on the bow roller.

 

[Neeves]

It is so long ago. .............I had forgotten that it comes apart like that. Thanks.

When you come to dismantle it, after years assembled, you may find it won't, dismantle. The anchor is aluminium and the bolts are stainless and there is a predictable reaction - use Duralac, or grease, if you want to store assembled.

No guesses needed for how I know.

Jonathan

 

[zoidberg]

It is so long ago. .............I had forgotten that it comes apart like that. Thanks.

That's what this place is for, really.

And the bag took me, oh, many hours of faffing about with bosunry needles, cord, and a free slice of polypropylene carpeting. Don't forget to include some cable ties to ensure the ring nuts don't unscrew.

 

[Daydream believer]

I keep mine in the garage at home. has 35 metres of galvanised chain that shows no sign of wear after 20 years so that is a plus.

 

[Neeves]

I keep mine in the garage at home. has 35 metres of galvanised chain that shows no sign of wear after 20 years so that is a plus.

As long as you anchor within 35m of your garage the assembly should be very useful.



Jonathan

 

[Bathdave]

To me ‘spare’ and ‘emergency’ are two different things

I have a fortress in the locker which is my emergency anchor, quickly accessible. It has no chain ((or actually anything) attached to it but I have lots of spare warps and retired halyard sitting next to it so if I have an emergency I can very quickly bend on a bowline and get another anchor out

I have some (10m from memory) spare chain in another internal locker down below and having replaced my main Bruce anchor with a spade 3 years ago I have the Bruce in a forward locker, a bit buried under bikes and kayaks. I also have a smaller plough type anchor in there, which may not hold the boat in a blow but may provide some more holding power in an emergency

I have a propensity to list slightly especially if water tank is low, so I explored various places for anchor and chain

I am reasonably happy I could deploy an emergency anchor (albeit with a rope rode) quickly if I needed to and supplant it with another one with an chain rode with a short delay

 

[LadyInBed]

Where to stow the spare depends on the layout of the boat.
Do you need to store the anchor, chain and rope together?

 

[LittleSister]

A boat of mine had a Danforth type anchor (poor man's Fortress?) as a spare-cum-kedge, stored in home made wooden brackets on its side against inside (cockpit) side of a cockpit locker. Took up next to no space, almost instantly accessible, and it weight was not far off the centre line.

Other boats I've had I kept the kedge/spare under the cabin floorboards, in the bilge - quickly accessible, weight low down, and central both laterally and fore & aft.

My current boat has very shallow bilges under the saloon and forecabin, so that's not an option. It's also stern heavy - oversized engine, batteries, fuel & water tank aft, and added calorifier even further aft. I'd like to get the spare anchor in the forecabin to alleviate, rather than add to, the problem, but that would involve significant alteration to the berth tops to provide access forsomething that big and awkward.

For spare or kedge anchor I wouldn't want a full length of chain, because of the weight (on my small boat) and difficulty getting out of storage in a hurry - just 5m or so of chain, with a ring or bow shackle on the end to tie warps to. (I carry one very long warp for such use (plus towing, shoreline in a deep raft, etc.) purposes, and could always add more length with various normal mooring ropes, spare halyards, etc.

 

[Neeves]

I see Danforth or Fortress forward or aft with the crown and stock lashed to the toe rail and shank lashed to the top of a stanchion. I have also seen them stored flat on the foredeck. Brackets on the stern are common. If you look at yachts, or any boat, in the Baltic it is unusual to see an anchor on a bow roller (sometimes they have no bow roller) and the 'bow' roller is on the stern with a windlass in a stern locker. It is common to have a fold down bow roller on the transom and the anchor 'enclosed' vertically in the sugar scoop. The RNLI stored their Deltas on dedicate brackets on the foredeck and now do the same with their Spades, which look most ungainly with their shanks pointing skyward.

Much depends on the type of sailing you do and what facilities you have in or on which you can store or attach a second anchor. The limits are your imagination.

But don't think just because you have a bow roller its the only place to store an anchor! Many store their anchor - not on a bow roller - and it is available for swift use.

Jonathan

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I’ve moved my Bruce kedge and 15m of 6mm chain from an aft cockpit locker to under the cabin sole close to the mast. Below the waterline and close to the CofG has to be good, until I need it in a hurry.

 

[DJE]

I’ve moved my Bruce kedge and 15m of 6mm chain from an aft cockpit locker to under the cabin sole close to the mast. Below the waterline and close to the CofG has to be good, until I need it in a hurry.

If I did that it would be right next to the compass sensor for the autopilot. Just another little thing to think about!

 

[pyrojames]

I keep mine in the garage at home. has 35 metres of galvanised chain that shows no sign of wear after 20 years so that is a plus.

I guess your garden is about 7 metres deep then, and that's enough scope to keep your garage in position even in a blow?

 

[Daydream believer]

I guess your garden is about 7 metres deep then, and that's enough scope to keep your garage in position even in a blow?

lads up the pub suggested putting anchor & chain in boot of car to keep rear end down on the road to help grip on local bends when coming home at night. Bit like putting it in the bilges of the boat.
I am a bit iffy, so after the first 2 pints they suggested trying it in the wife's car first to see how it goes.
Trouble is that plod might start asking questions if she ends up in the canal one night though
The lads had a few pints more & suggested that I should change to a Danforth so she did not drag too far from the point of entry.
Hopefully, plod might not see it as murder , more one of failure to use correct nav lights
It is amazing how lager helps overcome the most difficult of problems

 

[girlofwight]

When I had a sailing boat, mobo now, the spare anchor, a heavy ex army marine corp job, I stored as close to centre fore/aft and port/stb as possible. That meant salon bilge. Seemed to work satisfactorily.

 

[Daydream believer]

When I had a sailing boat, mobo now, the spare anchor, a heavy ex army marine corp job, I stored as close to centre fore/aft and port/stb as possible. That meant salon bilge. Seemed to work satisfactorily.

Hang on !! have not seen that one come up in anchor threads. Are you telling us that there is a model out there that we have all missed. Where are the tests? How does it work. is it as good as my CQR. is it as good as a Rocnor? we need more info NOW

 

[LadyInBed]

a heavy ex army marine corp job, I stored as close to centre. Seemed to work satisfactorily.

I thought that they gripped with their teeth!

 

[girlofwight]

Hang on !! have not seen that one come up in anchor threads. Are you telling us that there is a model out there that we have all missed. Where are the tests? How does it work. is it as good as my CQR. is it as good as a Rocnor? we need more info NOW

It’s still in the shed somewhere, in a canvas bag circa 1950s, and a flake of chain and warp - I’ll dig it out and do a test

 

[girlofwight]

I thought that they gripped with their teeth!

Couldn’t possibly comment.

 

[Slowtack]

Saw neat fortress type detail on aft sloping stern of a US boat couple of years ago.....two parallel channel track side rails to hold and launch the anchor with a simple release pin on a central track for the anchor shaft.

 

[Neeves]

In America Fortress and Danforth are as common, almost as common, as CQR or Bruce in the UK (or Brittany or Spade in France and Bugels on German boats). The Americans have developed and used a number of neat devices (that have not migrated acrosssThe Atlantic, maybe because the market is not big enough) to store their anchors.

If you look at the Fortress website it used too, may still do, suggest who makes such devices.

And the Balts have an impressive cross section of devices to secure and deploy stern anchors.

Jonathan