The heaviest anchor one man can handle

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
I want to upgrade the anchor

Centaur - Harmony - has the Danforth it was born with - it is a fine anchor for the cloying muddy softness of the South and Est but I might need something with more bite

She also has no anchor winch


what is the biggest weight a 6 foot bloke can reasonably man handle?

and..... is there a Solenteers with anything suitable hanging around their garage

DVD for a year loan?

D

and while we are on it...... the radar works....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rQ2j0pBrk
 
A 25lbs Delta with 50 foot of 8mm chain and 200 ft of 12mm nylon.

It is however quite important to have a good anchor roller and even a chain stopper.
 
I have a pair of genuine 60lb and 40lb CQR anchors. I am short, fat, bald, have asthma and been referred to as having spurtle shanks. I have retrieved the 60lb CQR myself with great effort by sitting on the deck and hauling handover hand and using my back and leg muscles. The CQR was easily, if awkwardly manhandled from stem head, around the pull pit and into the anchor locker. So, based on my general level of decrepitude I would say that the 40lb CQR is easily manhandled by a 6' man.

PM me if you want the 40lb CQR, collection from south of Edinburgh would be better than postage, even at todays petrol prices.
 
We have a 35lb Sowester plough (a CQR copy) for our Sadler 32. The original standard spec for the Sadler was a 25lb CQR.

We don't have any kind of windlass.

Whilst I'm sure people will say that they used to manage a larger anchor, I wouldn't want to because:

on our boat we stow the anchor away in the anchor locker when it's not being used, so I have to lift it off the bow roller each time, which is a bit of a stretch away from where I kneel;

the thing I find most difficult is recovering the anchor from deeper water where to start with there is a significant weight of chain dangling below the boat along with the anchor, and I wouldn't want to exascerbate that;

and I doubt a bigger anchor would fit in the locker anyway.

I hope that helps.
 
It's the depth of water and length/weight of chain that makes it hard. Steep shores test your strength more than a heavy anchor. One anchorage we struggled to get the anchor up with no windlass and had to take the load back to a genoa winch (using a rolling hitch and rope)
 
Last edited:
Neil_Y said:
Its the depth of water and length/weight of chain that makes it hard. Steep shores test your strength more than a heavy anchor. One anchorage we struggled to get the anchor up with no windlass and had to take the load back to a genoa winch (using a rolling hitch and rope)
Click to expand...

Exactly. Which is why I specified and combination of anchor weight and chain length / size. A 25lbs anchor, some kelp, some mud and 50 foot of chain hanging vertically is enough for anyone.

It also matters if you are doing this day after day and not just as a one-off demonstration of your virility.

Luckily the above combination of chain/anchor is entirely adequate to cruise safely in a Centaur along the north and west coasts of Scotland.
 
Perfecto

BlowingOldBoots said:
I have a pair of genuine 60lb and 40lb CQR anchors. I am short, fat, bald, have asthma and been referred to as having spurtle shanks. I have retrieved the 60lb CQR myself with great effort by sitting on the deck and hauling handover hand and using my back and leg muscles. The CQR was easily, if awkwardly manhandled from stem head, around the pull pit and into the anchor locker. So, based on my general level of decrepitude I would say that the 40lb CQR is easily manhandled by a 6' man.

PM me if you want the 40lb CQR, collection from south of Edinburgh would be better than postage, even at todays petrol prices.
Click to expand...

I am on Katie L at the moment in Anstruther and will be heading south on Saturday or Sunday - depending on the weather

I am dropping the berth cusions off with Paul who is using Katie L for the summer so maybe I could borrow the anchor for the summer?

Dylan.winter@virgin.net
 
dylanwinter said:
I want to upgrade the anchor

Centaur - Harmony - has the Danforth it was born with - it is a fine anchor for the cloying muddy softness of the South and Est but I might need something with more bite

She also has no anchor winch


what is the biggest weight a 6 foot bloke can reasonably man handle?

and..... is there a Solenteers with anything suitable hanging around their garage

DVD for a year loan?

D

and while we are on it...... the radar works....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rQ2j0pBrk
Click to expand...


I remember reading ( some years ago ) that what caused most boat deaths in the USA was anchor hauling heart attacks. In the UK it was drowning due to falling overboard whilst pissing.
 
ooooh dilemma

Blueboatman said:
Dylan plan B if the CQRs aren't quite enuff: . I have a seriously large fisherman anchor with nice wide palm flukes in East Sussex that you are welcome to borrow.( but I will require it back) .
It has been used and held my R36 @9t a good few timesAround 35lb weight ( and I have an even bigger admiralty one on board that I can just about manhandle )

Might be chust the thing for rocky Scottish bays, sand over rock?
And will stow flat, unobtrusively..
T.
Click to expand...

just when I thought the thread was dead

bless you both for your offers

a 40 lb CQR

or

a 35 lb fisherman
 
10m of 10mm chain is about 22kg?
So the anchor can be less than half the lift if you are not careful.
Hence when I had a boat with no windlass, I liked the anchor kellet to be nearer the boat, so it was aboard before taking the weight of the chain.

A lot depends on how awkward things are up at the bow.
If lifting in a bit of swell, can you easily lift a yard then jam the chain?
 
lw395 said:
A lot depends on how awkward things are up at the bow.
If lifting in a bit of swell, can you easily lift a yard then jam the chain?
Click to expand...

Which is why I suggested prioritising a decent chain stopper, so whatever you do pull up isn't snatched from your hands or have to struggle to 'take a wrap' on a cleat when the boat pitches or sheers in the gusts.
 
If you can wait until April you can have my 35lb CQR copy for free or borrow my 35lb genuine Bruce or 16Kg Bugel (not both at the same time though!)
A simple chain stopper shouldn't break the bank, probably a good idea:

66840050-1.jpg
 
As to the manhandling question... I had 90 feet of 1/4 in chain and a 35lb car on my Corribee ( as you do ) and with the sole exception of anchoring on rope as well in the Channel Islands and lifting 45feet plus anchor, dead weight, found it all perfe toy manageable ..
What really helps is a decent bow roller that doesn't eat energy . And obv breaking the anchor out from dug in using short scope and sail or motor..

One thing is certain. If Harmony drags ashore it won't be from lack of forum anchors!
 
Any reasonably well designed anchor of reasonable size will hold your boat. I never had any problems with a 20lb CQR on a boat of the same size and weight as a Centaur ... until the anchor chain snapped in a gale. I replaced it with a 25 lb CQR which I bought for peanuts and had galvanised for a little more.

If i wanted the best holding power for weight I'd buy a Fortress. If I wanted the best holding power for size I'd buy a Spade or Manson. If I wanted the best holding power for price I'd buy almost anything second hand.
 
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