What an Excellent Article On Anchors

[Robin]

Re: Begging to differ

We have a Fortress too but have never used it, it is reserved as a kedge/for a stern anchor to hold us into a swell. Trouble is whenever we wanted to use it there were too many boats too close by. There are 2 different blade angles though for different conditions, maybe the other one was more appropriate?



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[brianhumber]

Re: Euro-Zone ...

We have not researched the rules fully yet, I was just remembering the tax reduction I used to get when at sea and outside national limits for more than 30 days- as this was more years ago than I care to admit I have prob forgotten the details ( more likely the treasurary have stuffed this concession)
As we will also have a dacha and other properties in a Non EU country we are still rsearching the details of where is best to get income from those pension pots that have managed to escape the thieving goverment plans paid for tax purposes.
Seasons greetings


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[ChrisE]

Cat, pidgeons, etc

If you want a CQR to drag try one of the following anchorages, Studland Bay, Newtown Creek and the tiny sandbank on the starboard side of Salcombe. I've personal experience of not getting the CQR to set in those places.

Regarding the Fortress, I've laid in winds over 40 knots on one of those for 48 hours. That after spending a fair amount of time trying to get the CQR to set.

The CQR is a 35lb job and the Fortress is 10kg and I trust my boat to either.

That said we use the CQR as our main anchor and it works in most conditions faultlessly. The Fortress though is just as good but is not so easy to store over the bow roller.

I've found with both of these anchors if you you can set them then they stay, if you can't......

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[Twister_Ken]

Studland? Ooh err missus.

I've CQR'd in Studland countless times. I guess the secret is luck.

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[Robin]

Studland etc

Never had a problem in Studland or Newtown Creek with a CQR, though the secret in Studland is to find a patch clear of weed. At least Studland is shallow enough and the water usually clear enough to locate a weed free bit.

Studland is hard sand so the anchor needs to be set very gently at first to get the point in, then very gradually apply more power astern and it should be OK. If you just drop it and don't dig it in or you try reversing too fast it skips on the hard sand, probably finds the weed and hey presto you drag. Works for me!

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[ChrisE]

Re: Studland etc

Try telling my wife about the ease of anchoring in these places, she is on the manual windlass having to haul the bl***y thing up until eventually you find a place to hold. Yes, I too have anchored successfully in both but I go with Ken it can be a matter of luck.

Anchors to boaties are like knots are to anglers, IMHO, they all have their champions and none are perfect or completely useless, it is more how you use them.

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[Robin]

Why Why Why

Is your dear lady wife struggling with a manual windlass? This is surely one area where equality goes out of the window and the stronger/fitter does the donkey work - of course that might be the case I suppose.

That apart, it says it all about manual windlasses, too slow and still much too much hard work! I do all the anchor work on our boat and SWMBO stays at the wheel, maybe that is why I treated our last boat to an electric windlass and would have put one on the top priority list for our latest had it not been fitted with one already. My SWMBO actually now ASKS to do the foredeck bit if its blowing as that is now the EASIER option!

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[ChrisE]

Re: Why Why Why

My dear lady wife is the stronger and fitter hence why she gets the job! And at the risk of being flamed, she in common with other ladies who I have sailed with doesn't much care to be at the wheel for any kind of close quarters work and the anchorages I'm referring to, there is usually plenty of that.

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[Robin]

Nookey Points

Might come in double issue with an electric windlass for Christmas?

Joking apart I can understand to a degree but in practice putting the anchor down and recovering it is largely a singlehanded task if done carefully IMHO, with the second person only standing by at the wheel/engine controls just in case. We too anchor in some busy and tight spots, especially in S Brittany in August and that was the cause of my last straw time with a manual windlass, having pulled a 45lb CQR and all chain up from 30 ft depth four times in one afternoon to keep a safe space (our French friends like to anchor too close!).

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[Twister_Ken]

Electric windlasses - care

Having very nearly lost a finger-tip between the chain and a electric windlass, I now treat them with a great deal of suspicion. Nasty beggars.

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[Robin]

There\'s always one!

Actually if it was a machine in a factory HSE would probably insist on guards being fitted. But then I bet even you wont do it again.

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[scarlett]

In places with hard sand in Greece I have watched no cqr, delta or bruce type anchors get a first time grip on the bottom. This is the observation of more than fifty yachts arriving in a F6. The danforth type and a couple of Bungelstiens [sic] had better luck.

I used with success a 7lb Fortress a metre forward of the supplied Plastimo 30lb copy. The CQR laid on its side even if one swam down and pushed it into the sand. It was just like a dog in front of a fire.

There have been many articles on anchor performance and this is the best so far. There seems to be scope for a university to do the definitive test. Any thorghts?



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[jonjo]

Re: Electric windlasses - care

> Having very nearly lost a finger-tip between the chain and a electric windlass

Where was the windlass switch in relation to the windlass? I understand this risk can be designed out with a well-planned windlass installation?

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[jonjo]

Re: Bad spade test result

Did anyone read the Sailing Mag review that dismissed the Spade design as useless? I paraphrase here because the issue is not to hand.

Basically the anchor demonstrated an amazing ability to pick up a large lump of sticky mud wedged inside the spade at which point the anchor could not engage with the seabed for a second time.

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: Electric windlasses - care

The switch was on a umbilical in my left hand, my right hand was trying to clear a capsized link from around the gypsy. In retrospect, I should have put the switch down and used both hands to clear the jam. But I didn't. Only the second time I have been (literally) sick with pain.

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[Robin]

Definitive tests

Again it seems that different bottoms produce different results and any test results have to be taken as applicable to those circumstances only.

I'm not sure there could ever be a definitive test at least not to produce a single 'best anchor' result, simply because of all the variables. The first question I believe relates to what actually causes an anchor to start dragging once set, is it a continuous load too high for the anchor to resist, or is it a sudden snatch that starts the ball rolling? Then how quickly does it set initially and more importantly perhaps reset after a change in the direction of the applied load? How does scope influence the results? How does anchor weight affect the results, ie is that 45lb one really any better than the 35lb one or is it the type that doesn't suit that bottom? If you work out the combinations of anchor types, weights, manufacturers, bottom types, scopes, change of pull angles etc this could become an enormous test, and still only produce best buys matched to bottom types!

For me the anchor of choice as a jack of all trades has to be the CQR which has been used and trusted by so many around the world. We are however currently using a Delta and I have had no problems with that at all and it seems to set quicker than the CQR. If going off on a circumnavigation I think I would take a CQR, a Delta and a Danforth and/or Fortress, with all chain on two of these and a combination of chain and warp on any other(s). An old fashioned fisherman type might also be a handy extra....

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[HaraldS]

Re: Begging to differ too

I think the results show some typical behaviour of the CQR, and I would draw a differnt conclusion from it, then YW:

It diggs in quite nicely and hold up to a certain load, then it appruptly breaks out and ends up on its back and never recovers. I have watched this underwater because I was curious why it had let me down a couple times. With enough power applied I could always berak it out, even on a 5:1 scope.

In muddy harbours this happens quite early, and there isn't so much room for scope. That is where my 50lbs stern original CQR has let go quite often.

I then did some experimening in real fine sand off Porto Santo, and sure enough it isn't too hard to pull it out with the engine in 7m depth with 50+m chain!

I can't really compare it to my original bruce bow anchor, which is much heavier at 110lbs, but that one has shown tremendous reliability and it goes deeper and deeper into the sand under load.

Just practical experience though and no 'ultimate' test...

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[Robin]

Re: Bad spade test result

If I did see that article it didn't make an impression because I don't remember it! That apart the Spade to me is a cumbersome beasty and whilst it seems good in some bottom types it is not the jack of all trades we all seek, even if such a thing exists. In the absence of many years of satisfied customer reports from all places in all conditions I wait to be convinced!

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[jamesjermain]

Professor Knox of Edinburgh (or was it Glasgow) University has done some - published in YM about five years ago.

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[jamesjermain]

Professor Knox of Edinburgh (or was it Glasgow) University has done some - published in YM about five years ago.

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