So, today I weighed anchor.

[toddster]

Since the boat is still sitting dry in the yard with multiple half-finished projects. This is as close as I'm getting this month to setting sail.

The primary anchor is a danforth that turns out to weigh 22 lb (10 kg). It's worked OK the few times I've used it, in backwaters with maybe 10 kt wind. That seems small for a 29-foot sailboat, according to the "1 lb per foot" rule, but well within the manufacturers recommendations, according to charts I see on-line. I wonder whether others have used this size for an e29? Maybe if I added another 30 feet of chain. (It's got about 25 on now.)

The second anchor on board is a "columbia river anchor" that the PO must have picked up on CL or something. At first I dismissed it as way too small, but it also weighs 10 kg, the same as the primary. I've never heard of anyone using one of these for a sailboat, but on the other hand, I don't know why not . And it's free. These things are infamously welded up in local body shops from used car springs and bar stock, though there are commercially-made ones available now. They're typically used for fishing boats anchoring on hog lines in the main current on the big river. Sort of a cross between a grapple and a fluke. This one is folded for storage.


Usually they're used with a buoy on a ratcheting slide and the spare rode is in a bag with another float. So they can eject the whole thing to go fight a fish then come back to pick up the buoy without loosing their place in the hog line. The ratcheting slide allows you to pull the anchor by just motoring ahead. (The drag of the water pulls the buoy up the line and it eventually floats the anchor.) Somehow, I doubt that would work very well with a boat that only makes 6 or 7 kts. (or much less, heading into the current) but I haven't tried it. If the grapnel is jammed in a rock, the zip tie at the top (barely visible in the pic) breaks, and the chain pulls from its main attachment point at the bottom to free the anchor.

So, my questions are 1) Is a 22 lb anchor adequate for an e29? and 2) Does this CR contraption have any place on a sailboat, or should I put it back up on CL?

 

[ref_123]

Danforth is OK

No clue on CR, but Danforth 22 pounder is plenty. They come by size rather then weight, and I am pretty sure the one that holds our 32-3 weights less then 22 pounds, so yours is probably bigger. I'd recommend to go to Danforth' site to check though:

http://www.danforthanchors.com/

Regards, and good luck,
Stan

 

[Loren Beach]

Our 34 footer (Displacement approx 11K) came with two (brand name) Danforth anchors. One is a 13S and the other is a 12H. Either one fits just right in the molded-in recesses in the anchor locker on the foreward deck.
Either has held our boat in 30 kts of wind with a 4 or 5 to 1 scope out in an admittedly good holding ground of sand-mud. We have 30 feet of chain and about 150' of three-strand nylon line.
So while weight is important, design is just as important or more so. (IMHO, and YMMV)


Loren

 

[DanielW]

I use a 10kg Delta on 10 meters of chain with 200 meters of nylon rode shackled to that. It has happily kept us in place through some pretty hairy squalls (had 38 knots screaming through our anchorage the other day and we stuck firm in a sandy bottom (we were anchored in 6 meters of water and had 35 meters of chain and nylon out).

I prefer the Delta/ spade designs to the fluke style anchors, which have a habit of tripping and not re-setting if the wind shifts significantly.

I also have a 15kg CQR and and extra 10 meters of chain and another 300 meters of nylon rode but have never had need to deploy in earnest (the CQR was my primary before I bought the Delta but I felt it was oversize for everyday use (and my poor back) so it's in reserve as a heavy weather anchor. There's also a 7.5kg Bruce in the locker somewhere (came with the boat) but I've never used it.

 

[toddster]

Thnx for the info. 38 kt gusts are just a normal spring day around here. And if the wind dies, then the boats swing around to a 3-6 kt current in the opposite direction. Since there is about a 3-year waiting list for a slip in the marinas, more and more people are anchoring out in informal mooring fields. (Well, up to three boats, now.) I'm really wondering what they're using for ground tackle.

 

[DanielW]

If that's the case then you should definitely be looking at a delta (or other plough style) anchor for the bow. They have a much better track record for re-setting after significant shifts in position than fluke anchors.

 

[Bill Sanborn]

E29 Anchor

I used a Danforth 12H on 15' of heavy chain w/ 1/2 inch nylon for years on my E29 with very few problems and still keep it on the stern for quick deployment. I now use a bruce with 100 ft of 1/4" chain and 300 ft of 1/2" 3 strand nylon but need a windless to help my old back raise it.

In spite of the small size danforth never let me down once it was set. It has to be set very slowly until it starts to dig in.

I was always leery of a situation where the wind or current would change direction, hence the Bruce which has a reputation for rapidly resetting itself.