Re: Anchors
I'm concerned at the post below stating you should buy a Spade anchor. I did and used it in Maine for a season and the aluminum version is tough to set.. I have owned and do own a Delta, CQR, Spade A80, Fortress & Bruce I prefer the Bruce at this point. I had terrible luck last season with my Spade A80. My thinking is that at 14 Lbs. it does not have enough wieght to "dig in". In one location we tried seven times to set the Spade with no luck so I went to my lazarette and pulled out my trusty Bruce 33. Guess what it set the first time! I would rank my anchors in this order in terms of effectiveness. 1- Bruce 2- Delta Fast Set 3-Fortress 4- Spade A80 5- CQR. As for knock off Bruce anchors I read the Bruce site but also compared a Bruce 33# and a Manta Claw 33# at Hamilton marine last week for a back up to my Bruce. After about 30 minutes of measuring, tip to tip, fluke lengths and angles I determined the Manta is an "exact" copy of the Bruce. It is also a cast anchor and carries a lifetime warranty! I already own a genuine Bruce 33 so I have no vested interest in knock off claws. The fortress is a very strong holding anchor as long as you're guaranteed to stay pulling in the same direction. I've had mine break out on a wind/tide shift numerous times so it's now a stern anchor only. The Bruce 33 sets and holds most often on my first try. I've had it hold our old 30 footer in a 50 knot storm despite it not being a high holding design. I once made a dive on the Bruce pulling one direction and it was buried very deep. That night we swung 180 degrees and the wind came up to about 20-25 knots at about 4:00 a.m.. The next morning I made another dive and it was buried even deeper going 180 degrees the other way! The CQR sets and holds about 80% of the time on the first try but has un-set during wind/tide shifts. It seems to get weeds wrapped around the shaft, near the hinge preventing a deep set in eel grass & weeds. The Delta sets at about 90% first time but breaks free more than the CQR on wind tide shifts. Diving on the Delta I notice it will really bury it's self in a strong one direction pull but I still don't trust it for swinging, don;t know why though. The Spade came with a powerboat we bought and later sold. Due to glowing reports I decided to try it on our sailboat as our primary anchor. When it does bury it does not appear to go as deep in the mud as the Delta or Bruce (actually dove on it numerous times) but once set it does seem to hold well. I would think that the galvanized version would set & hold better due to weight. One thing that scares me about using this anchor in clay like mud is that it traps mud in its spoon like shape so when it comes time to re-set the clay/mud does not "clear its self" and makes it very hard to re-bury on a wind tide shift. It broke out on me 5 times in one season under relatively benign conditions. We anchor out approx 65 to 70 days per year and have been doing it for 18+ years on boats 30 feet or larger. We anchor in mostly mud bottoms but occasionally sandy gravel and hard clay/mud. This is just my .02 don't spend it all in one place..... Click on the link so you'll know what not to buy!
