Can anyone reccomend the West Marine Anchor Pre-made package

Gunni · Jun 29, 2012

Re: Can anyone reccomend the West Marine Anchor Pre-made pac

Doesn't the Columbia have broad tidal ranges, strong currents, and ship waves? That calls for a heavier (22lb) plow or claw anchor that will stay dug in and if it pops out, will reset easily. That danforth would make a decent back up - always have two, but I would go with a Fortress / Guardian because they break down to a compact package. Getting a pre-spliced chain-rope rode is a good bargain. Shop around, like in the web site store here on the forum.

caguy · Jun 29, 2012

It all depends on your needs and where you anchor.
I use to have the dansforth anchor on my Mac 25 and it worked well. The C27 came with a large aluminum dansforth type anchor with about 6' of chain encased in a plastic coating. I was unable to get it to set. I replaced it with WM 16# Lewmar claw anchor $57. This came at the recommendation of Timo42 who is happy with his. I also put 20' of 5/16 chain. I still have the 300' of 1/2" rode from the Mac. This is necessary for anchoring out at Catalina Island where minimum depths are 40'.
Last year I bought 200' of brand new 5/8 nylon rode for $20 off Craigslist. The guy paid over $250 for it and could not use it because it did not fit his winch.

I would check out the quality of the rode in this package. There is a wide variety of rode from excellent to not worth a damn.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...d=11151&partNumber=P005_153_002_004&langId=-1

Sumner · Jun 29, 2012

Well you asked for opinions hope they can be broader than that one package

.

Lots of people are happy with a danforth style anchor and we got one with the boat and on the first outing it drug a little. We still have it but have never used it since. We are 26 feet with the Mac and lighter than what you are.

If you are trying to watch the cash flow I'd go with a 22 lb. claw...

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10391|33872|66342&id=66359

..for $70 ($73 at WM, but they will match Defender's price)....

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...&subdeptNum=50319&classNum=50321#.T-4raJGeRVU

30 feet of 1/4 chain...

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...&subdeptNum=50331&classNum=50332#.T-4ts5GeRVU

....for $106.00

200 feet of their premium anchor line....

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=50304&subdeptNum=50305&classNum=50306

The 3/8th premium has a 4,400 lb. breaking strength ( $90.00) and the 7/16 has a 5,900 lb. breaking strength and is $123. Not sure which line is in the package, but if it is the economy the 3/8 is 3800 lb. and they don't show a 7/16, so maybe the package has the premium (I'd ask).

So with the 3/8 line the total is $266.00 and $299.00 with the 7/16 line. About $100 more than the package, but I believe a much safer package with a more versatile anchor and more chain to keep it set. The first time you are out and the wind goes up over 30 mph and it is 2 in the morning you will be mighty glad you spent the extra $100. Our claw has never let us down. We now also have a ..

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/FL-fall-2010/FL-Fall-10-13.html

..25 lb. Manson Supreme on the Mac and I'd recommend it over even the claw, but if you have to cut back go with the claw. Right now they have free shipping. We used that when we bought our chain.

For us anchoring out is the best part of the trip and one night there and not in a motel or maybe even a marina pays for the better anchor,

Sum

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Stu Jackson · Jun 29, 2012

Re: Can anyone reccomend the West Marine Anchor Pre-made pac

If you're seriously gonna use it, your question starts with essentially a "toy" anchoring system.

Sum's right, spend some time to match prices, quality and strength of each components of the system.

Here's one way to do it: Anchor System Sizing Tables (Reply #6) http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4990.0.html http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4990.msg30400.html#msg30400

You have to ask yourself the question: What's my entire boat worth to me?

Good luck.

jviss · Jun 29, 2012

West Marine quality

I'm pretty sure West Marine owns New England Ropes. NER rope is top, top quality.

Twelve years ago I bought two pre-made rodes from WM, 200' of 5/8" and 30' of 5/16" chain. Well made, good quality stuff, and a good price. No complaints.

I have since switched to an all-chain rode, but I keep one rope rode and a spare anchor on board.

An old rule of thumb is half the boat length in chain, so the package you mention seems about right.

Make sure the anchor matches the bottom you expect to encounter. Danforths are good in sand, but a heavier claw anchor is necessary for bottoms covered in weeds.

jv

Stu Jackson · Jun 29, 2012

Re: Can anyone reccomend the West Marine Anchor Pre-made pac

You're right, the line is good. Sum's point was their economy line just isn't and that's what comes in their "packages." Their "line" and chain packages are quite good.

Things to consider are finding good deals on line splaiced to chain packages or buying separate and either paying or DIY-ing the splice. Even less expensive, if you don't have a windlass, is to use an anchor line with a thimble and a shackle to the chain. Yeah, ya have to haul it up over the roller (if you have one) but my old anchor system had a splice, the new one doesn't and I get by quite well.

Look around, with all the good feedback from what you'll learn here.

Benny17441 · Jun 29, 2012

Re: Can anyone reccomend the West Marine Anchor Pre-made pac

We were bringing an 83 h27 home and needed an anchor. On the way to pick up the boat we stopped at a West Marine store and purchased that same anchor package. We needed one fast and this was convenient. To our surprise the anchor's performance exceeded our expectations and held the boat steadfast through a couple of nasty storms. That package is a good fit for the h27. Obviously the type of bottom will affect performance. I think at the time we paid $145; and they say there is no inflation.

jviss · Jun 30, 2012

Bigjer40 said:
I think I will try it. If not happy, will use as the rear anchor.

Why would you ever need a rear anchor?

whatfiero · Jul 1, 2012

jviss said:
Why would you ever need a rear anchor?

you need a rear or stern anchor when anchoring along the edge of a channel or in a busy anchorage where others are stern anchored use your largest anchor on the stern because it's harder to hold the stern in place than the bow

tkanzler · Jul 1, 2012

jviss said:
Why would you ever need a rear anchor?

I use a smaller stern anchor sometimes when doing things like watching fireworks from the water, to stop the boat from anchor sailing. Gotta watch for other anchored boats and wind direction changes, but that's not a big deal usually if paying attention.

jviss · Jul 1, 2012

I heard of a motorboat anchored by the stern sink. A wave came over the transom and swamped it, and it went down before anyone knew what was going on. I think it was because there wasn't much scope, and the stern couldn't ride up the wave.

So, one should be careful with stern anchors.

In the cases mentioned I get it. I've never seen anyone use a stern anchor in my home waters.

Sumner · Jul 1, 2012

jviss said:
...So, one should be careful with stern anchors. ...

I agree. We used a stern anchor and stern shore lines a couple times and got into a real mess once...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/MacgregorTrips-3-Powell09/09-10-9-Powell-09.html

...and will not use them again unless it is a temp thing or we are positive there won't be overnight winds or current changes. Anchored with a bow and stern anchor can really stress the boat and the anchor gear if conditions deteriorate.

We will often use a...

...Bahamian Moor if we want the boat to sit in the same place and...

.... it works very well, but can also not be the best bet if the wind is at 90 degrees to the two anchors, but still better than a bow/stern anchor combo. It was designed primarily for tidal current changes in a narrow channel but we use it for other situation like anchoring close to shore when we don't want to swing into shore or next to a channel like mentioned above. If conditions are going to get very bad though we will put down 2 anchors about 60 degrees apart off the bow.

Conditions change and you need to think out the situation and change with them. Over 90% of the time we are anchored off some place alone, so aren't trapped into what everyone else is doing, which isn't always the best.

Bigjer40 said:
I think I will try it (the anchor package). If not happy, will use as the rear anchor.

Good luck and hope it works well for you and if not hopefully you just drug and everything works out,

Sum

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HEINZIR · Jul 1, 2012

And smaller beachable boats like my swing keel Venture 23 use a stern anchor to keep the boat perpendicular to the beach. It keeps the boat from being driven further onto the shore by changing winds. It also allows you to winch the boat back out to deeper water if the outboard motor's reverse is too anemic.

Singlehanders on small boats sometimes use a stern anchor with the rode attached to the bow for anchoring normally. The anchor is deployed from the cockpit, saving a trip forward when the skipper has his hands full with everything happening at once. This is not practical on larger boats, of course, but smaller boats have smaller anchors.

I'm not saying that anchoring by the stern is a good idea but having an anchor that can be deployed from the stern does have some uses.

Scott T-Bird · Jul 2, 2012

West Marine Danforth package ...

We have that assemby. We only anchor for brief times during the day so I can't say my experience will have any validity, but ... I often find that the chain has fouled around the bar and/or between the flukes. It doesn't seem to matter that I drop it slowly. It seems that the chain may make a pile on top of the anchor and then gets wrapped when we back down. Sometimes I try to drop it down while Sue is backing slowly, but I think that the flukes may cause the anchor to spin and wrap the chain in that event. It's never been a concern for us given our situation, but it does make me think that the Danforth is prone to fouling.

Give it a try, but if you need more security for overnight stays in areas where dragging can be a more dangerous situation, I would think of better options.