ICW & Caribbean anchor, chain & line recommendations?

K

k_setchfield

.
Feb 19, 2010
80
Hi everyone,

I have yet to purchase my anchor, chain and line for our trip down the ICW and to the Caribbean.

I currently have one large heavy steel danforth and two small steel danforths, each with maybe a dozen feet of chain and 120' of 1/2" line. That's been more than fine for Lake Champlain in the summer.

For the ICW and the Caribbean, I've been considering a claw anchor with 60 feet of 1/4" high test chain and a hundred feet of 1/2" line for the primary anchor, with the heavy danforth as the secondary.

Any recommendations on whether or not I should get more chain or a different primary or secondary anchor, like a plow? For these waters in particular, should I have 100' of chain on the primary? What about 60 on the primary and 60 on the seecondary? Etc....We don't have a windlass, so deploying and recovering the anchors will be done by hand. The windlass is beyond our budget at this time. So weight is a serious concern. I doubt that my wife could haul 100' of 1/4" chain with a 16.5lb claw anchor at the end. I think it would be all I could do to haul that myself. That's why I'm thinking 60' of chain is a good length. If I am right in this thinking, then should I get a second 60' length for the secondary anchor?

Last question on my mind is is my large heavy danforth fine for the primary for the ICW and Caribbean, or should I really get a claw or plow and use the danforth as secondary?

Thanks everyone for your help!!!
Kristopher
 
P

pelagicasd

.
Jan 28, 2001
694
Kristopher, Can't really comment on the ICW or Caribbean. When we cruised we took 200 feet of 1/4" high test. 200 feet of 1/2" double braid and 250 feet of 1/2" 3 strand. We never used more than 70 feet of the chain. It was a lot of weight in the bow. Now we have 100 feet of chain. as well as all of the line. Remember that you probably won't be anchoring in more than 20 feet or so of water and as such you won't have to pull more than 2O feet of the chain at given time. This assumes that you are motoring forward as you bring in the anchor. We do have a Simpson Lawrence High Speed windlass. You might be able to find a used one at a reasonable price. If you do get one make sure that you buy it with drum and gypsy already removed. If they are corroded onto the spindle they'll be almost impossible to remove. Walt
P.S. We also have an Ankorlina for the stern hook. They never caught on on our side of the pond but they really work well. Big plastic reel with a 180 feet of 1" nylon tape on it. Mounts on the stern pulpit and you wind it back in with a winch handle. Kind of hard to explain. Google it for more info.

To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
From: kristopher@...
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:35:58 +0000
Subject: [AlbinVega] ICW & Caribbean anchor, chain & line recommendations?




Hi everyone,
I have yet to purchase my anchor, chain and line for our trip down the ICW and to the Caribbean.
I currently have one large heavy steel danforth and two small steel danforths, each with maybe a dozen feet of chain and 120' of 1/2" line. That's been more than fine for Lake Champlain in the summer.
For the ICW and the Caribbean, I've been considering a claw anchor with 60 feet of 1/4" high test chain and a hundred feet of 1/2" line for the primary anchor, with the heavy danforth as the secondary.
Any recommendations on whether or not I should get more chain or a different primary or secondary anchor, like a plow? For these waters in particular, should I have 100' of chain on the primary? What about 60 on the primary and 60 on the seecondary? Etc....
We don't have a windlass, so deploying and recovering the anchors will be done by hand. The windlass is beyond our budget at this time. So weight is a serious concern. I doubt that my wife could haul 100' of 1/4" chain with a 16.5lb claw anchor at the end. I think it would be all I could do to haul that myself. That's why I'm thinking 60' of chain is a good length. If I am right in this thinking, then should I get a second 60' length for the secondary anchor?
Last question on my mind is is my large heavy danforth fine for the primary for the ICW and Caribbean, or should I really get a claw or plow and use the danforth as secondary?
Thanks everyone for your help!!!

Kristopher
 
T

tiempo2010

.
Sep 24, 2008
346
The Ankorlina or similar is a good idea but cover it as UV will destroy it
quickly otherwise.

On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 8:52 AM, walt/judy brown/allore
bestvega@... wrote:
 
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