Use a few feet to weight down your crab /prawn traps....I think I’m going with the simple 3 strand splice mentioned by JSSailem above. It seems the easiest to replicate for regular maintenance, should anything show signs of wear. That said, does anybody have suggestions as to what I should do with the old 100’ of chain, aside from secondary rode? Much of it is beyond serviceable life.
Should be fine. There are spots we anchor in 60 ft but it's sloped bottom with a stern tie, so the rode still has a good angle on the bottom. Most areas are 30 to 45ft at high tide. You'll need a 300ft stern line.I’m currently shopping replacement chain, and want to be sure we’ve enough for Desolation Sound, which we plan to spend some time in this summer. I currently have 100’ of 5/8 G4, and 175’ of 5/8” 3 strand. Does this seem adequate; or would it be recommended to have more chain and/or nylon line?
We’re in a 37’ Hunter Legend, dry weight 13,000lbs.
Also been there many times before, Leo and never had a problem. Pretty much in the center of the bay, which used to be an old log dump. There was a strong southerly during the night and into the early morning. Very lumpy night. I put so much force on bringing up the anchor that it actually broke the right tine weld on our Danforth. Had it re-welded in Lund.Where did you have the problem?
Hmm. Our boat came with a 40# Danforth. Been cruising BC waters since 2004 in many different anchorages. Once, in all that time, had a problem with dragging, and that was in Cortez Bay, which is a notorious anchorage; thin layer of mud over shale. I've never used our spare CQR, so no experience there.Danforth won't due and CQR tends to be unreliable in these parts.
Yeah, I read some of these posts (as you mention above yours, #43) without knowledge of the experience of the poster. So we have …Danforths won’t “due” … in these parts. What does that mean? Has the poster ever used a Danforth “in these parts” and under what conditions? Fluke anchors such as Danforth and Fortress have serious holding power; but what?, everywhere except in the Salish Sea? And as you intimate Terry, maybe the guy hasn’t talked to anyone who has deployed an oversized one. Anchoring requires a lot of skill. The right tackle, the right spot, and the right technique, etc, plus practice, practice, practice!Hmm. Our boat came with a 40# Danforth. Been cruising BC waters since 2004 in many different anchorages. Once, in all that time, had a problem with dragging, and that was in Cortez Bay, which is a notorious anchorage; thin layer of mud over shale. I've never used our spare CQR, so no experience there.
My experience with Fluke anchors in the Chesapeake Bay where tidal currents are mild and the sea bed is silt/sand was positive. The only disturbance to a quiet anchorage would be storm squalls. These tend to come on out of a peaceful time and stretch the boat out in a singular direction. Such singular direction helps the Fluke styled anchor to preform at its optimum in such estuary silt seas bed conditions.Fluke anchors such as Danforth and Fortress have serious holding power; but what?,
Bio, as requested: Been sailing these waters (Victoria to Prince Rupert) for over 20 years (Look at my location).... I also teach CYA basic cruising course and teach with CPS.Yeah, I read some of these posts (as you mention above yours, #43) without knowledge of the experience of the poster. So we have …Danforths won’t “due” … in these parts. What does that mean? Has the poster ever used a Danforth “in these parts” and under what conditions? Fluke anchors such as Danforth and Fortress have serious holding power; but what?, everywhere except in the Salish Sea? And as you intimate Terry, maybe the guy hasn’t talked to anyone who has deployed an oversized one. Anchoring requires a lot of skill. The right tackle, the right spot, and the right technique, etc, plus practice, practice, practice!
You hit the nail on the proverbial head, Ray. Made lots of mistakes in my early days of anchoring, but over time the skill developed to the point of confidence. I trust my Danforth, which has seen some pretty difficult weather conditions and has held quite well. After a blow, the hard part is trying to get it unstuck off the bottom.And as you intimate Terry, maybe the guy hasn’t talked to anyone who has deployed an oversized one. Anchoring requires a lot of skill. The right tackle, the right spot, and the right technique, etc, plus practice, practice, practice!
Never again will I stern tie in sour weather, especially with the weather abeam. Side loading, as you say, bent my 1/2" x 2-1/2" steel anchor shank in Princess Cove a few years ago. Another story. Then another time a strong blow came through Cocktail Cove on Lasqueti Island. The boat put up such a racket that I could not sleep, so spent most of the night on deck. The Danforth held just fine, but the next morning when it came time to leave what a chore unsetting the anchor from the sea bed.Side loading is very common when stern tied.
At least you did not pull out. On my second charter to the Gulf Islands we anchored in Princess Cove @ Wallace Island. The charter boat we had (in 1990’s) was a C&C 38 with a deep keel; 7 or 8 ft of draft.Never again will I stern tie in sour weather, especially with the weather abeam. Side loading, as you say, bent my 1/2" x 2-1/2" steel anchor shank in Princess Cove a few years …
Was there just last week .... can totally relate. We got blown sideways as we were stern tied (easier to get the dog to shore) when the wind kicked up. Fortunately the bay was a ghost town....At least you did not pull out. On my second charter to the Gulf Islands we anchored in Princess Cove @ Wallace Island. The charter boat we had (in 1990’s) was a C&C 38 with a deep keel; 7 or 8 ft of draft.
It was not bad getting in there but there was only one “stall“ available; the second or third one in. The boat axis when anchored lies normal to the long axis of the Cove. The Cove itself is more or less open to the W & NW but is within a generally sheltered area so no “rollers” arriving. Nevertheless, she lies abeam to weather and tide flow anchored bow and stern tie to shore. The boat was equipped with a CQR.
About 2300 the tide was running in hard and the wind was getting up. The short story is we dragged into the lee boat on our starboard. Things got all tangled. I had a dinghy on a painter. We could not get the C&C out b/c the dinghy was hanging up on the lee boat’s anchor chain.The only “safe thing” to do was cut the $2,000 dink adrift to get the sailboat out. We could hear diesels firing up and lights coming on all down the row toward the beach at the end of the cove. Finally got out of the stall and started to pull the anchor. It proved to be fouled on the anchor chain of the boat anchored to our weather (port) side. That chain slid off the CQR as it broke the surface. We regathered ourselves, and reanchored out in middle of that narrow channel for the rest of the night.
A fellow boater came over the next morning to “congratulate” us getting out w/o causing damage. He told me the dink had fetched up on the beach at the end of the cove and offered to take me over to retrieve it. Amazing the Canadians! Not one unkind word, aspersion, or criticism cast toward me or my crew the whole incident! Oh, the howling that would have ensued if I had been in home waters!
Very similar, my story, as mentioned above. My boating buddy and I had just returned from our 70 day Princess Royal Island cruise and rendezvoused with two other boaters in Princess Cove. I solo set both anchor and shore tie a bit south of the small dock to an applause from a neighbor boater where he and his crew had much trouble securing their boat to a shore tie. Then our group gathers on our boat for poo poos (hors d’œuvres). A starboard abeam wind is picking up strongly and I could feel it on the boat. A few moments later we felt a thump only to find that our boat had sashayed from the wind a few feet up against this small dock. Okay, time to move, so I released the shore tie, and moved the boat into the middle of the cove and reset anchor. It was a restful evening after that experience, but the wind force abeam did end up bending my anchor shank about five degrees.On my second charter to the Gulf Islands we anchored in Princess Cove @ Wallace Island.
Is that similar to the tradition of painting on the docks in Horta?Nope, but a long standing boater tradition on wallace isl is to make a sign..... a short hike from Princess Cove.
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A trick I learned recently - after tying the bowline, leave enough tail so you can then also tie a half hitch using the tail. Those don't back out loaded or unloaded....Never trust a bowline on a floating line that's not under load!
The charts show the end of the bay as a Log Pond. Logs will often break loose and litter the bottom of bays where this has been done over the past 100 years.... The marina in Sturt is cheap and friendly and a safer bet than snagging old logs and cables on the bottom.Do you have a spare anchoring system? Never used ours yet, but then again you never know when it might come in handy. Stuff happens. On our cruise last season, almost had to cut my main anchor loose because it was hung up on the bottom in Sturt Bay. That would have meant the loss of the anchor and chain. I do have a back up just in case.