What Anchor Do You Use?

blue jay · May 9, 2011

Hello, I think the high tensile is a stronger anchor and that is wht they give it such high ratings. I have a high tensile deepset II 8.5 lbs. I trust it on my 26x as long as I can set it by hand and feel confident that the wind will not veer much. I also use a 22lbs. Delta with 30 ft. of chain. I trust it in anything short of a hurricane.

Sumner · May 9, 2011

I'll stick with what I said here....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-index.html

.... If I only had one anchor it would be a 22 lb. claw. They will reset when the wind shifts and it isn't will the wind shift, but when?

If you insist on a danforth style I'd get the fortress fx-11. We have one, but have never used it. We keep it broken down below.

We believe in having extra anchors on trips along with 3+ rodes just in case we loose one. Often we will anchor with 2 anchors down.

I think I mentioned on the other link or somewhere that we had never had the claw drag as far as we knew. That isn't true anymore. On the last night in Florida with high winds I put the claw down towards shore in shallow water. The wind was coming from that direction. If the wind shifted during the night, it wasn't suppose to, I didn't want to swing into the shallow water. I put the Manson Supreme down 180 degrees from the claw on the leeward side of the boat and had the boat about in the middle of both of them with about 100 feet of rode out on both. I didn't dive to look at the bottom, but when we backed down the claw seemed to have a good hold. In the morning we had moved about 50 feet towards the Manson, so it appeared that the claw had drug that far. Still saying that I believe that a 22 lb. claw is the best value for the boat if you can't buy or store the Manson Supreme.

Now if you can spend more I'd get the 25 lb. Manson Supreme. That is our main anchor now and I trust it about anywhere and sleep all night knowing it is on the bottom.

If you anchor on a longer trip when you don't know what the weather is going to be like a week from now or even 3-4 days don't skimp on your anchor gear. It just isn't worth it for the safety of you and/or your boat.

One last thing....I feel the rode is almost as important as the anchor itself along with the way it is attached to the boat. A minimum of 20 feet of 1/4 chain is good and 30 feet is better along with a couple hundred feet of 3/8 inch good 3 twist nylon.

I have more on my site here....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-index.html

Good luck,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

cscott · May 9, 2011

I have a Bruce and it holds very well. They are not made anymore.

Chuck

Timo42 · May 9, 2011

I have a 16' Lewmar Claw on a roller on the bow, holds well and resets when the wind shifts. As an added bonus it protected the bow of the boat when I forgot to put the pin into the hitch and the boat bounced off the tailgate of my wife's truck

..."Honey, your truck scratched my anchor".

Sumner · May 9, 2011

cscott said:
I have a Bruce and it holds very well. They are not made anymore.

Chuck

True, just get the Lewmar knockoff from West Marine....

http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/1490-...lb-boats-36-40-24-5-8-l-x-16-9-16-w-13-h.html

.... or someone else. $73.00 for the 22 lbs. That is the claw we are using and I agree with you about it holding very well in almost any situation,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Chris & Lenore · May 9, 2011

We have a 25 lb Bruce clone and a 15 lb Danforth. Usually use both for a good nights sleep.

Chris

nemosuit · May 12, 2011

Timo42 said:
I have a 16' Lewmar Claw on a roller on the bow, holds well and resets when the wind shifts. As an added bonus it protected the bow of the boat when I forgot to put the pin into the hitch and the boat bounced off the tailgate of my wife's truck ..."Honey, your truck scratched my anchor".

Hey Timo!

I've got about the same boat as you and I'm buying the same anchor.

Can you let me know what kind (size, etc.) bow mount or roller you're using to secure the claw to the deck when not deployed. Picture, maybe?

Mahalo!

Pat

Freedom77 · May 12, 2011

I have been using 15 pound Danforths with 30 ft of chain for 40 years. Never drug on up yet. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

Timo42 · May 12, 2011

nemosuit said:
Hey Timo!

I've got about the same boat as you and I'm buying the same anchor.

Can you let me know what kind (size, etc.) bow mount or roller you're using to secure the claw to the deck when not deployed. Picture, maybe?

Mahalo!

Pat

I'll get some pics this weekend, going out Sat to set up the new mainsail. :dance:

nemosuit · May 13, 2011

Timo42 said:
I'll get some pics this weekend, going out Sat to set up the new mainsail. :dance:

Thanks! And meanwhile, color me green...with envy!

But seriously, good for you and have a great sail. My day aint that far away! :dance:

VBR,

Pat

Freedom77 · May 15, 2011

highdesertM26 said:
40 years! Well that is some anchoring experience. I see you are in Lake Mead; probably similar characteristics to our New Mexico lakes.

Hey High Desert

What part of NM are you in. Love the State, especially up around Taos. Lake Mead is a great place to sail if you don't mind lack of trees. Was built with flood control #1 and boating came in somewhere way down the line. Plenty of coves to get hiddien in. What lake do you sail on most? My aunt lived in Roswell in '47, very interesting stories.:naughty: 'nuff said. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

Freedom77 · May 15, 2011

nemosuit said:
Thanks! And meanwhile, color me green...with envy!

But seriously, good for you and have a great sail. My day aint that far away! :dance:

VBR,

Pat

Hey Nemosuit!! We're beginning to think your boat is a fig newton of your imagination. We all have plane tickets and are just waiting for the launch date. We throw some kine pig in da ground. PARTY

Aloha. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

nemosuit · May 15, 2011

Freedom77 said:
Hey Nemosuit!! We're beginning to think your boat is a fig newton of your imagination. We all have plane tickets and are just waiting for the launch date. We throw some kine pig in da ground. PARTY Aloha. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

Fig Newton? Aint that the guy up in Canada who builds small submarines? No wait, his name is Phil...Nuytten. My bad.

But I know whatcha mean. My vacation month is about half over and I'm not as far along as I'd hoped. I'm sitting here with a new shipment of West Systems epoxy and filler, trying to stay busy with other tasks while I wait for the hardener!!! One quart of 206 will cost an additional $40 in fees from Oahu to the Big Island by slow boat! (Thanks to laws in Hawaii that make West Marine ship some by barge, taking forever!!! :cussing

Now, I might not make it before Labor Day. But I've only got a couple more months until I retire. "It WILL sail! Oh yes...it WILL!" (sound byte: Mike Meyers in Waynes World.)

Timo42 · May 15, 2011

As promised, pics of anchor and roller. You can see how it makes a great front bumper. Haven't had any issues coming into the dock under sail.

Sumner · May 15, 2011

Timo42 said:
As promised, pics of anchor and roller. You can see how it makes a great front bumper. Haven't had any issues coming into the dock under sail.

That is a nice looking install and once you have a bow roller/rollers you won't want to go back to trying to bring the anchor in without one or putting it down for that matter.

Were your chocks always that far back from the bow or did you move them after putting on the roller.

Ours.....

..... were forward (right at the bow above) and I had to remove them when putting on the rollers, but put them back......

..... on the sides of the roller.

To anyone putting on a roller try and get chocks back on. A lot of the time I'll anchor with the rode in the roller and took a lot of care in making sure it wouldn't chaff there, but there are also times....

....where/when I really need to use the chocks, one or both.

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Timo42 · May 15, 2011

I added the fairleads, it originally had 2 tiny cleats in roughly the same place, I put a 10" cleat with a big reinforcement underneath in the middle of the foredeck. This is an old shot with the original hatch and a danforth anchor that hung on the rail, I am going to put a larger hawser hole fitting on it, the one in the pic is too small to drop the anchor line in quickly, I will be enlarging the area I am using for an anchor locker, sealing the bottom and adding a drain. On the list...

Sumner · May 16, 2011

Timo42 said:
.....I put a 10" cleat with a big reinforcement underneath in the middle of the foredeck.............................................. I am going to put a larger hawser hole fitting on it, the one in the pic is too small to drop the anchor line in quickly.......

I find it hard to have too many good cleats with backing plates. Since we often have 2 anchors down I use both of the cleats behind the rollers and also the middle one.

The bags aren't as clean looking as an anchor locker, but boy do they work well. I can stuff rode into them as fast as Ruth can idle towards the anchor and it has never tangled coming out. Also the rodes dry well exposed to the air.

Before the furler the foresail drug on them a little since they were down on the deck, but now with the furler the sail is above them. It has been a great setup for us,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

Freedom77 · May 16, 2011

Hey Sumner. I've been sailin' for a long time Everytime I see one of your posts I get new ideas. You should write a book. Great stuff. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

What Anchor Do You Use?

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