- Joined
- Feb 27, 2009
- Location
- Milan, NY 12571
Yes. They among the most important pieces of equipment you can have.
Do it right and when you wake up you still be where you anchor, do it wrong and you might wake up to a surprise.
How to choose an anchor
anchors have been part of boating since the biginning, and for centuries they changed very little. In fact boats changed more than anchors did. In the old days weight was everything the heavier the better. But with the development of the modern anchor, primarelly the danforth lightweight type things changed drastically. Shape of modern anchors enables them to penetrate bottom and hold by strenght rather than weight. So now, when choosing an anchor, we have to consider "which type?" in addiction to "how big?"
Anchor type
The best place to start anchor selection is at ground level. Rocks, clay, sand, mud, coral, kelp, and others. No anchor is good for all of the above, so when choosing you have to take in consideration where you do most of your boating.
Yachtsman
This are the old-fashioned anchors commonly used as symbols. They hold in rocks, where penetration is impossible, and they may gain a purchase in grassy bottoms. they are awkward to handle, and they usually large and heavy, and hard to stow away. Unless you have a salty looking old fashion yacht, they look best in your yard as decoative ornament.
Navy type
This anchors don't belong on small boats. They need to large in order to be effective, they make them in small sizes but they just don't hold. pound for pound they don't hold as good as the yachtsman's.
Danforth
this granddaddies of all modern anchors still have a lot going for them. Their holding power (in the right bottom) goes far behond mere weight, particularly in the Hi-tensile series. they relatively easy to handle and stowage. They work best in solid mud, clay, or hard-packed sand, where they can burrow unbeleivably deep in very short order if set with sufficient scope. they are nearly useless in rocks, and kelp, grass or other weeds can make it hard for it to hold bottom. Danforth's are all about the right angle, take that away and anchor can come loose. If tide or wind direction changes position of boat it usually resets itself (if right scope that is).
Danforth's are a prime choice for general use.
Danforth followers
Due to the sucess of danforths both in use and marketplace has prompted a number of clones and derivatives. Some look so much like the real thing, you have to check the shank to be sure. Beware of imitations! Imitatorsusuallyuse a different fluke angle to avoid patent infringement and may not achieve proper penetration.
Derivatives are another story. Danforths as good as they are suffer the fate of pioneers. The trail they blazed has been followed by others who had no intention of imitating (a form of flatttery closely resembling rip-off) but rather chose to improve upon progressive thinking.
Fortress anchors are an example. Fabricated of a hardened, marine-grade aluminum-magnesium-silicon alloy, they take the strenght-with lightness concept to the nth degree.
Plow or CQR
There are several varieties, all having a single fluke. This pratically eliminates dislodging when boat swings, since a single fluke will better follow the rode. The original CQR uses a hinge to pivot the shank. the delta incorporates aspects of each of the other plows and boasts two special abilities. One, it is design to free fall unattended. two, no matter how it lands it will always flip over for best penetration. This anchors also hold better in weedy or grassy bottoms, they don't stow as easily, but they are perfect to hang from a pulpit.
Anchor size
It is total load, not total lenght of boat that determs anchor size. Keep in mind that anchor weight not been the sole factor in holding power, it still matters. If you not sure what size is best for your boat go bigger not smaller. One anchor sometimes is not enought, at times you need two anchors
Ground Tackle
The anchor line, or rode, does more than connect the anchor to the boat.properly employed, it also helps the anchor hold- particularly anchors that depend on fluke angle for penetration. Generally speaking modern anchors need the pull against them to be as nearly horizontal as possible. Chain rode would be ideal, but it is not pratical to have an all chain rode. The standard compromise is a short lenght of chain (anywhere from 6' to 40') between the anchor and a fiber (usually nylon) rode. This adds weight to the end of rode and protects it from chaffing. The ideal scope you can have is 7:1 or better. lets say average depth is 15' and 4' from water to cleat, this gives us a total of 15' of water + 4' of free board = 19'
7:1 scope means 7x19= 133' of scope
Recommended anchor weight rode sizes and chain sizes
lenght anchor weight Chain diameter rode diameter
based on plow figures for 3 strand nylon
up to 21' 18lbs 1/4in. 7/16in.
22' to 25' 22 5/16 9/16
26' to 30' 27 5/16 9/16
31' to 34' 31 5/16 9/16
35' to 41' 35 3/8 3/4
42' to 50' 44 3/8 3/4
Deck gear
These days even small boats sport the bow pulpiy, electric windlass, and permanently mounted anchors. This systems makes it alot easier to anchor. You can actually use a heavier anchor as your primary and keep a lighter one as spare or for ocasions where two anchors are needed.
Stting the anchor
We start with a single anchor since that will do for most situations. You should ask yourself, how deep is water? about current and wind? how much swing room you have? will it change with tide? are there rocks or other shallow hazards you might swing over? are there other anchor boats you need to consider? and finally where do you want the anchor to be. Remember this is not where your boat will ens up; you need to allow for scope and lower your anchor far enought ahead of where you want to sit. It's less complicated than it sounds and with very little pratice you know exactelly where to drop it. Here's the drill, move slowly up to drop point, lower anchor untill it touchs bottom, next pay out the rode as you slowly back away, continueuntil you have paid out the lenghtyou need, and then belaythe rode on deck.When the anchor sets, you'll stop backing even with an engine in reverse at idle speed. If rode gets taut, you know anchor is set. If it bivrates, it is not set and you need to redo it again.7:1 is a generally accepted scope, but you set the anchor better if you use even more. Some people mark their rode every 5 or 10 feet so it is easier to know how much rode you have out.
To pull the anchor up you just reverse it, A vertical pull will brake it free. Go ahead slowly taking in slack, untill rode is vertical, power ahead slowly and it will brake loose.
Comfort in pairs
Sometimes you need to set two anchors. The simplest soluction is to set one astern and one off the bow. with this arrangement you won't swing. This can be good or bad, make sure all boats around you are anchor the same, if they swing you want to swing as well. Also if seas get rought and boat doesn't swing you might get some water at lowest free board point, specially if waves are hitting bach of boat. Some people prefer to set two anchors off the bow, this works best when an angle of 60 to 90 degrees is used. The two anchor system works best when you are limited in space like small rivers. Another way to use two anchors is by setting two anchors 180 degrees apart but with both rodes brought to the bow, this lets you swing in a very restrictive circle.
There are lots and lots more info about anchors and anchoring, to much to write about it all here, if anyone feels the need for more detailed info I can provided via email. The above is just a small summary of all there is about this subject and in the future more section detailed articles will be posted.
Do it right and when you wake up you still be where you anchor, do it wrong and you might wake up to a surprise.
How to choose an anchor
anchors have been part of boating since the biginning, and for centuries they changed very little. In fact boats changed more than anchors did. In the old days weight was everything the heavier the better. But with the development of the modern anchor, primarelly the danforth lightweight type things changed drastically. Shape of modern anchors enables them to penetrate bottom and hold by strenght rather than weight. So now, when choosing an anchor, we have to consider "which type?" in addiction to "how big?"
Anchor type
The best place to start anchor selection is at ground level. Rocks, clay, sand, mud, coral, kelp, and others. No anchor is good for all of the above, so when choosing you have to take in consideration where you do most of your boating.
Yachtsman
This are the old-fashioned anchors commonly used as symbols. They hold in rocks, where penetration is impossible, and they may gain a purchase in grassy bottoms. they are awkward to handle, and they usually large and heavy, and hard to stow away. Unless you have a salty looking old fashion yacht, they look best in your yard as decoative ornament.
Navy type
This anchors don't belong on small boats. They need to large in order to be effective, they make them in small sizes but they just don't hold. pound for pound they don't hold as good as the yachtsman's.
Danforth
this granddaddies of all modern anchors still have a lot going for them. Their holding power (in the right bottom) goes far behond mere weight, particularly in the Hi-tensile series. they relatively easy to handle and stowage. They work best in solid mud, clay, or hard-packed sand, where they can burrow unbeleivably deep in very short order if set with sufficient scope. they are nearly useless in rocks, and kelp, grass or other weeds can make it hard for it to hold bottom. Danforth's are all about the right angle, take that away and anchor can come loose. If tide or wind direction changes position of boat it usually resets itself (if right scope that is).
Danforth's are a prime choice for general use.
Danforth followers
Due to the sucess of danforths both in use and marketplace has prompted a number of clones and derivatives. Some look so much like the real thing, you have to check the shank to be sure. Beware of imitations! Imitatorsusuallyuse a different fluke angle to avoid patent infringement and may not achieve proper penetration.
Derivatives are another story. Danforths as good as they are suffer the fate of pioneers. The trail they blazed has been followed by others who had no intention of imitating (a form of flatttery closely resembling rip-off) but rather chose to improve upon progressive thinking.
Fortress anchors are an example. Fabricated of a hardened, marine-grade aluminum-magnesium-silicon alloy, they take the strenght-with lightness concept to the nth degree.
Plow or CQR
There are several varieties, all having a single fluke. This pratically eliminates dislodging when boat swings, since a single fluke will better follow the rode. The original CQR uses a hinge to pivot the shank. the delta incorporates aspects of each of the other plows and boasts two special abilities. One, it is design to free fall unattended. two, no matter how it lands it will always flip over for best penetration. This anchors also hold better in weedy or grassy bottoms, they don't stow as easily, but they are perfect to hang from a pulpit.
Anchor size
It is total load, not total lenght of boat that determs anchor size. Keep in mind that anchor weight not been the sole factor in holding power, it still matters. If you not sure what size is best for your boat go bigger not smaller. One anchor sometimes is not enought, at times you need two anchors
Ground Tackle
The anchor line, or rode, does more than connect the anchor to the boat.properly employed, it also helps the anchor hold- particularly anchors that depend on fluke angle for penetration. Generally speaking modern anchors need the pull against them to be as nearly horizontal as possible. Chain rode would be ideal, but it is not pratical to have an all chain rode. The standard compromise is a short lenght of chain (anywhere from 6' to 40') between the anchor and a fiber (usually nylon) rode. This adds weight to the end of rode and protects it from chaffing. The ideal scope you can have is 7:1 or better. lets say average depth is 15' and 4' from water to cleat, this gives us a total of 15' of water + 4' of free board = 19'
7:1 scope means 7x19= 133' of scope
Recommended anchor weight rode sizes and chain sizes
lenght anchor weight Chain diameter rode diameter
based on plow figures for 3 strand nylon
up to 21' 18lbs 1/4in. 7/16in.
22' to 25' 22 5/16 9/16
26' to 30' 27 5/16 9/16
31' to 34' 31 5/16 9/16
35' to 41' 35 3/8 3/4
42' to 50' 44 3/8 3/4
Deck gear
These days even small boats sport the bow pulpiy, electric windlass, and permanently mounted anchors. This systems makes it alot easier to anchor. You can actually use a heavier anchor as your primary and keep a lighter one as spare or for ocasions where two anchors are needed.
Stting the anchor
We start with a single anchor since that will do for most situations. You should ask yourself, how deep is water? about current and wind? how much swing room you have? will it change with tide? are there rocks or other shallow hazards you might swing over? are there other anchor boats you need to consider? and finally where do you want the anchor to be. Remember this is not where your boat will ens up; you need to allow for scope and lower your anchor far enought ahead of where you want to sit. It's less complicated than it sounds and with very little pratice you know exactelly where to drop it. Here's the drill, move slowly up to drop point, lower anchor untill it touchs bottom, next pay out the rode as you slowly back away, continueuntil you have paid out the lenghtyou need, and then belaythe rode on deck.When the anchor sets, you'll stop backing even with an engine in reverse at idle speed. If rode gets taut, you know anchor is set. If it bivrates, it is not set and you need to redo it again.7:1 is a generally accepted scope, but you set the anchor better if you use even more. Some people mark their rode every 5 or 10 feet so it is easier to know how much rode you have out.
To pull the anchor up you just reverse it, A vertical pull will brake it free. Go ahead slowly taking in slack, untill rode is vertical, power ahead slowly and it will brake loose.
Comfort in pairs
Sometimes you need to set two anchors. The simplest soluction is to set one astern and one off the bow. with this arrangement you won't swing. This can be good or bad, make sure all boats around you are anchor the same, if they swing you want to swing as well. Also if seas get rought and boat doesn't swing you might get some water at lowest free board point, specially if waves are hitting bach of boat. Some people prefer to set two anchors off the bow, this works best when an angle of 60 to 90 degrees is used. The two anchor system works best when you are limited in space like small rivers. Another way to use two anchors is by setting two anchors 180 degrees apart but with both rodes brought to the bow, this lets you swing in a very restrictive circle.
There are lots and lots more info about anchors and anchoring, to much to write about it all here, if anyone feels the need for more detailed info I can provided via email. The above is just a small summary of all there is about this subject and in the future more section detailed articles will be posted.