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Here's a pic the admiral took of me on my last boat preparing to deploy the Bruce anchor. She was saying something about 'bitter end', but I wasn't listening, as usual.

Yes I see the resemblance to your avatar

Ray

Wind Chime wrote:

Such a nice shiny anchor.

I had my dock lines stolen once when I was out last year. No way I'd leave an anchor like that in plain sight at my marina. Mine look more like the Bruce in my pic above, only not as nice.

I lock the anchor to the bow cleat when not on the water, and put a old sailbag around it so it's out of sight.
I guess they could just cut the metal lock-line or hacksaw through the bowcleat ... but "a lock only keeps and honest man honest"

tkanzler » Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:08 pm

No way I'd leave an anchor like that in plain sight at my marina.

But hopefully your dockmates would take notice if someone other than you was sitting there hacksawing at the lock in the middle of the night.

let me guess ,she said i was a lucky man !!!! lol .....i dont know why ,buy as long as we have been married she has always backed the boat down the ramp ,while back it off ,and she backs the trailer for me to drive on ,and she has always dropped or pulled the anchor ,she is really cute ,shes about 5 foot 7 and around 125 pounds ,i dont know how she ended up with anchor duty ?????? she asked me today if we had the bottom paint for the boat yet ,she said it was such a pretty day 81 degrees that she wanted to go ahead and paint the bottom of the boat (its already blocked up )

dxg4848 wrote:

bahama bound wrote:my wife is the one that has to pull the anchor

Showed this to my wife...... You don't want to know what she said!

bahama bound wrote:let me guess ,she said i was a lucky man !!!! lol .....i dont know why ,buy as long as we have been married she has always backed the boat down the ramp ,while back it off ,and she backs the trailer for me to drive on ,and she has always dropped or pulled the anchor ,she is really cute ,shes about 5 foot 7 and around 125 pounds ,i dont know how she ended up with anchor duty ?????? she asked me today if we had the bottom paint for the boat yet ,she said it was such a pretty day 81 degrees that she wanted to go ahead and paint the bottom of the boat (its already blocked up )

dxg4848 wrote:

bahama bound wrote:my wife is the one that has to pull the anchor

Showed this to my wife...... You don't want to know what she said!

You are a VERY LUCKY MAN!!!

My 26X came with a couple of knockoff Danforths, truly both a POS. I have a 7# Fortress hanging from a pair of brackets from the rail. It works excellent on sandy bottoms, and has held overnight on 25 knot winds and 3' of chain (7:1 scope). I love the light weight, as I don't have a windlass, but just recently installed an anchor roller to handle a secondary, 25# Mantus, which I plan to hang on to the bow rails with a bracket or tube.
As I said, the Fortress works great on sand. Will hold on muck too but you need to readjust the bite angle. Forget about it if there's seaweed on top of the bottom, as this type of anchor gets easily fouled. For that we use the Mantus without the rollbar.

I bought a 6kg delta plus chain etc. The stock bow roller is of course not suitable. I went to a local chandler that also had the Delta's on display and found a complete anchor roller with an extension that will accommodate the Delta shaft by a suck it an see approach - fitting the available anchor roller options to the 6kg delta on the shelf. I selected an anchor roller assy on the basis that that the extension was bolted on (not riveted) and would also bolt to and extend the stock bow roller ie wider than the stock roller assembly. I had to buy the entire assembly and only use the extension but this was a better option than unbolting, drilling new holes, sealing same to replace the factory unit IMO. Something like this (although the photo is upside down):

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_item ... lutePage=1

The extension removable pin is perfect - it will lock the delta in position when passed through the "backing out holes" in the delta shaft and the shaft aligns well enough so that that the chain attachment point can be padlocked to the mooring cleat when in docked position. Not in a position to photograph the end result right now with the being some 4 hours away but over all a neat solution and very happy. The anchor is even secure enough during trailering being held in two positions.

Now for the winch . . .

Agree the Rocna is a good anchor but in certain conditions they will drag as will any, especially if not set correctly but this is why we use a second Sarca anchor as our main and if in any doubt both, at different times both have dragged in very different conditions but a heavy chain and good scope is as important IMHO.
Just thinking that over the years we would have deployed anchors at least 500 times so should be starting to get the hang of it by now although still seem to make some basic mistakes from time to time probably due to getting older with less attention span and rushing.

For every So Cal bottom I've been in, a pair of Fortress 11s is all you need. One with 20' of chain and 200' of rode fits easily in the anchor locker, and the other we keep in the storage under the v-berth, but will eventually hang it off the stern.

Be nice if all seabeds were nice and sandy with no tides or winds but even then have had problems with fluke style anchors, fortress do look heavier than most but the principle is the same, just don't even bother taking a large one we had anymore which I used for beaching but not worth the risk of dragging.
Only real problem with the Rocna is in rough conditions it gets buried so far it's sometimes hard to release, the Sarca buries just as deep but is easier to get out with the sliding chain.

Does that Sarca excel break down? That would be great for storage.

On the Chesapeake Bay, I will stay with the Fortress FX-11. In 2012, when the derecio hit, while anchored over a muddy bottom, the FX-11 held in 90 mph winds better than any of the other anchors (I am serious, we were hit with the worst part of the storm while rafted with a few hundred other boats in a small basin at Chesapeake City and that FX-11 was the most difficult anchor to retrieve). That is when I bought another. I will admit, if I take the boat elsewhere where there are hard/rocky bottoms or bottoms with a lot of growth, I will probably pick up another type of anchor. I will most likely look at the anchor tests in Practical Sailor to make my selection.