Choice of anchor

[spiker]

Hello everyone, I'm looking for a little input again; as I am new to this C-Dory world. I was wondering what the consensus is for choice of anchor on a 22 Cruiser. I am from Long Island and predominantly boat on the South Shore which means I anchor in MUD!!! I have used a Danforth with good results on my last 2 boats but they were bigger and alot heavier than the C-Dory. I have heard alot about the Delta plow anchor but have heard mixed reviews on how it holds in mud. The bow roller looks pretty small on the 22 and it doesn't look like it would take a heavy Danforth. I did not have great results with a Fortress anchor on my 250 Searay so I was a little leary of trying that again. Also what length chain have you used with your anchors 4' - 5' or more?
Thanks for any assistance,
Spiker

 

[Jeff Brigner]

Check out slideanchor.com
I don't have one yet but it is suppose to hold well in all conditions and is compact.

 

[JamesTXSD]

Greetings Spiker and welcome aboard.

We use a 22# Delta on our CD-25 and find that it holds great in sand and mud. 50 feet of chain helps keep it stuck down. As a secondary anchor, we use a danforth with 10' of chain. We've used the Fortress on other boats, and found it worked fine as long as you were sure it was stuck down (again, more chain is good, but that kind of negates the idea of a lightweight anchor like the Fortress). On a primary anchor, we've gone with the "chain length equal to or greater than the boat length"

HTH

Best wishes,
Jim B

 

[flagold]

I use the aforementioned Fortress, has worked fine for everything but thick embedded grass (tends to float over it) & 7 ft. chain. On the back I carry a 16lb danforth and a 16lb mud anchor. Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

 

[416rigby]

Welcome! Like the name you chose for your boat.

Our Danforth type anchor works great in the mud of Lake Martin...but I have no idea what weight it is...came with the boat. We have a fairly short length of chain...about 6 feet. I'll probably increase it one of these days, but for now, it works for us.

Rick

 

[Valkyrie]

We are using the Delta (14#) and are extremely happy with it. It has held in all bottoms, including sand, mud, clay and grass. I was a long-time Bruce fan and the Delta does better, in my opinion, in mud than the Bruce.

We currently have 150 of chain, courtesy of the dealer, but I'm changing that to 200 feet of half-inch and twenty feet of chain.

Our back-up anchor is the small Fortress with 20 feet of chain and 200 feet of 3/8 inch three strand.

If you go with the Delta and have a windlass, go with the pivoting bow roller, which is self-launching and works very well.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

 

[thataway]

Fortress makes two anchors--the Fortress and the Guardian. The Guardian is a slightly cheaper version of the Fortress. It has only one position (22 degreees) the Fortress has two postions (32 and 45 degrees).

For mud I would go with the Fortress (or Guardian)--This is what we use.

The Delta is a very good anchor, and I use a 25 lb one on the Tom Cat as our primary anchor
.
I have two Guardians for back up, and a FX 37 Fortress as a "storm anchor".

Probably the best mud anchor is the Super Max. The smallest available is Super Max Rigid 12 at 18# and costs $270. This anchor might be difficult to handle on the C Dory 22 anchor pulpit.

Enjoy the new boat!

 

[teflonmom]

The first time I used a Fortress in the mud bottom of a CBay creek I was unable to get a bite. After re-reading the manuel I attached the mud palms that came with the anchor. This gets 45% of angle and it really did the job. I always back down on the anchor. It never left me adrift even after a wind change.

The only problem we ever have is with a grass bottom. always a problem for us, any ideas?

Fred, Pat, and Mr. Grey(the cat)

 

[flagold]

Our grass is woven-root, so it's like trying to get a set in carpet, just doesn't work very well. What I do is find a light patch in the grass area (sand over mud in our case), drop the hook in the patch, and back down. The Fortress flukes slide under the grass woven root and the boat won't go anywhere after that. The negative is, it can be a real bear to get out.

 

[thataway]

For grass, a sharp fluke anchor is the key. Actually the old fisherman, with sharpened tips to the flukes are very good, or the sea plane SS folding anchors used on the PBY's have very sharp spikes and are excellent for the C Dory size boats in grass, as well as sand.

The sharp flukes dig thru the thick root mat. Before we got a specialized fisherman in the Med, we dove and cut the root to get a plow started.

The only disadvantage of the Fortress / Guardian is that they are light weight. The mud palms can be used in both the 32 and 45 degree positions. I leave the mud palms on the Guardians all of the time. The Fortress has two holes in the crown for the stock, and it depends on what hole the cross bar goes in as if it is the 32 or 45 degree setting. Previously I had used Danforth HT anchors or West marine Performance Anchors--and they are good, but don't have the additional "mud" position.

On the other hand, in one 4 year cruise, anchoring almost every night, we used the CQR as the primary anchor and it held 99% of the time. Only a couple of times did we have to deploy a anchor which was "better in mud".--in that case the Danforth HT--Fortress would have been better and easier to handle in the sizes we were using. (60 to 75 lb anchors working--storm was 150 lbs)

 

[rogerbum]

I use the aforementioned Fortress, has worked fine for everything but thick embedded grass (tends to float over it) & 7 ft. chain. On the back I carry a 16lb danforth and a 16lb mud anchor. Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

I've always heard that anchoring from the stern is a good way to get one into trouble in anthing but a reasonably protected anchorage. It makes sense to me that I want to be bow towards the wind so I'm having a hard time understanding the above suggesting of being able to quickly employ a stern anchor as the primary in a blow. Am I missing something?

 

[Chester]

Two unconventional anchors that score very well in independent tests are the HydroBubble and Bulwagga. The Bulwagga was designed for weedy bottoms but holds quite well everywhere. Downside? It's not pretty.
HydroBubble is a plow that features a float on the shank so it always lands rightside up! The first generation, called the Hydro Dyne, had it's problems but these have been overcome.
http://www.noteco.com/bulwagga/index.htm
http://www.hydrobubble.com/
I've been trying to find put which sizes of the HB that will fit my bow roller. I suspect the 17# Bull would fit.

 

[mikeporterinmd]

I use the aforementioned Fortress, has worked fine for everything but thick embedded grass (tends to float over it) & 7 ft. chain. On the back I carry a 16lb danforth and a 16lb mud anchor. Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

I've always heard that anchoring from the stern is a good way to get one into trouble in anthing but a reasonably protected anchorage. It makes sense to me that I want to be bow towards the wind so I'm having a hard time understanding the above suggesting of being able to quickly employ a stern anchor as the primary in a blow. Am I missing something?

Depends where you anchor. If everyone else in the cove is using a stern anchor,
then you have to as well, or you will swing into them. We often use a stern
anchor to keep the stern to the beach. Waves almost never come from the
beach. Well, sometimes someone we know walks by, but usally those waves
don't bother the boat. If the wave from the beach is 'pointed', then it is possible
your anchor will soon loose it's set. I've never had that happen.

Mike

 

[Sneaks]

Spiker, before you finalize the anchor choice, there are two C-Brats we've not yet heard from who, in my opinion, are the ultimate authorities on C-Dory, C-22 specific anchoring in all conditions; Halcyon and Rana Verde. If they don't see this post, PM either or both of them and get their input. It's invaluable and, if my experiences are any indicator, cheerfully and generously given.

Who else has been behind the wee helm of a C-22 for well over 18,000 nautical miles? Who else has made two round trips to Alaska in 22 foot C-Dorys, one of whom woke up in the middle of a roaring stream after anchoring the night before on a nice wide river? (Yup, Chris's anchor held but the tide had turned "Placid" into "Rapids."

I, for one, would like to see their choices. Direct experience wins my vote every time!

So Chris, Bill, what do you folks usually carry as anchors and drogues?

In fact, I'd love to see an inventory of everything carried along on either boat as C-Dory operational stuff, both daily and "just in case." Chris, if you can spare a couple of hours I'll even volunteer to come down to Mission Bay and photograph the Rana Verde's "fitted for travel" inventory for the Brat albums.

Don

 

[flagold]

I use the aforementioned Fortress, has worked fine for everything but thick embedded grass (tends to float over it) & 7 ft. chain. On the back I carry a 16lb danforth and a 16lb mud anchor. Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

I've always heard that anchoring from the stern is a good way to get one into trouble in anthing but a reasonably protected anchorage. It makes sense to me that I want to be bow towards the wind so I'm having a hard time understanding the above suggesting of being able to quickly employ a stern anchor as the primary in a blow. Am I missing something?

Depends where you anchor. If everyone else in the cove is using a stern anchor,
then you have to as well, or you will swing into them. We often use a stern
anchor to keep the stern to the beach. Waves almost never come from the
beach. Well, sometimes someone we know walks by, but usally those waves
don't bother the boat. If the wave from the beach is 'pointed', then it is possible
your anchor will soon loose it's set. I've never had that happen.

Mike

Nailed it. Also usefull when anchoring in a tidal stream next to a mangrove island where your boat must not swing and touch the mangroves or a zillion bugs descend on you.

Obviously, you don't stern-to anchor in heavy seas.

 

[rogerbum]

I use the aforementioned Fortress, has worked fine for everything but thick embedded grass (tends to float over it) & 7 ft. chain. On the back I carry a 16lb danforth and a 16lb mud anchor. Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

I've always heard that anchoring from the stern is a good way to get one into trouble in anthing but a reasonably protected anchorage. It makes sense to me that I want to be bow towards the wind so I'm having a hard time understanding the above suggesting of being able to quickly employ a stern anchor as the primary in a blow. Am I missing something?

Depends where you anchor. If everyone else in the cove is using a stern anchor,
then you have to as well, or you will swing into them. We often use a stern
anchor to keep the stern to the beach. Waves almost never come from the
beach. Well, sometimes someone we know walks by, but usually those waves
don't bother the boat. If the wave from the beach is 'pointed', then it is possible
your anchor will soon loose it's set. I've never had that happen.

Mike

Nailed it. Also useful when anchoring in a tidal stream next to a mangrove island where your boat must not swing and touch the mangroves or a zillion bugs descend on you.

Obviously, you don't stern-to anchor in heavy seas.

It's the last "obviously" that I was pointing to since the original quote said

Don't neglect your stern anchor system, it can become your primary anchor quickly in a blow.

The part about quickly employing an anchor in a blow, could imply to the casual boater that this is the method of choice for rapidly anchoring in developing weather and I simply thought that this should be cleared up. This concern in big waves is not losing the anchor set but rather taking water over the stern in stern anchored boat. This relatively common occurence for people who stern anchor rivers - or for people who on purpose or inadvertently stern anchor in big waves. The only CD that I know of which as swamped occurred when a bow anchor set became entangle in a prop on retrieval and turned into a stern anchor in heavy seas.

 

[flagold]

Thanks Roger, I sometimes forget everyone hasn't been on the water 40+ years when I toss terms out there, obviously, obvious is different to differnt people with different levels of experience.

Sinking your boat because you threw your anchor out the stern in 20 knots wind, a current swift enough to cause boils in the water, or cresting waves, is one way to gain experience you don't want to gain.

Thanks.

 

[thataway]

One of the beauties of the 22 is that you can anchor with the stern right on the beach or bank--as long as there is no tide or wave action. We usually anchored stern to the beach in lakes, with two stern anchors and one bow anchor (Danforth/Guardian type, because we were dealing with sand). The Pet step makes a great gangplank for both the dogs and us.--keeps sand out of the boat.

A 25 foot boat was swamped and people lost a couple of years ago when they anchored in the Gulf of Mexico by the stern. It doesn't take a lot of wave action to bring seas into the boat when anchored stern too. One of the risks of a transom door in a boat which has an I/O or engine hatches in the cockpit is swamping the boat from waves from the stern.

 

[Dora~Jean]

And THAT Bob, is precisely why I sealed off the 4 big access holes at the rear of my cockpit! I've even thought of putting one of those inflatable bouyancy bags in some of the unused space near the engines to add some emergency flotation back there.

Anyone have any idea how much a pair of engines weigh UNDER water? Would shoot for 1/2 in and 1/2 out as a fallback goal. Not that is would happen to ME...

 

[flagold]

We've had this discussion before of course, but my thoughts on "the hole":

I am not sure I'd block that opening on a CD-22. It looks odd, but remember, that big hole lets water out too. If you took a wave big enough to fill the stern, with the "hole" blocked off, the cockpit will fill completely (cabin door closed) and the one pump (most cases), two pumps, or three pumps (my case) will have to quickly lighten stern (you won't be able to open the door and bail) or the next wave (from any direction) will re-fill and compound the problem (as the cabin fills). The "hole" will let water out faster than any pump would, down to a level pumps (you're just shot with one pump) would have a chance to get it out before being completely swamped. My case: with all the pumps immersed, I would have 3,000 gph pumping capacity (still not enough in my opinion -- 3600 would be optimal (to me) which means I could lighten by 50 gallons per minute, or more important: 25 gallons per 30 seconds, 12.5 per 15 seconds, or 6.25 gallons per 7 seconds which is a common wave period. Check the math, I'm not good with it -- if it's wrong I'll respond by installing a couple more pumps . . . By getting the gallonage, you can eventually come right down to how much weight you are removing per second from the boat if the worst hits and it's good to know what that number would be before the event (encourages a person to add another pump at the minimum).