HydroBubbles on sale

C

Chester

New member
??? HydroBubble??? What's that?
http://www.hydrobubble.com/
Here's the thing, I'm an anchor geek. I've studied every anchor test available for the last 20 years.
The HydroBubble is an unconvential plow anchor that excells all bottoms in every objective test. These are not gimmick anchors. They are going out of business because of unsucessful marketing and that they look 'different'.
I just ordered a 300GS SportBubble, a galvanized version rated for 30 foot boats, $117 delivered. The Bubble anchors are 25% off.
They also have Bruce and CQR style anchors in stainless or galvanized steel for 50% off.
Hey, who dosen't want a new anchor for Christmas?
 
Thanks for the heads up... Have been looking at these but couldn't quite convince myself to buy.... sounds like now is the time.

Happy holidays
 
They look great and are certainly cheaply priced.

Anchors, to me are an essential piece of safety gear. For instance, this summer we spent a night in a small anchorage with winds up to 28 knts. The Bruce we had held untill morn, when we got the H--L out. We certainly didn't plan it that way, and we read the forecasts, but stuff happens, and the Bruce kept us safe. I've also had good results with Danforth and CQR. All well known anchors, with their pros and cons well discussed.

Therefore, I'll stick to a well known brand and type, because I have no experience with SportBubble or HydroBubble anchors, nor have I read/heard of anyone who does. And for the price, you can guess where they're made.

Boris
 
I'll be the first to admit I don't have a lot of experience with anchors (I have a 22 lb delta on my CD25 but have only used it a few times), however as an engineer I would be cautious of the hydrobubble. I viewed the website and to me the attached float is a liability. The floation required to right an anchor lying on it side might be 1/3 to 1/2 the amount required (wild guess) to float the whole thing off the bottom. Effectively you end up with is a pretty light anchor. Maybe ok in ideal bottom conditions, but what about the non-ideal. I would think dragging a standard anchor until it rights itself is preferable. Stick with the tried and true. IMO

Then again I just finished my second glass of wine.
 
One has to be suspicious of the various anchor tests. When I was giving lectures on anchoring, I not only read all of the tests , but talked to many of the testers. Some had "experts" who had dissapeared. Some were definately biased.

If you read all of the anchor tests, you will note that in one test or another, almost every anchor is "the best"--some which were "superior" in one test don't even set in other tests. Looking at the surface, many of the tests appear to be objective, but come up with different results.

Once an anchor has been drug thru a sea bed, the bed is not the same for holding properties. The holding properties can vary from place to place in a test area, even if the surface looks homogenious on the surface.
There are multiple variables in testing.

I also have been a bit leary of the "Hyrdobubble", but have never used it, so I can not testify as to its usefulness. Some of the tests show it does very well.
The real test of anchors is how they do in hurricanes, not in every day anchoring. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of hurricanes in our part of the Gulf coast, and I learned even more than I wanted to know about certain anchor types.

My general experience is that plows are not perticularly good in mud--the Danforth and Fortress types are very good, as is the Super Max. The bubble is to keep the anchor up right--other plows (Rocna, Bugel,& Manson Supreme) use a curved bar over the crown to do the same thing. The bubble would seem to keep the anchor from penetrating, and in many bottoms, the anchor holds the best, if it gets down thru the superficial layer, into deeper and denser layers. (There are those who advocate using cable instead of chain, to get deeper anchor penetration and less "resistance" to burying of the chain, vs those who feel that the friction of the chain helps to hold the boat, and allows the anchor to bury deeper. (For example one Bayou which is a hurricane hole, has mud on the surface, which is very poor holding--in fact a plow will just hot hold in any heavy wind. Next there is a variable layer of sand, and finally clay. If an anchor gets into the clay, it is very difficult to get out. I had to pull a 70 lb fisherman which had held a 55 footer during a Cat 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of 120 mph. This anchor was burried deeply into the clay layer, and it took several hours to work it out--using winches which developed over 3000 lbs of pull, and the boat's engine, working the chain angle back and forth.

Just be sure that an anchor you buy is appropiate for your perticular anchoring bottoms and conditions. Always buy an anchor which will be adequate in a storm. There are some folks who have had great results with this anchor, and others who have not--it probably relates to both bottom and technique.
 
Dogon dory,

Why would you use a cable in place of chain? My understanding is that the chain gives weight to the rode so that the anchor will set. Also the inertia/weight/mass of the chain serves as a damper when the waves hit the boat and jerk the anchor line. Is there something that the cable would do better?

Boris
 
Borris,
I'll give my take on the cable--and it is mixed. There is good evidence it buries faster than chain. It also provides some cantry. I have seen a number of commercial boats which have the anchor (Often a Northill pattern), heavy chain of a few feet--as Dan says to give more weight, plus some flexability and chafe protection by the anchor) and then the cable on a reel winch. A reel winch is not perticularly practical in most of the c Dories, but there are several electric models (many are hyraulic) which would fit on the C Dory deck. There was a discussion about this some time back.

My observation is that chain becomes bar tight--at a certain load--and there is no cantry to give shock absorption. A snubber can be attatched to the chain. The cable is difficult to attatch a snubber to.

The cable will resist abrasion better than nylon rode.

I am sure that Dan will give you some good answers also--and he may mean a relitatively short piece of cable, which will bury quite rapidly. I personally would like my weight in the anchor. I used to have a rule, that a CQR anchor had to be 35 lbs to penetrate the sea bed--of course this depends on the surface and holding. With the Delta Quick set (which I prefer to the CQR--or any knock off)-the weight does not seem as critical, and the 14 and 22 lb anchors seem to set well.
 
Nothing like an anchor thread to stir things up. Anyone that has spent time on the SSCA site can attest to this.
http://www.ssca.org/
The first genertion Hydro anchor, the HydroDyne was a failure in Practical Sailor's test. The fact that the Bubble anchor has done well in several unrelated tests counts for something.
Some question the float's resistance to burying, I doubt if it has any more frontal area than the rollbar on the Rocna anchor. Heck, even the palms on a Danforth present some resistance.
One version of the bubble, the Captian's Choice, is ballasted. It would be a simple matter to add a little weight if a fella wanted to.
The HB's are made in USA, not China like so many new anchors.
As mentioned, you match the anchor to the bottom. I currently have Danforth and Bruce clones aboard, neither has much chance in grass or weed.
 
Well I am a happy camper because thanks to this group giving me a heads-up, I am waiting for my 26# stainless steel plow anchor to be delivered to me - free delivery and tax free. Total cost was $227. The anchor is rated by the sellers as adequate for a 37'. It is not a Hydro-bubble, it's a Sealock. Maybe or should I say, it is made in china, but being over-sized and made of stainless it should do the job. Heck, if it does not, it will look great as a conversation piece laying on the floor of my apt. as a foot stool.
 
I came on the web site of the reel winch for "small boats":
http://www.ezanchorpuller.com/
I had relayed this to one of the C brats, and don't know if he purchased one or not.

The origional CQR is a drop forged anchor and is very strong. The worry about Chinese knock plow offs is the welds, where the CQR is drop forged at the "hinge". I have heard of failures at this point, but a close friend has a Taiwan plow, which he has used for almost 30 years and 3 circumnavigations (75 lb anchor) and even with several hurricanes, it has done very well, plus still is bright! So I suspect that you wont' be getting that door stop and the anchor will stay on the boat.
 
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