Spare Anchor Stowage

T

tparrent

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I like to have a spare anchor on board, ready to deploy quickly in an emergency (been there, down that).

Where would you stow an anchor and rode on a TomCat?
 
It depends on the anchor. But we use a fortress, and stow in on railings:

332-PM2.jpg


These are made to attach to either a vertical stanchion, or horizontally on a railing.

We keep extra lines cooled, with either velcro or one of the shock cord mounts. It is actually easier in the 25 or 22 C Dory, because the anchor well is an ideal place to store the rode.

You want the rode and anchor attached for emergency deployment. So If you want it aft--where it is readily available, use the railing with a piece of velcro around the same railing adjacent. Usually for an "emergency anchor" you don't need a extra amount of holding power and 3/8" 3 strand will work well.
 
A spare anchor can be important. I have one and occasionally even look at it. However, I have never ever used one in all my years of boating. Maybe I have just been lucky. Or, maybe I have just been really prepared.

Bob's right, it doesn't have to be anything special of fancy. I have mine because someday I'm going to lose all power (3 engines) and somehow have lost my main anchor because I threw 50 feet of chain and 400 feet of rode over the side of the boat on accident. Oops....butter fingers :-) I'd rather not need it and have it, then not have it then need it though!

So to keep off the rocks, I have this last ditch effort that may or may not work before I get into my hobie kayak and paddle away calling my insurance adjuster telling he/she of my incredibly bad fortune and terrible day. I will call the coast guard letting them know my boat sank, since they will want me to relive the trauma of the events at hand.

In some ways, the extra anchor thing is probably like the twins vs single engine argument.....lol....I'm not 100% convinced you need 2 anchors more than I am you need 2 engines. I know....but what if? And the what if is why I have a spare and why I have a boat with twins and a kicker. Call me paranoid I guess.
 
I laughed while reading some of T.R. Bauer's reply. I actually have one additional stern anchor (I think a fortress) and a spare that breaks down and fits in a bag (another fortress perhaps?) kept under neath the V-Berth. That last one is really only there to use as a third beach sand anchor.... I've never really thought about needing an emergency anchor. That's part of the job my bow anchor does. And the stern anchor is just for when I want to deploy two anchors in situations I don't want to move much. I have a bag that the stern anchor stays in, along with it's rode, and is just laying on the cockpit deck next to the gunnel. I've sometimes thrown it in the splash well to keep it out of the way. But I do like the idea of the hanger Bob inserted in his reply above. Colby
 
We carry a spare Manson with 25 ft of chain and 150 ft of line in the storage under the V Berth. Figured that if we were on a cruise in Canada and fouled or otherwise lost an anchor that we could not retrieve that we would at least have enough to complete the trip or continue until we found a replacement set up. It is not fast to remove and deploy as a quick emergency anchor though. There are places to buy a replacement anchor along the way but it may be a few days until one gets there and then checks the available inventory. There is at least one C Brat that has lost an anchor on an Alaska trip and used the backup until a new one could be purchased. Obviously one could carry a lighter weight and shorter set up than we do and still have something that worked. We had the pieces so we just strung them together and stowed them. I have the brackets Bob noted on a sailboat with a Danforth type anchor. The brackets work well for us in that application.
 
We carry the same anchor & rode set up as Phil & also in the same place. We’ve lost 2 anchors in SE Alaska & at that time only carried a lunch hook Dansforth with 5 feet of chain, so had to make a run from Red Bluff Bay to Petersburg to pick up a 22 lb Claw & chain in 2010. In 2007 we lost a anchor near Haines & purchased another there. I like my twin batteries, fuel tanks, anchors & motors, along with multiple chart plotters, radios & other safety devices. What a difference from my previous years in the mountains before boating, where I felt fortunate to have one of anything, besides the most basic on many multiple day trips without even a tent, let alone pack spares. Most of the high remote mountain trips were done alone & especially on horse back, much more hazardous, then any of our water adventures.

Attitude sure can change as time passes.

Jay
 
My boat came with two anchors the original Bruce and the main which is a Manson Supreme. I rigged the Bruce as a spare and most of the time it rides in one of my lockers under the v-berth. I use it mostly as a rear anchor. A couple of times I deployed it in salt water to stop me drifting as much, when I couldn't stern tie, but mostly I use it in fresh water when I beach the boat. When possible I like to stern tie when anchoring as I find that the flat bottomed C-Dory tends to drift more than other deeper hulled boats and this makes me nauseous. On fresh water, I like to go into shore bow first. Then I will deploy my main anchor into the sand or tie off on a tree. Before I get to shore I drop the rear anchor, which has 30 feet of chain and 100 feet of rode. I carry another 100 feet of rode as well. On the rode I have attached a bungee "Anchor Buddy'. Once I have landed on shore I adjust the rear anchor to pull just a foot or two of the shore so that the bow is not touching the sand or rocks. The bungee pulls me back away from shore. I will often then run two lines off the side cleats to shore at a 30 to 45 degree angle and tie these off or use sand anchors I carry several 100' lengths of polypro rope for this or to use as shore ties when anchoring. The system works very well and we have used it in some big storms and waves and with the rear anchor holding us just off shore. You do not need to hear the boat crash into the beach with every wave. When I am using this system, I simply store the anchor in the cockpit and the chain and rode fit into a rode bag that I bought at Bass Pro Shops.
 
A genuine Lewmar robust 14 lb claw anchor will fit in one fishbox (barely) with 100 ft of ½” nylon line on a ski rope winder with 4 fenders and dual engine flush hoses. We use this as our beach stern anchor with 6 feet of ⅜ SS chain since the stern is in thigh deep water at most. This allows fitting more stuff in that fishbox for daily use stuff.
It would be difficult in emergency conditions to cart that anchor and line to the bow.

AVOID anchoring from the stern in most waters….it’s not designed to face waves. Boats have capsized and boaters have drowned when just trying to pull an anchor free from the stern, which went down and filled the cockpit.

It would be difficult in emergency conditions to cart that anchor and line to the bow.

We have used that Fortress railing mount, but there was no good way to stash the rode on the TC255 other than not connected, which I agree with Bob is a poor choice for an emergency.

We decided to put more emphasis on the reliability of the primary windlass/anchor as an option. You REALLY NEED to have your windlass clutch wrench immediately handy so that if the windlass loses 12V power you simply loosen the clutch to allow the anchor to free fall to the bottom without power. Tighten the clutch and use the wrench tool to wind the anchor back up without power. Yours may be buried in the bottom of some toolbox, or not exist.

Now, what else could possibly go wrong with your windlass when you REALLY need it to work, and quickly?

In our experience with the last three trailer boats with Lewmar windlasses over 21 years is:

#1 The TC255 shallow anchor locker does not allow the 12 inch min height Lewmar advises for the chain to pyramid, if you also want over 150 feet of ½” line below that. The solution was using 100 ft of genuine US made Acco HD G43 chain connected to 20 feet of genuine Lewmar chain/ braided to 200 feet of Lewmar ½” line with a chain link. THAT is obviously our ‘weakest link’, but it’s almost never exposed to stress since we seldom use much of the 100 feet of chain. If our chain anchor rode is sawing over the edge of some ancient cement block on the bottom all night, no worries!

#2 We switched to 200 feet of genuine Lewmar 8 plait line with 20 feet of
G43 chain after the chain link. It lays very flat, the
chain/line connection slides right through the gypsy better than anything else, and no problems since.

Bob and others with vastly more cruising experience than us have posted that they never had any problems using non-Lewmar goods with Lewmar windlasses. We are an N of one, not for the last time.

Bob has an impressive tutorial on making a chain/8 plait line splice here:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=21709

We note with humor that the ONE time we needed to anchor in an emergency (engine sputtering and dying at idle), it was in the Pensacola Pass Ship channel, the only area within 500 miles where the water is 63 feet deep (mostly dredged to 10 feet in the ICW) and the tide was rushing out at 7 MPH and our rode was not nearly enough for that at a 7:1 scope.

We once had the anchor shackle pin back out and lost while anchored off the Gulf side of Horn Island. The anchor chain alone on the bottom without the anchor held the Regal 26 in the mild surf for hours until I realized it was gradually coming in to shore. Now I wire tie SS through the pin. UV resistant black zip ties are not enough.

I like the SS 10k Mantus anchor swivel (not yet installed). We like the Manson Supreme 25# SS anchor, which has become our all-conditions go to. It pierces 10 feet of milfoil grass over the Canadian smooth granite Escarpment as well as sand, mud, grass, weeds and pebbles. Get one.

Hope you are cruising Southwest Florida and that your air conditioner is working in this 79 degree sunny weather!

Best,
John
 
You reminded me that I need to get a windlass clutch wrench. I've been through the whole boat and did not come across it. Losing power or having it jam at the worst time is my major concern.

The one time I really had to deploy an anchor in an emergency was in my 32 foot sailboat. I was getting a tow line to another sailboat that was in trouble. He was not a good sailor, couldn't get his engine started and was drifting towards the rocks with his whole family aboard. I tossed him a line and he inexplicably threw it back - right into my prop.

Now we had two boats drifting onto the rocks with no time to hoist sail. I ran to the bow and gave thanks for not having a windlass and let the anchor go. Stopped about 15 feet offshore and then made the most perfect line throw of my life to get a line to the other boat (again) to stop him.

A fellow sailor came out in a dinghy and towed the small boat in. I was stuck with a $400 towing charge from marine patrol for bringing me in.
 
tparrent":dz97nhyc said:
You reminded me that I need to get a windlass clutch wrench. I've been through the whole boat and did not come across it. Losing power or having it jam at the worst time is my major concern.
Click to expand...

You can order the "wrench" from Defender for $19, or perhaps better yet, use a socket ratchet wrench (which is probably already in the tool kit). I believe it is the 1/2" size, although I have both 3/8 and 1/2" ratchet handles. I have one with an extendable handle for more leverage, if needed.
 
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