Stern anchor question.

Not sure he is going to face much current anchoring in coves.
A stern anchor can be useful for staying "in place" if in a tight anchorage and facing light winds.
This is what I would recommend for a stern anchor:
A Danforth 12 lbs High Tensile.
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|2276108|2276109|2276111&id=137700

Got some real life experience with that anchor, highly recommend and best bang for the lbs.
30 feet 1/4" G4 chain spliced to 100' 1/2' three strand nylon should complete your stern anchor package and makes for a good secondary bow anchor setup.

Bahamian mooring isn't going to work in your case as you want to keep the stern facing the beach. It is really for when you are in a narrow cut with the current running back forth and the creek/cut is to narrow for th boat to swing when the current reverse.

In your case the best option would be a Fortress with line only. The fortress is a da forth made of aluminum and has the best holding in sand. You don't need chain since you ll set it up manually. All line and alum anchor is ideal for small boat stern anchors as the wheel package is very light.

A word of caution,,, be careful running a gas generator when using a stern anchor as CO can accumulate in the cockpit or cabin (don't recsll if yours is gas or diesel)

This would be my preferred setup but I'd like more rope behind the chain 150'-200'. I'm not a fan of the floating Fortress anchors (so light because they're aluminum that in current they'll usually float and not hit bottom unless you have a lot of chain behind them.)

And to setup a stern anchor, first set the bow anchor with the proper scope, then back up on it and let out that additional 150', then drop the stern anchor, then bring the boat foward on the windlass back to where you want to be.

The Fortress are ok as a stern anchor if you go with one larger than recommended and have chain behind them . I bought one for a 64' Hatteras because the box they come in is rather small and easier to store than a traditional anchor and knew it would never get used. BUT, I am not a fan of them either and think a traditional danforth that looks the same but is steel has better holding power. I've warrantied out several because of bent flukes as well.

Aye, never boated in California, yeah more chain and more line for sure.
Had a similar stern-anchor setup on my 33' sailboat, 50' of chain and 100' line.
It saved the day once I was motoring out of Lake Sylvia (Fort Lauderdale) and
got a moving blanket wrapped around the prop: At first heavy vibration, then the RPM slowed down, no idea what had happened. Put it in neutral and back in gear for second, no change. Tried reverse and asked wife to look for a trailing rope, nothing.
Stopped engine and rolled out stays'l to keep steering speed.
Wind from the East and behind us.
Slowly sailed towards Bahimar Marina and spotted a piece of empty dock space between 2 mega yachts. Aimed for the slot, rolled in sail and slowly glided in between the 2 yachts. Asked wifey to deploy the stern anchor as we passed the bow of the first yacht. The little 12 HT Danforth set immediately and we passed out chain while slowly putting tension on it and docked perfectly between the boats.
Got a couple of dock lines ashore and faced the Dock Master running down the pier yelling at us to leave as he had an incoming boat for that slip.
Told him we had a problem and would leaves as soon as we could.
Dove in with a knife, cut the blanket of the prop and disposed it in a garbage can. Started the Perkins, checked the transmission for damage and was out of there within 15 minutes and continued to the Bahamas.
Thanks a lot to the little stern anchor, it saved the day.
Highly recommended.

If in a busy anchorage, you only want to deploy bow and stern if the other boats around you have done so as well. Otherwise you risk them swinging in to you.

Yup, be careful with stern anchoring, it could bite you.

I think the old Danforths hook better than a plow myself. The only disadvantage Danforths have is they tend to get stuck in rocks and very difficult to unhook once in a blue moon. I find the plows tend to reset a lot, especially if you swing around a bit. I don't think the shiny ones hook as well as the galvanized, as the galvanized finish seems to have more friction (just a personal opinion).