Anchoring

Yeah, anchoring is always a bit topic.

I don't think there are bad anchors out there but some work better than others in some bottom

I anchor a lot... Last month on a run down the US East coast I anchored abot 27 nights out of 30, with a 20' beam enclosed skylounge 70 footer. I have a 110lbs claw / bruce and all chain. Every night the anchor set on first attempt, held in winds up to 40kts+ and reset / held fine in tidal anchrages where current flipped every 6 hrs

Mostly mud on that trip although I ve use the anchor in sand as well and it does well. I do use a lot of scope though which is key. Using all chain helps too as the friction on the bottom helps a lot when dealing with current (drag on the bottom whnencurrent switches helps not yanking it off the bouton)

I really like that Bruce!

On my own boat (53 hatt my) i have an fx55 which my hold better but doesn't reset on a shift It s soon going to be replaced by Bruce

As to the delta, I ve had issues in soft mud where it would hold in the very same spots the Bruce or FX held very well

twice teh depth plus boat length? wow... i'd never go that short!

i like to know that my boat is not going to move once i set the hook, with average conditions i usually go 6 or 7:1 (depth + bow height + tide if applicable). as capt J asked, it depends on how deep the water is where you typically anchor, on the US east coast in most places it's 10 to 30' on average. obviously when anchoring in deeper water, you will not be able to use that much scope...

again, i've used that anchor for the past 3 years, from Cape Cod to Georgetown in the Exumas and it's worked very well for me. I ran out of holding power jsut 3 times, each time when a squall passed by and wind exceeded 40kts. but even then, it was a very slow, manageable drag with the boat falling back about 50' over a half hour period. 40kts+ is storm anchor territory so i can't really blame the anchor for running out of holding power.

on a 53, the 110 pounder would be a great anchor although a little on the heavier side but on a heavy hatt, 30 lbs doens't make a difference.

the other thing i like about the bruce is the price... about $350 for a 110lbs anchor is a bargain. frankly when i tried it 3 years ago, i was thinking it was too good to be true and it was going to bend or fail... it didnt'.

now if want fancy, I have beautiful Stainless Steel Danforth, 60lbs, i'm trying to sell as it's too small for the 70 footer.

I've seen a lot of clowns not being able t0o anchor over the years, from weekenders to "pros". we've even had charter guests commenting on how nice it was to be on a boat where anchoring isnt' a fire drill or when they were not awaken at 2 am by the mains begind fired up... anchoring is the easiest thing to do, and it's also the easiest thing to mess up! the keys are:

- oversized anchor
- all chain (or at least 300' of chain + line if anchoring in deeper water)
- plenty of scope
- backing down very slowly when paying out scope (if it's windy or the current is strong, I actually slow the boat down with the mains). i try not to fall back faster than 3 quarter of a knot when setting.


on your 53, the best speed for range and economy is going to be about 9kts. In my MY, which is the same hull as the SF, i burn about 9 to 10gph with the 8V71N, so i'd guess with the 12s, you'll be around 11to 12 GPH at that speed.

what you really want to avoid is running between 10 and 15kts... you'ld be burning almost the same as you would if fully on plane but going a lot slower and loading up the engines pushign a big wave. the boat i run has electronic engines... at just under 10kts i burn about 18pgh... at 11kts, than goes to around 30 to 35gph... almost twice teh fuel for 10% more speed.

Well in 40' I put 200 to 250' ! If I am in a crowded anchorage i will set with that much scope then shorten it up to 150 or so after the anchor is set