Photos of Anchors Setting

[noelex 77]

A powerboat entered our bay about an hour ago. They zoomed through the anchorage at about 25 knots, obviously keen to make an impression on the topless girls on the beach.

They briefly stopped, dropped a stainless steel claw and proceeded to back also at breakneck speed. This anchorage is quite rocky and the anchor must have jammed between some rocks. There was an almighty bang.

The anchor looked more than a little a worse for wear with the shank and one fluke twisted. I suspect the windlass was not very happy either.

5 mins after arriving they were gone.

Some bent anchors are operator error.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

Some bent anchors are operator error.

And some are divine retribution !!

Honestly morons like that deserve it; fancy tearing through an anchorage at 25kts, kicking up a massive wake and disturbing the peace with the roar of their engines. My guess is the vessel was owned by a merchant banker, bought with his massive bonus and without any idea how to actually use it.

Still it made me chuckle when I saw the pic of the aftermath

Keiron

[Opie91]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

A powerboat entered our bay about an hour ago. They zoomed through the anchorage at about 25 knots, obviously keen to make an impression on the topless girls on the beach.

Did he leave with any of the girls?

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Opie91

Did he leave with any of the girls?

I don't think they were impressed with his staying power.

[noelex 77]

Still at the same anchorage, here is a Kobra.

It was dropped by a charter boat. The wind was blowing 20+ knots and the boat came to a nice abrupt stop as the chain clutch was tightened. It was set at a short scope of 3:1 in 7m of water.

Diving showed what had happened. The toe had snagged on a rock, just underneath the sand.
This set is not the Kobra's fault. No anchor can penetrate rock.

However, there is an important message in this photo. This was set with quite a lot of force and was holding the boat without dragging. It does not take much imagination to see the wind changing slightly and the toe disengaging from the rock. With a totally unset anchor in rocky ground the resultant drag would likely have been quite rapid.

There is little defence against this sort of situation apart from snorkelling to view your anchor. An anchor set like this could hold full reverse forever without ever giving an indication that the set was very poor.

Note this the same anchorage that my Mantus is shown is lovely soft sand. In fact, the anchors were only a few boat lengths away.

Use the best anchor you can get with the best technique, but don't think anchoring is ever foolproof. Please set an anchor alarm.

[monte]

Originally Posted by kas_1611

And some are divine retribution !!



:



Keiron

wanchors...

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

A powerboat entered our bay about an hour ago. They zoomed through the anchorage at about 25 knots, obviously keen to make an impression on the topless girls on the beach.

They briefly stopped, dropped a stainless steel claw and proceeded to back also at breakneck speed. This anchorage is quite rocky and the anchor must have jammed between some rocks. There was an almighty bang.

The anchor looked more than a little a worse for wear with the shank and one fluke twisted. I suspect the windlass was not very happy either.

5 mins after arriving they were gone.

Some bent anchors are operator error.

Nice story, good photos, extremely happy ending

But.... why the pics of the girls on the beach are missing???

[Opie91]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I don't think they were impressed with his staying power.

LOL.....:-)

Thanks for the great thread! Way better than reading a book!

[Sail IC]

Fantastic thread. Just gone through all 47 pages.

I'm new to cruising so I need to improve my anchoring skills. Getting a better understanding what is happening down there, showing all the photos, has really educated me in theory. I now feel much better equipped to build hands on experience.

I now need to upgrade my anchor. Boat came with a 16Kg delta, clearly undersized for a 44 foot catamaran. Main challenge is that the gennaker foundation prevents any roll-bar anchor. Was thinking bigger Delta but not so sure now. Keeping an eye on the wallet, the Spade seems to be the only new-gen alternative available in Europe. Looking at it positive, life is sometimes easier with not too many options.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Sail IC

the Spade seems to be the only new-gen alternative available in Europe. .

Sarca (Excel) should ship there no problem. And Mantus apparently work okay without the roll bar so that be an option as well, but maybe talk to greg at MAntus - see what he thinks?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The anchor looked more than a little a worse for wear with the shank and one fluke twisted. I suspect the windlass was not very happy either.

5 mins after arriving they were gone.

Some bent anchors are operator error.

What was interesting was that the swivel seemed to have survived, I wondered if it might have let go first, but from your photo it looks okay? But it might have looked different in reality? did you notice it at all? I would wonder how reliable it might be in the future?

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by Factor

What was interesting was that the swivel seemed to have survived, I wondered if it might have let go first, but from your photo it looks okay? But it might have looked different in reality? did you notice it at all? I would wonder how reliable it might be in the future?

Given the damage to the anchor itself I would be getting the whole system checked and replaced from the bitter end through the windlass to the anchor itself and getting the mountings inspected for damage.

To bend an anchor shaft that size that much you have got to be putting a huge load through the entire system and only a fool would risk using any part of it again without inspection.

Mind you the way they came in and dropped suggests "fools"

Keiron

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by Sail IC

Keeping an eye on the wallet, the Spade seems to be the only new-gen alternative available in Europe.

Really?

If you were in the UK, for example:

* several chandleries (eg Jimmy Green) stock Rocna anchors.

* a phone call will get you a Knox Anchor. See Contact & ordering - Knox Anchors - The top performing New Generation Anchor for safe and secure anchoring

And a fat wallet should find an Ultra anchor (but they are best displayed on the bow in pairs). See Golden Arrow Marine ~ Ultra Marine

Al

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Really?

If you were in the UK, for example:

* several chandleries (eg Jimmy Green) stock Rocna anchors.

* a phone call will get you a Knox Anchor. See Contact & ordering - Knox Anchors - The top performing New Generation Anchor for safe and secure anchoring

And a fat wallet should find an Ultra anchor (but they are best displayed on the bow in pairs). See Golden Arrow Marine ~ Ultra Marine

Al

He said no roll bar. That leaves Manson Boss, Spade, Ultra, Sarca Excel. Anchors are really expensive to ship anywhere yourself, so the Boss and Excel are only possible if they happen to be carried by a European distributor. Ultra is very expensive. Easy choice seems to be the Spade. It's supposed to be a great anchor and will do much better than a Delta.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Factor

What was interesting was that the swivel seemed to have survived, I wondered if it might have let go first, but from your photo it looks okay? But it might have looked different in reality? did you notice it at all? I would wonder how reliable it might be in the future?

The bang was very loud. They came to an abrupt stop. I would not be surprised if the chain, windlass, bow roller and swivel were damaged, but it was too far away to tell.