Oversized Anchor for Long Term Anchoring

[donradcliffe]

Town Creek is a challenge for any anchor--reversing current and poor holding. Leaving your boat there in a hurricane would be kissing it goodbye.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by judgesmail

Hey y'all!

I have a 1984 28' Oday. I currently have her in a slip in New Bern, NC but I'm considering moving her to Town Creek in Beaufort, NC and keeping her anchored in the basin there. Anchored sailboats in the basin have been seen, more than a few times, pushed ashore into the rocks after a stiff breeze.

Isabelle displaces about, call it 8000lbs. Bottom in the basin is more sand and less mud. I have a bruce style 16.5lb anchor currently and a danforth secondary.

Welcome any advice some of you salts can offer in terms of how much anchor/chain rode I should get to safely keep Isabelle in the basin full time (while I'm not sailing her, of course).

I would really rather not drop two anchors, either in line, Bahamian, or otherwise - I'd rather drop a big hook once. I don't have a windless.

Thanks very much in advance!


"It's easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you have the stock market beat."

Sounds as if you may want a mooring not just an anchor if allowed. A big anchor chain and a ball if it is going to be long term.

[Ken Z]

I would increase you anchor size and at leasr 20' of chain.

[hpeer]

But also look at your attachment points. You could put out a 100lb anchor and of the cleats rip out it did you no good.

[buzzstar]

As stated by Cadence, it me it sounds like you want a mooring, not so much an anchor, but you cannot leave it in place. I think of a mooring as permanently (within limits) installed in a place to which one returns and to which someone, perhaps you, has some form of ownership rights. To me anchor is taken with you when you leave, must be reset upon return, and the location may have been allowably usurped by others in your absence. I guess you problem is the best compromise between the need to remove the device (an anchor) each time you leave, and the concern for holding under severe conditions. I have no clue as the the local "laws, regulations, and rules" but could you install an anchor too heavy to lift each time, but attach a cheapo dink so it is occupied until your return and you replace the dink with the O'Day?

[zeehag]

it is completely probable and more likely to anchor long term in an area such as zihuatenejo or la cruz-- but one definitely requires an anchor that works, setting skillz that are not basic, and lots of chain.
no one dragged anchor the 5 months i was in zihuat.
many dragged anchor in la cruz and lost boats due to ,mixed rode and poor skillzzz.
some dragged in the sweet lagoon of barra-- due to skillset fails.
in my sailing --1955-current day-- my own tackle has drug only 1 time.
i did sail with a fella who had only 30 ft 3/8 chain-- we drug many times. 30 ft is too short.
there is call for long term anchoring without the conversion to mooring.
my 30 kg bruce was not a deliberate find-i wanted a 45 pound one(20 or 22 kg) but this one popped up at me and i accepted it.
is not a fail to have huge anchor. is fail to have too small anchor.
but then that is why gods made kellets.

[hamburking]

You currently have a 7.5kg bruce. Thats a bit small for your boat. I used one of those as the primary on my little C&C25.

I would suggest you replace it with a 10kg bruce for everyday usage...and don't forget a few feet of heavy chain.

For long term use, as you asked, a 15kg bruce should work for anything less than a gale. Again, you need some heavy chain on it too. And you will still be able to handle this anchor by hand, with no windlass.

However, leaving any boat totally unattended is a risk, especially at anchor. If possible, get a local to keep an eye on it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

On a smaller boat, say 10m & under, you can use a mast mounted winch, or cockpit winch to reel in all but the chain portion of the rode. And you can use them for chain in a pinch, by making up a pair of lines the length of the boat, with chain hooks on the end. Using them on alternating sides along with your primary winches, to hoist the chain & anchor. So a moderately overweight anchor needn't be an issue on such boats, nor does it make a windlass mandatory. Though they're sure nice to have.

BTW, used Bruce's, CQR's, etc. & used chain are cheap. Even oversized gear. Should you desire to build a semi-permanent mooring. Such as of the Bahamian style, or similar.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

As stated by Cadence, it me it sounds like you want a mooring, not so much an anchor, but you cannot leave it in place. I think of a mooring as permanently (within limits) installed in a place to which one returns and to which someone, perhaps you, has some form of ownership rights. To me anchor is taken with you when you leave, must be reset upon return, and the location may have been allowably usurped by others in your absence. I guess you problem is the best compromise between the need to remove the device (an anchor) each time you leave, and the concern for holding under severe conditions. I have no clue as the the local "laws, regulations, and rules" but could you install an anchor too heavy to lift each time, but attach a cheapo dink so it is occupied until your return and you replace the dink with the O'Day?

I grew up with my parents having a mooring. The boats name was painted on the buoy. I can only recall one time we found someone on it after we came back from a two week vacation. They were onboard so no big problem. They were on vacation, I think we let them tie aft of us and come aboard for a drink.

[bruc]

I may have to dodge a left hook, but here's an option to hold the queen Mary still. Go to junk yard and get three V-8's. Clean well and sink them about ten feet apart in chosen anchorage, then chain together. In about a year they will be completely submerged on their way to China. Drag in a storm? Doubtful. I have seen this done more than once, and guessing it might be against the rules in most locales. Maybe do it at night from the dinghy while "fly fishing."

[Scotty Kiwi]

Has anyone tried the following? I did, not not for a large boat, just for the tender.

If the bottom is not ecologically important, make your own mooring out of concrete and a tyre, roll it over the side at the appropriate spot. And leave it there. In any anchorage, in time some diver will probably find it and re-use it.

Ingredients: Suitable size second hand tire ($ free), amount of redi-mix concrete 60lb bags, an old sheet of ply greater then the diameter of the tyre, 2 bits galvanised steel = length internal diameter of the tyre + 1/2 inch, a very short piece of very heavy chain (eg a foot), a swivel, your mooring chain, (retrievable), bouy and retrieval line.

Jam the galv steel and heavy chain inside the tyre, put it on the ply, pour the concrete, when its set, bolt on your swivel and lighter mooring chain. You can double up the chain for retrieval of the chain only at a later date.

This allows you to have almost as much weight as you can roll in a tyre. Use a halyard to get the tyre vertical in order to roll it if you need.

If you don't know any diver's, then it's cost you a good swivel at the end of the season. ($ 100? )

Don't do this in a national park or marine park. Sandy harbour would be ok here in NZ though. If anyone asks its just a home made heavy anchor that got stuck.

Any objections?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by bruc

I may have to dodge a left hook, but here's an option to hold the queen Mary still. Go to junk yard and get three V-8's. Clean well and sink them about ten feet apart in chosen anchorage, then chain together. In about a year they will be completely submerged on their way to China. Drag in a storm? Doubtful. I have seen this done more than once, and guessing it might be against the rules in most locales. Maybe do it at night from the dinghy while "fly fishing."

My 32 Fisher has a pair of railway carriage wheels, 4 metre's of heavy ships anchor chain, 2 metre's of heavy anchor chain (10 mm if I remember correctly), a swivel and then a 28 mm rope riser. works very well, the wheels sink into the mud and hold in all weather.

[hobopacket]

Be a bit different in salt. But to moor a dock in a fresh water lake in Durham. We took 3 5gallom buckets. Took 3 sections of rebar on each and send them through the chain and the have them stick outside the bucket and filled with concrete. Held great.

[Scotty Kiwi]

Oh ... and when you drop your temporary mooring into the drink, use a light line with a half loop around something slidey on the boat (fair-eye and winch). That, with a careful launch should ensure the mooring lands right side up.

The weight of dry concrete is 2.6 times the weight of water. Estimate the volume of water the tyre could theoretically hold, multiply by 2.6, and there's you mooring weight. A good size fat tyre and it's not hard to get it to 220 pounds, if that's what you need.

[Scotty Kiwi]

Originally Posted by bruc

I may have to dodge a left hook, but here's an option to hold the queen Mary still. Go to junk yard and get three V-8's. Clean well and sink them about ten feet apart in chosen anchorage, then chain together. In about a year they will be completely submerged on their way to China. Drag in a storm? Doubtful. I have seen this done more than once, and guessing it might be against the rules in most locales. Maybe do it at night from the dinghy while "fly fishing."

Have seen it done. Dunno how you carry them from the wreckers to the right spot in the harbour though, without truck, and barge, and crane? Heavier expense.