Anchor dragging

[edbulmer]

I am travelling up the ICW and have had my anchor drag on me a few times.
I am on a 44 foot boat with a 60 lb CQR and am letting out 8 to 1 chain and digging in. Should I let out more chain or put out a second smaller anchor which I have or both?

[Cheechako]

8:1 should be more than fine. CQR's can be a bit finicky.... not sure about your bottom conditions... Best to let it settle down for a few minutes and let the wind pull on it gradually. then slowly back down to check it well. When I went to a Delta I had few anchoring problems .... at least getting it dug in initially..

[DrivinSteve]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

8:1 should be more than fine. Best to let it settle down for a few minutes and let the wind pull on it gradually. ..

Patience is your friend.

[Pete the Cat]

I have rarely had a problem with my 35 CQR in 22 years of cruising. Most of the time when I do it is due to two problems: hard pan bottom (like in Key West--where no anchor seems to work well--I have been damaged there when other boats break loose--hate the general anchorage there), or I have dumped the chain out too fast on top of the anchor instead of backing down slowly and straight and letting the anchor start the set before backing down hard. But the ICW is mostly sand and mud so I do not think it is the bottom if you are consistently having a problem. Sure you are laying your chain out straight, letting the anchor start to set, and then gradually backing down hard? I have watched a lot of folks dump the whole business at once then madly power full reverse and wonder why they have to reset multiple times--and done it a few times myself when I have been too much in a hurry. They sell a lot of very expensive, new fangled anchors when the problem is us.

[RabidRabbit]

I guess my response is different from the other replys. I dont think the CQR is good in mud or sand at all, I dont think its your lack of skill setting it, its the icw's mud bottom. I switched to a bruce for mud and have never been happier. I hate to make a stereo typed answer but you see tons of CQR anchors on older boats and the owner always defend them to the end as great anchors, then blame the skill of the setter. Lots of people seem to write off new high tech anchors like some shady snake oil. People dont wanna spend $800 bucks, so they talk smack about new fangled anchors. Its like saying the ford Pinto is every bit as good and better than a 2005 civic. Totally Out Of Touch with Reality.
I'm gonna get a manson this summer cause I'm totally sold on it.
On board right now:
55 delta
44 bruce
25 cqr
25 danforth
15 danforth -dink
10 danforth -dink
9 bruce -dink
200' 3/8 chain, maxwell vertical
my manson or rocna will be 65-70ish

[maxingout]

My CQR anchor always plowed in mud when the wind came up. And if the sandy bottom was hard, it did not penetrate the sandy bottom well. Even when I had a 60 pound CQR and 200 feet of 3/8 high test chain, I still had problem with the CQR when I was sailing around the world. That's why I went to a seventy pound Beugel.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

I switched to a bruce for mud and have never been happier. ..

My Bruce-copies haven't failed me (yet.) They have kept holding in the San Francisco estuarian mud despite numerous 180-degree tidal-current changes.

[ShaunJ]

I am happy with my fortress in mud. I have spent many of nights in Chesapeake mud with no problems. I know they say a Danforth has problems resetting with a tidal shift but I must be lucky....

[virginia boy]

The first day in the water after having purchased my boat, I threw my CQR overboard into the Okeechobee waterway. It's about 100 yards west of Indiantown if anyone wants it. My Rocna was amazing but I've recently traded it in for a larger Manson.

[markpierce]

What happened? Did you forget to attach the rode between anchor and boat? Or were you just disgusted with your CQR? They aren't cheap throwaways, are they?

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

I guess my response is different from the other replys. I dont think the CQR is good in mud or sand at all, I dont think its your lack of skill setting it, its the icw's mud bottom. I switched to a bruce for mud and have never been happier. I hate to make a stereo typed answer but you see tons of CQR anchors on older boats and the owner always defend them to the end as great anchors, then blame the skill of the setter. Lots of people seem to write off new high tech anchors like some shady snake oil. People dont wanna spend $800 bucks, so they talk smack about new fangled anchors. Its like saying the ford Pinto is every bit as good and better than a 2005 civic. Totally Out Of Touch with Reality.
I'm gonna get a manson this summer cause I'm totally sold on it.
On board right now:
55 delta
44 bruce
25 cqr
25 danforth
15 danforth -dink
10 danforth -dink
9 bruce -dink
200' 3/8 chain, maxwell vertical
my manson or rocna will be 65-70ish

That seems to be a bit of overkill in the anchor department the 55 Delta is recomended for a 50-60 foot boat or about 5 times the size of yours. And where do you keep them all. I have a 44 delta on the bow a 44 bruce in the bilge and a 25 Danforth on the rear rail. Oh and a 7lb dingy danforth.

[RabidRabbit]

It might be a bit overkill, but I wont be happy till I get the manson or some sort of spade in 65lbs. Is too many anchors and rodes really that bad a thing? The cqr is getting left home soon and the 2 smaller danforths were found on the bottom this trip. I do wish I had bought 300' of 3/8 rather than the 200 I got. Then I wouldnt ever need to handle it. Right now I can add a rode if needed

[Dockhead]

I spent almost 10 years dragging a CQR all over SW Florida. Scope and technique didnt seem to make much difference. I would upgrade that anchor, first of all.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I spent almost 10 years dragging a CQR all over SW Florida. Scope and technique didn't seem to make much difference. I would upgrade that anchor, first of all.

Based upon the polar opposites of opinions about the performance of the CQR anchor--from those that swear they never work (Dockhead?) to those that have had no/little difficulty and swear by (rather than at) them, I am wondering whether there might be differences in individual anchors themselves that explain the different performance (or lack thereof).

We have a genuine CQR of 45# and have had no difficulties with it holding here in southwest Florida. While it betrays my age, I remember meeting Susan and Eric Hiscock in Sausalito, Ca. in 1969-'70 while they were on their trip around the world aboard Wanderer IV. Eric had a 65# CQR aboard that he had decided was "defective" because of its poor performance compared with the same type anchor aboard his previous yachts. He was determined to replace it--with another CQR--but wouldn't do so in California because of the "outrageous prices" of equipment in the US. I understand that he did actually replace the anchor with another, 75#, CQR in New Zealand after which he had "..no further difficulties...".

Is it likely that two, essentially identical, anchors of the same weight might perform entirely differently? I don't know but that might account for the bi-polar range of opinions on the equipment. I also notice that while they may look the same superficially, there does seem to be a real difference between the genuine CQR's and their imitators, especially so in fluke size. Perhaps that accounts for the differences?

For my part I have been happy with our CQR but, never-the-less do plan to replace it with a Rocna style anchor before we leave for the Bahamas--based upon the strength of suggestions from some friends of ours on a sister-ship to ours that have sailed from our marina as far as Saint Kitts over the last 18 months. Interestingly, though, they report that if one does not use the proper technique, even that anchor will not take a bite; and, is prone to becoming "clogged" with debris because of the concave fluke-plate and when so drags as well.

FWIW...

[sailorboy1]

[QUOTE=RabidRabbit;925942I'm gonna get a manson this summer cause I'm totally sold on it.
On board right now:
55 delta
44 bruce
25 cqr
25 danforth
15 danforth -dink
10 danforth -dink
9 bruce -dink
200' 3/8 chain, maxwell vertical
my manson or rocna will be 65-70ish[/QUOTE]

Wow! All this on a 32' boat.