Ground tackle?

[mikeandrebecca]

I know anchors and anchoring are a hot topic amongst boat owners but my wife and I are new PDQ 32 owners and would love to hear some input. We just watched a couple of boats drag through a crowded anchorage. Fortunately ours held fine, this time. What do some of the PDQ 32 owners use? Anchors? Rode? Chain or line? Windlass? Bridles? I have searched the forum for info on this but couldn't find any definitive suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike and Rebecca

[duetto]

hi mike,

search around this site more. there have been lots of discussions on anchors, bridles, etc.

good luck.

[thinwater]

Cats don't sit still otherwise (they will sail around and jerk the anchor out), and you do not want the anchor load on the windlass.

Getting an anchor to bite and not drag is not cat-specific. It takes practice, and there is much to read on the net and in books. Much depends on local conditions. There is some info on my blog at (http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/searc ... 0Revisions). Look part-way down the page in the midst of "guide revisions" under the heading "safety." Also a chain plate is pictured, which is handy, but not required. (http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2009/ ... arans.html)

Cats do have more windage, and so a 32' cat is like a 36' mono. Also cats are more weight sensitive and so often limit chain to 30'.

[eepstein]

For what its worth, I always swore by the Delta. Then I got a lightweight spade and really love it. I also used a bruce/claw as a second anchor and it has always dragged in Chesapeake Bay mud (and everything except sand). The spades are expensive, but my experience has been very good.

[mikeandrebecca]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am not at all lazy when it comes to research and I did do as the initial reply suggested and search the forum. As we are new to PDQs and boating in general I was hoping that some PDQ (32) owners might be able to share what works for them.

We, and the PO, are using a 10kg bruce with only about 20-25 feet of chain and the rest line. Our intention, after we gain some more experience and tidy up some business issues, is to head south for the caribbean next summer. I know we will want to upgrade our ground tackle before then!

Let me ask a specific question. Windlass... yes or no. Necessity? Luxury? Manual or electric? If electric how do you deal with the power consumption on a PDQ 32? We have no problem whatsoever getting our current anchor and rode aboard now. If we upgrade to some more chain and a bigger/better anchor (Rocna?) will that still be the case?

Please share your hard-earned wisdom with us newbies:)

Thanks in advance!

Mike and Rebecca

[Sunshine]

Mike and Rebecca - Our exerience (on monohulls) suggests that an all chain rode is best, but, being concerned about weight (on SUNSHINE), we decided on 40' of chain and 250 feet of line with a 33 lb. claw anchor. When anchoring in water over 10', we use a 28lb. kellet and drop it down just enough to keep the rode below the keel. Our goal is to keep the rode from wrapping around a keel. We found this to be particularly important in areas of strong currents and especially when the and current are opposite.

Hope this helps,
Bill and Anna Marie

[duetto]

mike & rebecca,

we have a pdq 34 powercat. we've spent 5 winters in abacos and moving boat between ct-fl-bahamas. we anchor out about 50% of the time. we have a 45# spade, 40' chain, and the rest is 3 strand nylon. imho anchoring in icw is not a problem. it's all mud and sand. we've never had a problem. use common sense scope and back the anchor in. abacos don't have a lot of coral but they do have grass of sand. trick there is to get anchor thru the grass. back down hard. look for white sand spots.

we never had a windlass before this boat and we would never go w/o. my advice is add the windlass and figure out how to manage the electricity, which you're going to have to do anyway.

as i mentioned we have a spade and never had a problem, but based on recent reviews if i were buying today, i would try a rocna or manson.

[mikeandrebecca]

Thanks very much everyone!

I don't know what the energy drain on the batteries are for an electric windlass but having one does seem to be common. Is a manual windlass at all worth consideration?

The Rocna is the anchor we are looking at now. It seems to come highly recommended by just about everyone. Our dock neighbors just left for the bahamas and they put a Rocna on their monohull before they left.

[thinwater]

Since the windlass is not used to pull the boat to the anchor - only to handle the chain and, perhaps break the anchor out, and to lift it, the windlass uses no more power than the salon light would over an hour. No big deal. Use either the engines or waves (remove slack, wait, repeat) to pull the boat up to the anchor.

You did not mention a secondary anchor for when tides shift and thunderstorms.

[mat0jab]

Anything but a CQR..... We used to always have problems till I replace our CQR with a Delta Fast Set... I love it, it has not let me down yet. If I can, I triy to dive on my ancor to see how it is set. The CQR was ALWAYS laying on its side, even after backing down on it, wher the Delta is usually buried.

Mark
Whistler II
PDQ 32

[mikeandrebecca]

That's funny Mark. We are at anchor right now. Earlier today we decided to take a look at our boat's other anchor, which came with the boat when we purchased it. It is a 35 lb. CQR.

[mat0jab]

I'm sure that is prob what they came from PDQ with. I had one on my 25' seward and I had the same prob. I'm sure there is a "nack" to setting the CQR but I just never got the hang of it. I do keep the CQR on board, on the port side as a back up.



Mark

[mat0jab]

Mike,

I bet your swinging on that Bruce.... right ?

Mark

[mat0jab]

Mike,

I bet your swinging on that Bruce.... right ?

Mark

[mikeandrebecca]

We made it back to the marina, without dragging:)

As for swinging, yes, I guess so, as the wind clocked. I wouldn't say we were swinging any more or less than the monohulls in the anchorage though.