PDQ OWNERS FORUM

At last year's PDQ conference there was discussion about the size Rocna anchor best for the PDQ 34. Was it a Rocna 20? And where's the best place to purchase one?

we have a rocna 20 on duetto. we got ours at west 10 years ago but thru a friend with a port supply card.

Our Rocna is the 25kg (55 lbs) that the previous owner had. It is heavier than recommended, but once set, I sure sleep well at night.

My recommendation is to call Rocna and ask them. If you look at their recommendation chart, our catamaran seems to fit in between the 15 and the 20.

I called Rocna 3 years ago about this. I described where we live and boat (Pacific Northwest). The Rocna 15 (33 lb.) was recommended and that is what we bought. They said that IF we lived on the EAST coast with more "loose sandy bottoms, they would have recommended the 20. We encounter a lot rocky bottoms and occasionally some deep anchorages, so we also changed the rode to ALL chain -- 325' of 5/16" G4 (with an additional 140' of 5/8' 3 strand nylon line). It works like a charm no matter what bottom -- sand, mud, rocks, mixed. (The larger 20 or 25 just seems huge and excessive to me.) Note we are a charter boat in a fleet of 48 boats... most of which have similar anchor/rode setups.

Hi, Mac,

I did not take your comment as criticism, but I have to mention that the 25kg Rocna is 11 pounds heavier than the 20 kg. Your 325 feet of chain is well over 250 pounds heavier than our 80 feet. A lot depends upon your cruising grounds, of course, as you mentioned.

I don't know about the "best" place to purchase a Rocna 20, but we got ours at a West Marine while driving to our boat, and that was certainly the most CONVENIENT for us. Likely, they may be cheaper elsewhere, but paying for individual shipping on a 20kg anchor can quickly take away any savings.

So, first, I'd check with the chandleries near you that might have one in stock.

No issue here, Duane. I was just sharing my experience of talking with Rocna to get their recommendation. I know an all-chain rode is not the usual setup back East. It is very common out here. Again, just sharing this to broaden the perspective on this topic.

I have a Rocna 20 KG on 100 feet of 5/16 high test chain backed up with 75 feet of rode. I love the Rocna. The Rocna sticks so well that I used to stall out the Genius windlass all the time. It finally died. I thought it was the relay, but it turned out to be the motor itself. It occurred to me that the anchor might be too big for the windlass so I bought a Simpson Laurance Tigress windlass. It's a 1500 Watt windlass and physically twice the size of the Genius. If you anchor out a lot, I think it is a better choice. My philosophy of anchors is to have the biggest anchor that will fit on the bow roller and back it up with a monster windlass. It has kept me out of trouble.

Tim
M/V Expatriate
S/N 068