Number & type of anchors

[Ed Ellis]

This message is for folks who have spent some time cruising theirt PDQ 36 in the tropics. I'll be leaving for Belize in a couple of weeks and was wondering what others take in terms of anchor gear. How many, what type, etc. Any help would be appreciated. Ed

[Kokomo]

Ed: We used a "Spade" anchor while in FL and the Bahamas. It worked like a dream!!! It's the 44 (or 40?) lb. steel version. We also went to mostly chain (100 feet on the Spade) because of dealing with strong tidal currents that, in the past, had wrapped our rope rode (using 40 ft. of chain) around the keel and/or rudder.

Elsewhere, wherever their is mud bottoms like everwhere in the ICW, we use a Fortress (FX37) with 120 feet of chain.

These combinations allow many restfull nights....

[Allezcat]

Ed,
We use a 35#Delta on 150ft of 5/16 HT chain as primary in the Bahamas. Backups are a 35# CQR with 40ft of 3/8 chain and 150 ft of rope plus a Fortress 23 with 20ft of chain and 150 ft rope. The Fortress is great when deploying from a dinghy. I use a 1/2" twisted nylon rope bridle with a stainless steel chain hook and spliced loop ends over the bow cleats to give elasticity to the chain and take the load off the windlass. Each leg of the bridle is slighly longer than the boat beam, about 19ft, and has chafing gear (plastic tubing) where it passes thru the chocks.
Chet
Allezcat 36010

[Marc Gershel]

Hi Folks,
Just curious, how does the weight of all that chain forward, effect the performance? Especially the pitching motion. Has anyone ever tried a sentinal, or any kind of weight, on the anchor rode to get the same effect as chain?
Marc Here's 2 Life 36021

[Tanah-Keeta]

I have sailed in the Bahamas and Florida for the last 3 years and found that the 25' of chain was not sufficient. I had to use a sentinel.. a 15lb mushroom anchor.. to keep the rode from wrapping the keels in current/wind conditions.

Last year I went to 60 ft of chain and the rest 9/16 rode and it worked great. I tie the bridle with a rolling hitch just after the chain in most anchoring situations since I am usually in 6-8 ft of water. In deeper water, just tie the hitch farther down the rode. I have used the sentinel when I have a lot of rode out but it is very infrequent.

I use a 35lb CQR as primary and a 35lb Delta as secondary with a FX23 Fortress as backup. The CQR has done a great job but I think the Delta is maybe better.