Anchor type for cruisers and yachts in GA / Allatoona / Lanier

T

ThrowingWakes

Member
Apr 18, 2020
50
Boat Info
1988 300 Weekender
Engines
Two 1988 Mercruiser 350
My 30 ft sea ray has a delta anchor (plow style?) and it seems like a crap shoot to get it to hold. One day I'll stay put in 25 mph gusts and another day I'll be all over the lake in half the wind constantly having to move it back.

I was thinking a danforth/fluke style would be better. Not sure what weight though and how much my windlass can handle on an 88' sea ray. It is already really touchy as is and gets stuck all the time with the new line I put in.
 
Without at least some chain, a new anchor style likely wont help. All anchors need to have the pull horizontal, along the lake bed to get them to dig in. With no chain, you get the rode pulling the anchor up and it will break loose especially with very low scope. You didn't say how big your Danforth is, but if not too heavy adding 10' of chain will make a big difference, and usually not too heavy to handle by hand.

What windlass? You might be able to swap out the gypsy to handle rode/chain as another alternative.
 
You need some chain my friend... That will solve your issues. My buddy has a 30 Sundancer and a delta with 25 feet of chain and never an issue in that pond. Get yourself 25 feet of chain, lay some scope and you will be fine
 
Even better!!!! 25 ft will definitely get the job done.
 
Can’t remember the windlass name off hand but I think it’s original. How would I go about finding one that is compatible that will also handle 25’ of chain? It’s hooked up to the 12v. This one is a piece of crap so maybe it’s time to upgrade anyway.

I believe the anchor is only like 18lbs but it’s supposed to be rated to hold this size boat.

how much scope are you guys using in a lake, I feel like 7:1 is for ocean situations.

does more rode cause you to drift back further?
 
99% of the time, the issue of why an anchor won't hold is not due to the anchor. The most important thing is the scope... and the ability to estimate how much rode you have let out to achieve the proper scope. Anytime an anchor isn't holding, the first thing you should do is let out more rode.

100' of rope is very much on the light side of the amount you should be carrying. Lake vs ocean - that's not really what it is about - it's about the conditions, your ground tackle and bottom type.

What kind of depth are you anchoring in? If you're in 15', plus say 5' to the cleat, that's 20'. If you wanted 5:1 you'd have to let out ALL of your line.

There's no question that chain helps. But you CAN anchor well with rope only - you just need more scope.

18lbs is fine for a 30-footer.
 
I'm on Allatoona with a 11,000lb 90 searay. Today and last night was brutal with winds. I paid out over 150' ft. to hold her in 40ft. deep cove. We have a plow type anchor with 10' of chain.
Stern anchor is danforth and paid out 50' It held tight but one eye open all night.
 
If your going to upgrade...an all chain rode let’s you get away with about 50% less scope for a given condition.

Downside is when they created Lanier, they only cut trees to 30’ down...lots of stuck/lost anchors.

Put a shot or rode on the back and it you get stuck, drop it all with a fender attached, and have a recover diver come get it later.
 
Last edited:
dtfeld said:
If your going to upgrade...an all chain rode let’s you get away with about 50% less scope for a given condition.

Downside is when they created Lanier, they only cut trees to 30’ down...lots of stuck/lost anchors.

Put a shot or rode on the back and it you get stuck, drop it all with a fender attached, and have a recover diver come get it later.
Click to expand...

Wish I had a boat big enough for an all chain system. That much weight in anchor bay in older Searays would be funny looking and somewhat concerning in needed bilge situations.
West Marine has a descent quick read that will aide in choices.
https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-The-Right-Anchor
 
A picture will help, but you most likely have a Good brand windlass which doesn't allow for chain or much of it at all. I had a '95 300 with that Good windlass and I dragged a lot. I had to put out twice the scope of others. I don't think your issue is the type of anchor as both the plow and danforth style work well around here. If it was this weekend, as someone else said, it was windy as shit on Saturday and Sunday. My suggestion is to make sure you have a heavy anchor since there isn't any chain to help it stay flat and dig in.
 
Beech2000 said:
Wish I had a boat big enough for an all chain system. That much weight in anchor bay in older Searays would be funny looking and somewhat concerning in needed bilge situations.
West Marine has a descent quick read that will aide in choices.
https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-The-Right-Anchor
Click to expand...

There are quite a few boats your size with all chain, but it was primarily done because certain windlass cant handle the chain to rope transition and break fingers off. Chain eliminates that problem. 5/16" chain is about 1 lb per foot, so 200' chain is roughly 200 lbs. 35' should handle that no problem.

However its about $3-$5 a foot so that bill is HEAVY!!!
 
I have the new style good windlass that can handle all chain. She was $1800 with 200ft of rope 10ft chain and a $295 Delta Plow. Before I ordered owner said 10ft chain and plow is a good combo. I wanted 20ft for good scope. Overall I am happy. Thus far I haven't moved since install. Saturday night sleep was however one eye open with those winds. Looking like an awesome weekend. Finally.
 
dtfeld said:
There are quite a few boats your size with all chain, but it was primarily done because certain windlass cant handle the chain to rope transition and break fingers off. Chain eliminates that problem. 5/16" chain is about 1 lb per foot, so 200' chain is roughly 200 lbs. 35' should handle that no problem.

However its about $3-$5 a foot so that bill is HEAVY!!!
Click to expand...


We have 100' of chain on our boat along with 100' of rode. If my older 30' boat can handle it your boat surely can.

Our last boat had all rope rode. I can tell you the chain is so much nicer, especially in areas where we can only let out a 3:1 scope at the local popular sandbar.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Curious about Beech2000 using a 2nd stern anchor, I heard that can make your boat sit broadside against the wind. Ever have an issue where the primary anchor needs to be reset, and now you have to pull up the stern anchor by hand, then re-do the primary anchor. That sounds like a huge pain.

I let out 80' this weekend in about 30' of water and it held really well with tons of boats going by. I had to drop it pretty far from where I ended up, I think I'm getting better at estimating the positioning, and also seeing which direction the other boats are facing so I can cheat to either side of the cove.

As for my windlass, it is a Benson USA. I never swapped a windlass before, how do I determine compatibility? Something a little stronger with support for partial chain (don't think I'll go all chain) would be clever.
 
So you were still only at small scope. So keep in mind that on a windier day, you'll need more scope - possibly double that. Which means, as mentioned above, you'll need more rope that you have on board - remember, 100' is an extremely small amount of rope to have for anchoring.

Benson is out of business. But are you positive it can't handle chain as is? Maybe you google around and find out if (1) a chain gypsy was available back then and (2) find a used gypsy or scrapped windlass with a chain gypsy -- maybe you can still just swap the gypsy. Even if you end up replacing the windlass to one that can handle chain, I would say that, at a minimum, go with 25' of chain and 200' of rope. And it can never hurt to add more chain.

But, keep going with what you've been doing - survey the area, note the wind direction and where the boats are and their anchoring positions. Keep at it - it will get easier and easier.

For the windlass... you said "stronger"? Why stronger? All it's doing is lifting some rope and a plow anchor. You don't need a stronger anchor to do that. UNLESS... are you using the windlass for full retrieval of the anchor? Meaning, you're letting the windlass pull you to the anchor? That is the wrong way to do it. Use engine power to motor towards the anchor (bump in and out of gear) to keep the strain off the gypsy. It is designed to pull the anchor up - not drag the boat through the water.
 
I'm fairly certain, the hole is pretty small where the rope comes out of, my dad mentioned it as a limitation several times. Either way I'll take the cover off again and take a closer look.

This lake is so darn deep, my dad always got away with 100' because all he ever did was take it to a cove in the delaware which was barely 6-10' because of erosion. And the drop off from the sides in toona is incredible, I can be right next to land and be sitting on 20-30 foot of water.

Good point on yanking the anchor out of the ground, woops, I've been letting the windlass do it, or I go up there and yank it by hand, then signal to my wife to push the button up. I suppose I could be more clever.
 
Just a side point here... the amount of rode (total of chain and rope) that should be kept on board should be the amount needed in an emergency - not the amount you anticipate needing for regular use. You can blame this one on your dad ;) He still should have had more rode - what if he got caught in a storm in more open/deeper area and the engine quit? Now, you can cheat on this one and just carry a loose bundle of a few hundred feet of rope that you manually tie onto the existing anchor line.

I had 50' of chain and 300' of rope on my last Sundancer. I had an extra 300' in a bundle. Overkill? Probably. But it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. If a storm comes up, you can't just quick run to the store and get more rope! Case in point... anchored in Still Pond (Ches. Bay) a number of years ago for the night. I always let out more scope for overnight, although I can cheat a little because of having so much chain on a 28' boat. But, I still let out close to 7:1. That night a huge Derecho came out of nowhere. I popped my head out a few times just to double check, but I slept nice and sound and we were still in the exact same spot the next morning.
 
This boat did enjoy the Chesapeake a few times! I'll have to give him crap about it :)

I would probably go overkill too if I moored over night, but I don't think we plan to do anything but short day trips. Time to buy some rope.
 
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