Anchoring tips

G

Gidders

New Member
Jan 24, 2011
73
East Coast, NSW Australia
Boat Info
Sake Joe
Engines
6.2L Mercruisers, V drive
I have recently purchased a Sundancer 375 (340). On the weekend the wind was blowing about 25 kph and I couldn't get my anchor to hold. It's the standard plow anchor that comes with the boat. I was laying out about 5 times the depth in chain. I tried a few locations ranging from from sand to mud but still kept shifting. Any tips. I'm trying to build up confidence on the anchor to do some overnight boating.

Cheers
 
Depends on your anchor rode. If you are all chain, 5 to 1 should be fine. If you have some chain and mostly rope, 7 to 1. This is for normal conditions. If you anchor in extreme conditions you may want to add more like 7 to 1 for chain. Always make sure you "set" your anchor and don't just drop it and let it set on the bottom. Don't forget to add the distance from the water to your windlass as part of the depth as well.
 
When you say set do you mean idle in reverse until it grabs? I was just dropping it and letting the wind/tide take me back until it grabbed. But the boat kept creeping back.

Cheers
 
Also, what weight is the anchor?

And what size chain?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
The best advice I can give is get rid of "the standard plow anchor that comes with the boat" and replace it with a Rocna anchor. I did that with mine and can tell you that the performance of the Rocna anchor is way better than the Delta. The Rocna also fit perfectly in the anchor roller.
 
The delta plow anchor is a good all around anchor. Meaning it is useful in just about all conditions. That does not mean it is good in all conditions. By conditions I mean the bottom, i.e. sand, muddy, rocky etc. For example, the little aluminum Danforth style Fortress anchor I have as a back up and stern anchor works just as well as our plow anchor in the area where we normally boat. So a properly sized Danforth would probably work better than the stock plow anchor for us. I will point out that when we take our boat and go up to Maine where the bottom is mostly rocky the Danforth is next to worthless. So, before latching onto a particular brand you might talk with some of the boaters in your area with similar sized power boats to see what type of anchor they use.

Henry
 
Last edited:
I also had trouble with the stock "plow" anchor, in my case on a soft muddy bottom, and ended up using my backup Fortress danforth-style which held really well. Always have a backup for varying bottom conditions. Plus, it gives you the ability to dual anchor (bahamian or V) in adverse situations.
 
I don't see the best solution to his problem as being a new anchor. 25kph winds are only 15mph, that ain't much wind and his std plow anchor should hold in sand. He said, 'I was laying out about 5 times the depth in chain'. That sounds like he's not including the bow height above the water. If he's in 10' of water and the bow height is 5', he should be putting out 75' @ 5:1 but instead he's only putting out 50' of rode or 3.3:1, that isn't enough scope. Add to that the fact he doesn't set his anchor and you get what you have. Sounds to me like he just needs to study up on the whole concept and procedures for proper anchoring before buying a new anchor.
 
Woody said:
I don't see the best solution to his problem as being a new anchor. 25kph winds are only 15mph, that ain't much wind and his std plow anchor should hold in sand. He said, 'I was laying out about 5 times the depth in chain'. That sounds like he's not including the bow height above the water. If he's in 10' of water and the bow height is 5', he should be putting out 75' @ 5:1 but instead he's only putting out 50' of rode or 3.3:1, that isn't enough scope. Add to that the fact he doesn't set his anchor and you get what you have. Sounds to me like he just needs to study up on the whole concept and procedures for proper anchoring before buying a new anchor.
Click to expand...

+1

mark your rode so you know how much is out, practice, practice practice... giving it a good pull in reverse, you will know when you have a good hold.
 
We anchor a lot. The system we use. Bow into the wind. Drop anchor until it hits bottom. Back up 5 times what you let out, this will set your chain in a strait line. Tie off chain with chain fall on a nylon rope. Continue to back up until your boat stops. . Apply throttle to twice idle. You should go back a bit more and stop by chain force. I push man over board at the point I drop the anchor and when the boat finnally stops.
 
We went up an anchor size and got a Rocna to replace our plow. It is an awesome anchor for the conditions we boat in and rolls and resets quite easily. I can almost sleep sound at night now. Manson Supreme is essentially the same design as the Rocna and also a nice setup.
 
Gidders said:
I have recently purchased a Sundancer 375 (340). On the weekend the wind was blowing about 25 kph and I couldn't get my anchor to hold. It's the standard plow anchor that comes with the boat. I was laying out about 5 times the depth in chain. I tried a few locations ranging from from sand to mud but still kept shifting. Any tips. I'm trying to build up confidence on the anchor to do some overnight boating.

Cheers
Click to expand...

The standard plow (Delta) anchor on 340DA is a good anchor. I had the same on my 320DA and it did excellent job. Most of the time having issue with anchor not holding is just not enough scope. You've got good advice from others, so I'll summarize basic approach:

1. Make sure you know your depth. Whatever you see on your depthfinder add another 5' (that's approximate distance between anchor roller and the waterline). So say you're in 5' of water, you need to account for total of 10'.
2. Know your rode. You should have about 25' of chain and the rest (if I recall, 150'. Could be more, going from the memory here...) is rope. Marking the rope will help you a lot.
3. Know the bottom condition (sand, mud, grass, etc.).
4. Use proper scope for the weather. In the example of 15MPH sustain wind it means that it could gust up to 20-25MPH. So, 5:1 scope is out of question and I'd say that 7:1 is your starting point. Most likely 10:1(which translates in to 100' in my example) or better (120') will be the point where you can feel comfortable. I would go with 120' since you're not all chain.
5. Use the proper way for setting the anchor.

Follow these steps and I doubt you'll have any issues.
 
Gidders said:
When you say set do you mean idle in reverse until it grabs? I was just dropping it and letting the wind/tide take me back until it grabbed. But the boat kept creeping back.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Gidders said:
Good advice thanks folks. Give it another shot this weekend.

Cheers
Click to expand...

As far as setting the anchor..... After letting out the proper scope (5:1 or 7:1) I tie off to a cleat then I back down and apply a fair amount of throttle until the anchor bites and I stop moving. I don't jam it in reverse and give myself whiplash. I start backing down slow then when it bites I give an aggressive boost in reverse to secure it. Never had a problem.
 
"Keep at it" is good advice.

I have the Delta Fastset and love it. It has never failed me across two boats, in some pretty severe circumstances including a microburst where the delta was the only remaining anchor holding a raft of 6 boats.

We anchor out a lot. Don't really think about the process anymore, so may not articulate it properly. A couple of quick considerations, not to reiterate the good advice others have already given:

- when you first start to drop the anchor, wait. Don't start to back down until the anchor has dropped to the bottom.
- set the anchor - once you get to 5:1 or so, stop letting out the anchor and throttle back a little to set. Continue to drop anchor to get to 7:1, which is always around what I want to deploy (even though I'm all chain).

As an aside, the Fortress is similar, but not the same as a Danforth. There's a little difference in the design, but more importantly, it's made of high tensile materials. I have two on boat as supplementary or stern anchors depending on the situation. My boating friends call the larger "Sir Grabs-a-lot". We only deploy it in severe conditions and it's a "female dog" to pull up after a storm - 'cause it works. I've had a few Danforths and found them to be somewhat lacking in my use. Unfortunately, neither the Danforth nor the Fortress will work very well in really weedy situations.

Enjoy!
Paul
 
When we anchor in weeds I use a ridiculous amount of scope to set the anchor and reel in the excess once I know it's set. Our weedy areas are very shallow but I find a trip line is a necessity for guaranteed hassle free anchor recovery. We tie a marker to the end of the trip line so other boats know exactly where our anchor lies. I usually start out with double the amount of suggested scope, just to set. We use a Delta "plow", 30' chain, and 1/2" rode. I think I'm repeating myself now. :smt021 I never leave less than 7:1 scope and in really adverse conditions I leave 10:1 out. Your trip line might save you an anchor but in areas of large tides you may have a problem with other boaters fouling it at low waters. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,247
Messages
1,429,229
Members
61,125
Latest member
Bassinbradw
Back
Top