What's the best anchor type for mud bottom lake?

Four Suns said:
...........
That is unless you like having your chain painted up like a victory rock in front of a high school.
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GOOO!!!!! KIWIs

Apertx.jpg
 
Another thing you can do to help with the anchor getting pulled out from swinging is get a CQR anchor which is essentially a plow anchor with a hinge on the shank down by the plow body. That helps with the boat going back and forth and working the anchor out. Doesn't stop the swinging though.

I want to get a polished stainless CQR someday and I think Dom (osd9) got one last year. I want to see how his has held up (all rusty and scratched up) before I get one...
 
festivus44 said:
Great explanation of this Gary. My Carver 36 Sedan had a flat bottom, all chain rode and a LOT of windage (did I mention it was a Carver?). As such, when the boat was sailing off in one direction as it neared the end (it was probably up to 3-4 knots) you could hear the chain rattle as the slack was running out. This would then be followed by a loud "bang" as the slack ended and the boat would "come about" over to the other tack. And so on and so on.

Try to sleep through that and one will quickly learn the benefits of the bridle.
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My 480 DB sounds like it behaves like your carver did... One night on the hook with no sleep was enough for me. It is amazing how fast the boat sails back and forth.
 
I have the same issue with my boat swinging like crazy as well. It drives me nuts and it seems like my anchor is constantly coming loose because of this. Id like to try the bridal solution Gary mentioned:


Snubber.gif


but I'm wondering how this would work if i don't have all chain as Gary mentioned he did. I do have 15' of chain then another 150' of nylon rode. How would the bridal attach to the nylon anchor rode on a setup like this? Or does this only work with an all chain setup?

I also feel really silly for never having thought about counting the number of seconds for how much length is being let out. Thanks for that tip Gary!
 
See... If I had read the original poster's info, I wouldn't have posted that "all chain" non-sense...
 
Good point tx280da - how do I attach the bridle to my rode if it's rope? Tie a loop in the rode? That seems like it would be a problem getting it untied. Maybe you could attach something to the bridle that would attach to the rode - some sort of cinching device so there is no knot.
 
TX280DA said:
I have the same issue with my boat swinging like crazy as well. It drives me nuts and it seems like my anchor is constantly coming loose because of this. Id like to try the bridal solution Gary mentioned:


Snubber.gif


but I'm wondering how this would work if i don't have all chain as Gary mentioned he did. I do have 15' of chain then another 150' of nylon rode. How would the bridal attach to the nylon anchor rode on a setup like this? Or does this only work with an all chain setup?

I also feel really silly for never having thought about counting the number of seconds for how much length is being let out. Thanks for that tip Gary!
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Tie a figure 8 on a bite in the middle of the bridal. the link shows how.. It's a pretty easy and useful knot
http://www.spadout.com/wiki/images/Figure_eight_on_bite4.jpg
 
Thanks dpvandy01. Sorry for being a complete noob, I'm still learning a lot from you guys on this site and I appreciate the information.

I think i get the idea now by tying the figure 8 in the middle. I have a windlass, so if i left the loop in the middle long enough I could slide that over the anchor and attach each end to the cleats, the let out the rode.... correct?

Also is there any rule of thumb for how long each side of the bridal should be?
 
TX280DA said:
but I'm wondering how this would work if i don't have all chain as Gary mentioned he did. I do have 15' of chain then another 150' of nylon rode. How would the bridal attach to the nylon anchor rode on a setup like this? Or does this only work with an all chain setup?

I also feel really silly for never having thought about counting the number of seconds for how much length is being let out. Thanks for that tip Gary!
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Counting and remembering deployment and retreive time, then calculating length based on an nominal rate for a DC motor whose speed varies with load is one option.

Or, just look at the marker to see the deployed length. My "victory rock" markings, six painted links every 20' are always visible.

It's easier w/ a chain / rope rode, using those plastic tags inserted into the triple braid.

Hopefully "One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock" isn't on the radio when the master's setting his anchor.

BTW, my home-made bridle attaches to only one bow cleat and the chain and I'm not swinging all around. Maybe the issue is distribution of mass on board.
 
If you don't have an all chain rode, you can try just tying up your rode to one of the side bow cleats instead of the center one. That's what I would do on my 380 DA. It usually worked as the boat would reach an equilibrium and stop swinging. You can't do that with a chain hence the bridal.

When deploying an anchor on a windlass, there is usually no/minimal load on it. It's much different than retrieving. Of course if you want to get it EXACTLY at 7.568432:1, by all means, mark away. I actually think the proper scope is 6.9838561847536 to 1 and not 7 to 1... but that depends on the anchor type now doesn't it.
 
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Four Suns said:
Another thing you can do to help with the anchor getting pulled out from swinging is get a CQR anchor which is essentially a plow anchor with a hinge on the shank down by the plow body. That helps with the boat going back and forth and working the anchor out. Doesn't stop the swinging though.

I want to get a polished stainless CQR someday and I think Dom (osd9) got one last year. I want to see how his has held up (all rusty and scratched up) before I get one...
Click to expand...

Still shiney like the day I got her.....

P9010599.jpg



Here you can see the CQR next to the stock plow....

P9010586.jpg


And here you can see the magic of the CQR design...

P9010593.jpg


Between the CQR and the homemade bridal, I spend peacfull nights on the hook without a concern for breaking lose....
 
Four Suns said:
If you don't have an all chain rode, you can try just tying up your rode to one of the side bow cleats instead of the center one. That's what I would do on my 380 DA. It usually worked as the boat would reach an equilibrium and stop swinging. You can't do that with a chain hence the bridal.
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Although I don't understand how tying off to just one side cleat would work, Ill take your word for it since you've been doing this much longer than me. I'm going to give this a shot since that seems a lot easier to do than the bridal method and all chain.

This does raise another question that I have a feeling is going to make me sound silly or like a really bad novice.... You said "instead of using the center one". Does this mean i should have been tying the rode to the center cleat instead of just letting it pull freely against the windlass spool on the top deck?
 
The secret to a shiney anchor comes from years of maintaining a shiney bald head.....
 
The swinging back and forth and having a few feet of chain on the business end of the anchor line are not related. There are several reasons people use a small section of chain spliced to a rope for and one of them is to help keep the angle of the shank more parallel with the river bottom while still giving more spring/stretch for the rest of the line (all chain rodes don't stretch). If you don't have a chain section, you'll just have to be more careful on having enough line out so the anchor is not pulled up.
 
TX280DA said:
This does raise another question that I have a feeling is going to make me sound silly or like a really bad novice.... You said "instead of using the center one". Does this mean i should have been tying the rode to the center cleat instead of just letting it pull freely against the windlass spool on the top deck?
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Yes. The windlass is not meant to hold the boat. Even on the all-chain rode, there is a little gizmo that holds the chain and relieves the windlass.
 
wingless said:
The image shows the deck plate I added w/ a concealed coiled hose for the raw-water bow washdown. A through-hull, seacock, strainer and pump were added to feed this hose. I wired the pump feed to the windlass, through its own breaker, so it would only run when the windlass is powered.

The washdown is handy w/ all-chain, 'cause every bit of crud on the bottom, ends up in the anchor locker, so forget about keeping the drains clean. Plus, I never worry about running out of water.



380DAFortressFX-37.jpg
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My dock neighboor converted his macerator system as a raw water wash down via the transom FW hookup. He has a long coil type hose that he can run up to the bow for wash down.
Since I will never use the macerator, I plan on doing this as well. Seems like all the parts are there for the taking, just some simple re plumbing.
 
Four Suns said:
that is a damn good looking anchor...
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Yes it is and I think I am going to also look into the CQR anchor as well I need a second anchor, and I was going to purchase one before the weather warms up, and I plan a trip some place. (That is if I am still employed)

:thumbsup:
 
I don't remember the size anchor that came with the 380DA, but my 410DA came with a 33lb Delta plow. I'd guess that the 380DA came with the same...but you would know bettter. I replaced it with a 44lb Polished SS CQR plow. The windless handles the extra weight just fine and the CQR sits nicely in the anchor roller.

I personally didn't have a problem with the stock anchor holding either. In fact, it held so wel that it bent.


I talked about it here....

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4553&highlight=anchor

My rode is comprised of 150' chain and 200' nylon line. I never have a problem holding bottom. My anchor is 'both' shiney and pretty.....AND....it stays stuck-in-place till I'm done!
 
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