Question: We’re preparing our boat for cruising in the North. Do you advise a dedicated stern-anchor system? Lots of Scandinavians sail around with one. Danforth, CQR or SPADE? Right now our main bower is a 60lb CQR on 100 meters of 12mm chain. Our spares are a 60lb CQR and a 30lb Danforth on board. We have a spare 150lb Fisherman at home.
Anchoring & Mooring
Question: I just read your anchoring article in Offshore magazine—a subject really close to our hearts, and went to your website hoping to see how you constructed/designed your bow roller. We have a pretty similar collection of large/heavy anchors, though we do still have a CQR as a secondary (soon to be replaced by a Rocna or SPADE). Our bow roller currently only accommodates one anchor, and we would prefer to have both our Fortress, which is our primary for NE US coastal cruising, and a plow type permanently ready to deploy. If you have any pictures or specs for what you did to accommodate your two anchors, I would very much appreciate seeing them. I have been wandering around boat yards for the past three years since we moved up to our current boat looking for inspiration.
Question: My wife and I have recently sold our 40ft Cambria and purchased an Able Apogee 50 for extended cruising. We were very happy with our 20kg SPADE anchor on our 40 footer and would like to purchase a SPADE for the new boat. At 50 feet and with an unloaded weight of 35,000lbs, we feel like the 30kg SPADE would be on the light side but the 55kg anchor would be overkill. Having used both sizes on your boat, we would greatly appreciate your advice. Despite having a hefty windlass, we are concerned that the 55kg model will be too difficult to manage.
There is an interesting comparison test of anchors in the October 2007 issue of SAIL magazine. All the usual anchor suspects are put through their paces but what stands out is the very poor performance of traditional anchors, particularly the CQR, against more modern designs like the Rocna and SPADE.
Question: Do you have any opinion on the Rocna anchor versus the SPADE?
Question: You obviously prefer high tensile chain, but are you aware that re-galvanizing high tensile chain substantially weakens it unless it is heat hardened again?
People are often surprised and even a little hurt when we turn down their kind offers to use their moorings in harbours we visit. They are even more perplexed as they watch us go to the trouble of anchoring outside the mooring field, often in a more exposed location.
Question: I have a Hinckley Sou’wester 50 yawl (a heavy boat) and cruise Downeast Maine, Grand Manan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. As with most Hinckleys, I have a 60lb CQR that I have blindly trusted until I read your comments. I’ve since looked into SPADE anchors and found that they come in steel and aluminum. One dealer recommends a steel S100 (20kg) for boats under 54′ LOA (but displacing 26,400lbs) while the next size up is the S140 (30 kg) for LOA 65′ and 44000lb. From your comments I’d assume that the best choice would be the S140. I note that the aluminum SPADEs are much lighter (of course) and the A140 SPADE for 65′/44000lbs weighs only 33lbs! Since I singlehand quite a bit (and never really ‘trust’ any gear, including electric windlasses), this option seems very attractive. But is it too good to be true?
Question: Do you have views on breaking load of main anchor chain compared to weight of boat? Our new boat is 40’ long and weighs something like 12 metric tons (26,000lbs) and a ‘standard’ 10mm (about 3/8”) galvanized chain has a breaking load of approximately 6 tons.
Up until we bought our 120lb (55kg) SPADE anchor in 2002, our 150lb Luke Fisherman anchor, that we affectionately call ‘Big Bertha’, was our anchor of choice in kelp and rocky bottoms like those found in Labrador and Greenland.
