Anchoring & Mooring

Do You Recommend A Stern Anchor System?

by John December 1, 2005

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. [...]

How Did You Construct Your Bow Rollers?

by John December 1, 2006
A 125-lb SPADE and a 75-lb SPADE on the dual anchor rollers on the bow of aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

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 [...]

What Size Anchor Should We Buy?

by John February 1, 2007

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 [...]

The Truth Is Out About Old Style Anchors

by John February 1, 2007

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.

Rocna Versus SPADE

by John March 1, 2007
A SPADE anchor.

Question: Do you have any opinion on the Rocna anchor versus the SPADE?

Why We Don’t Trust Moorings And Do Trust Anchors

by John April 1, 2007

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.

Should I Get A Steel Or Aluminum Anchor?

by John May 1, 2007
Morgan’s Cloud anchored on a tranquil evening at Maidens Arm, Hare Bay, Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland

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. [...]

Breaking Load Of Anchor Chain

by John May 1, 2007

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.

Update On Our Thoughts About The Luke Fisherman Anchor

by John May 1, 2007
A 150 lb Luke Fisherman anchor on the aft cabin top of aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

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.

Where Can I Get Crosby Shackles?

by John June 1, 2007

Question: Where do you purchase Crosby shackles? The link you posted doesn’t have any contact or dealer info that I can find.

Do You Use Link Shackles?

by John June 1, 2007

Question: What sort of link shackles do you use between chain shots?

Where Can I Find Safe Working Load (SWL) Numbers?

by John July 1, 2007

Question: Where did you find Safe Working Load numbers for chain?

Anchor Angst

by John July 1, 2007
A British Vertue 28 weighs anchor after a rolly night riding out a near gale at Bjørnøya (Bear Island), which is no place for anchor angst

The other day I was idly paging through the posts on a cruising forum about anchoring and marveling at the level of energy and emotion, not to mention the sheer volume of posts, that this subject seems to elicit.

Which Anchor Shackles Do You Use?

by John September 1, 2007
Two Crosby 209A shackles attach high tensile chain to the shank of the SPADE anchor on aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

Question: I read with interest your discussion of anchor chain and shackles on your site. Are you referring to Crosby G209 shackles or G209A? We are using 3/8” HT chain and a S S140 on a Cambria 44.

Should I Buy A Fortress Anchor?

by John October 1, 2007
A Fortress anchor.

Question: I see that the aluminum Fortress anchor did really well in SAIL Magazine anchor tests. I’m thinking of buying one, what do you advise?

What Do You Think Of Mooring Stern-to?

by John February 1, 2008

Question: The Jordan Series Drogue website is fascinating and leads to an interesting question. Faced with anchoring/mooring Morgan’s Cloud for a hurricane, would you be inclined to go stern-to? Jordan makes a fairly compelling argument…although I imagine Morgan’s Cloud is relatively stable as compared to the latest cruiser/racer hull forms.

Anchoring In The Modern World

by Colin August 1, 2008
A Rocna anchor on the bow of a OVNI 435 aluminum sailboat.

The first sailors anchored using heavy stones, attached to long ropes, and often with an army of slaves to pull them up. Thank God those days are over, and that we now have excellent choices of anchors available, and powerful windlasses to retrieve them.

SPADE Anchor

by John January 1, 2009

We think this anchor is the next best thing to sliced bread! We like the SPADE so much, we have a 120lb as our bower anchor and a 66lb as our secondary anchor. The SPADE has replaced the Luke as our primary high latitude anchor because it is the only stockless anchor I know that [...]

CQR Anchor, Problems

by John January 1, 2009

The Problem: When we bought Morgan’s Cloud in 1991, she came with a 75lb CQR primary anchor that fit on the bow roller beautifully. Over the next few years we made cruises throughout the North Atlantic and associated Arctic waters. Our rule was that once north of Newfoundland we did not even try the CQR [...]

Mooring Gear—Staying Put

by Colin June 1, 2009
Mooring Strops

What does the word “harbour” mean to you? A safe haven, perhaps, sheltered from all sides? Well, in some of the less frequented parts of the world it can mean something quite different. Many “harbours”, such as Hugh Town on St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly, are far from safe in all conditions, being [...]

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