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?

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?

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?

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 [...]

A Question Of Scale—Anchor Size

by Colin September 1, 2009
OVNI 435 Pèlerin at anchor with a closeup of the anchor bow roller, chain and snubber.

This summer will remain in my memory as one for strong winds and great sailing. By the time we reached Scotland in early July we had just about seen the last of the light winds that we had enjoyed in West Cork, and a more mixed regime had set in. No matter—these were ideal conditions [...]

Shorefasts And Line Reels

by John October 1, 2009
An Easyroll line reel with Dyneema rope.

Question: A few months ago we published a photo essay about Polaris, the custom Hutting 54 especially designed and built for cruising remote places, owned by our friends Michael and Martina. Since then several people have asked about the line reels shown in the photographs. I passed these questions on to Michael and got the [...]

Swans Island And Anchoring

by John June 17, 2010

We are finally out of the boat yard after the re-power and so I thought I would celebrate with a Photo Short.

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