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.

Answer: No, we do not advise a dedicated stern-anchor. We do not like to moor the boat fore and aft, unless the anchorage is very small and sheltered, in which case we would use lines to the shore and a bow anchor. The reason is that fore and aft anchoring stops the boat swinging bow on to the wind and puts huge loads on the anchors when the wind blows on the side of the boat.

When the anchorage is too small for swinging to one anchor, we prefer to use two anchors set at a ninety degree angle off the bow; this reduces the swing circle but does not have the problem mentioned above. Of course this method has the disadvantage that if the boat swings round in a circle the anchor rodes will become twisted, but this happens less often than you would think.

Our secondary rode is rope and in two parts of 50 meters each shackled together and in two bags that are stowed on the fore deck and cabin top respectively. So when the two rodes get twisted it is comparatively simple to un-shackle half or all of the secondary rode and pass it around the chain primary rode.

One other thing, we do not recommend the CQR anchor in Norway, or anywhere in the North. We used to have one and found it a very poor anchor in hard sand or weed, both of which are common on the west coast of Norway and in the North. We changed to the SPADE, the biggest one they make, and have had no problems getting anchored in many places including Norway, Svalbard, Greenland and Newfoundland.

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.

Answer: Yes, it takes some engineering to get two anchors securely stowed on the bow. I looked out this picture of our set up which may help as you are designing yours.

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.

Answer: You have great taste in boats. The Cambria and Apogee are two of my all time favorite designs.

I would go with the 55kg model SPADE. My thinking is as follows:

1. I’m really not sure why a 55kg SPADE would be harder to handle than a 30kg, given that it will stow on a bow roller. If there is any problem with stowing the anchor in all conditions on the bow roller, that should be fixed with modifications to the roller and/or the addition of a chain tensioning device, whatever size anchor you have. I am not in favor of taking anchors off and stowing them below at sea, or not the best bower anyway.
2. I am convinced that there is a non-linear benefit to bigger anchors once they get over 100lb. In other words, a 55kg anchor holds and sets way more than 1.8 times better than a 30kg anchor.

There is the drawback of more weight on the bow. But there is a way around that too: If you go up to Acco Grade 70 chain, or possibly G40, you can safely go down to 3/8″ and get a substantial weight saving that will more than compensate for the extra weight of the anchor. If your current chain is not G70 or G40 and is only BBB or Proof Coil and is only 3/8″ or less it is, in my opinion, too light anyway.

Note that with G70, you will need to order the chain with custom oversized links each end so that you can get a strong enough shackle to attach. With G40 you can use Crosby alloy shackles without compromising the overall system strength. I would recommend at least 300′ of chain. Of course this will probably let you in for a new windlass wildcat to fit the chain.

All of this could involve you in quite a lot of work and expense; however, I would still recommend it since there are few things that will contribute more to your cruising enjoyment and security than a really bomb proof anchoring system. That was certainly the case for us when we upgraded to the 55kg SPADE.

One other option would be to look at the Rocna line of anchors, which are very like the SPADE and seem to work as well. If you just don’t want to go to a 55kg SPADE, they have a 40kg model.

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.

The testers at SAIL were surprised. We were not, having dragged a CQR anchor around half the periphery of the Atlantic basin.

If you are using an old design anchor and particularly if it is a CQR, we strongly recommend that you upgrade to one of the newer designs. It is one of the easiest, cheapest (in comparison to many other upgrades), and most effective ways to increase your safety and enjoyment of cruising.

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

Answer: I have no personal experience with a Rocna to compare against our SPADE, which we have used literally hundreds of times from the Bahamas to Greenland and a lot of places in between. In all of that time the SPADE has never dragged once set, and has only refused to set twice and that in very difficult bottom conditions.

As far as first hand endorsements go for the Rocna, Steve Dashew, of Deerfoot/Sundeer/Beowulf fame, fitted one on his new motor boat Windhorse and informs me that he is very happy with it.

A Rocna and Bruce on the bow of a Tiana 53

It appears that the Rocna’s basic fluke design is very similar to the SPADE and I would expect it to be as good. Both anchors were designed by cruisers with engineering knowledge who were sick of the reliability problems of old style anchors—nothing like a few dragging scares to inspire a person! The SPADE does have the advantage of disassembling into two pieces.

All in all, I don’t think there is much in it. Both anchors will serve you well so it probably comes down to price, availability and which will fit your bow roller better. In fact, because SPADE does not make an anchor big enough, I specified a 110kg Rocna for the 88’ Jongert that I advised on preparation for a trip to Greenland and sailed on in 2006. (As it transpired, we never used the Rocna because her standard anchor, an 85kg Bruce, proved adequate in the benign weather we had.)

Rocna have some interesting film of various anchors showing the dramatic improvement in setting and holding of the new types over the old. What makes this clip interesting is that it takes place above water so you can see how different designs perform. Anyone who is still using a Bruce or CQR should see this.

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.

Here is an example of why: Recently I have been trying to get a mooring put down in a sheltered inlet in Nova Scotia that will be heavy enough to withstand fall storms and even a hurricane. The first person we contacted, a reputable diver who does many of the moorings in that inlet, suggested a 2000lb (900kg) concrete block for our 26 ton boat. He said that was the heaviest weight he uses.

Now let’s think about that for a moment: Concrete loses half its weight in water and a block has virtually no form drag, so we are talking a total holding power of 1000lb (450kg). That is much less holding power than a good pattern 25lb (11kg) anchor provides. Would you trust your 56’ boat and home to a 25lb anchor, even in settled weather? I know we would not. Sure, when the block sinks into the mud the holding will go up, but not that much, and if the block moves at all from the snubbing of the boat, that benefit goes to zero.

I’m not trying to dump on the diver, particularly since, after a bit of discussion, he agreed that a lot more weight was required for our boat. But the point is—I know, you thought I would never get there—that many, maybe most, of the moorings in that inlet are at best 2000lb blocks.

Contrast that with our 120lb (55kg) SPADE that I would conservatively estimate can, when well set with plenty of scope, withstand a drag load of well over 8000lb (4500kg). That even makes a 1000lb (450kg) mushroom anchor (considered a heavy mooring weight on the east coast of the USA) look pretty wimpy. Even if it does move a bit, a good anchor, like a SPADE or Rocna, will reset itself, whereas a concrete block or mushroom anchor, once moved at all, will exert little more drag than its dead weight in water.

Finally, I know that our chain is in good condition and all the shackles are properly wired. Given all that, we know which ground tackle we will choose to give us a good night’s sleep.

Further to the above, when bad weather threatens we are always amazed how many cruisers pick up a mooring they know little or nothing about rather than heading for the security of a snug cove and their own anchors.

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?

Answer: Interesting question. I don’t really know since I have never used an aluminum SPADE anchor. However, I can tell you that when we bought our SPADE anchors I asked the same question and Alain, the designer of the anchor, recommended steel over aluminum after hearing that we spend a lot of time in the high latitudes.

It seems to me that there are two issues here: the tensile strength of the anchor and the beneficial effect, if any, that weight will have in making the anchor set better and faster. Once the anchor is set, holding becomes a function of design and fluke surface area, so the material should not make any difference.

Morgan’s Cloud anchored on a tranquil evening at Maidens Arm, Hare Bay, Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland

I think that the additional strength of steel will only matter if the anchor becomes fouled in rocks or debris, but since you cruise Newfoundland—where we on Morgan’s Cloud have had to do some really brutal things on several occasions to free our anchor—I think steel has an advantage. Also, I bent an aluminum Fortress retrieving it at St. Paul Island in Cabot Strait some years ago.

On the setting benefit of weight, my guess would be that steel would have some advantage in hard or kelp covered sea floors. I base this on the fact that one of the reasons that new style anchors like the SPADE and Rocna set so much better than say a CQR (love to beat up on that anchor), is that these newer anchors are designed to bring a lot more of their weight to bear on the tip. So extrapolating from that, I’m guessing that more weight will translate into faster and better setting in difficult sea floor conditions. (This is pure guesswork and I would be very interested in hearing if anyone has any good engineering to prove or disprove this theory.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that I’m down on aluminum anchors, far from it. They have the advantage of being much easier and safer to set from a dinghy than a big steel anchor. We carry an aluminum Fortress assembled and ready to go on the aft cabin top and it has saved my bacon on two occasions: once in the eastern Caribbean when our CQR dragged (now you know one of the many reasons why I don’t like CQRs) and once when we dragged a borrowed mooring in Maine (more on moorings). By coincidence, on both occasions we fouled another boat’s rode between our rudder and keel, right next to the prop. I was able to quickly row out and set the big light Fortress and then use it to winch us out of the mess.

In summary, and keeping in mind where you sail, I would recommend that your best bower be a steel Rocna or SPADE of at least 65lb (30kg), 55kg would be even better. I’m a great believer in having a minimum of three anchors (we carry four) and so one of the spares could be aluminum with the advantages outlined above and could be used if your windless bites it.

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.

Answer: Some thoughts that may help you choose chain:

1. There is a lot of very poor chain around, made in the Far East, that should be avoided. In the USA and Canada we always recommend that people buy chain from Acco only. I’m not sure if this chain is available in Europe but I’m sure that there must be a good chain made in Europe. The key thing is that the manufacturer should have proofed (tested) every link and be willing to put that in writing.
2. For a boat your size we would normally suggest 3/8″ (just a tad smaller than 10mm) chain if BBB type with a safe working load of 2650lbs (1202kg).
3. We prefer to talk about safe working load (SWL), not breaking load, since chain repeatedly subjected to loads above its SWL will, in time, weaken and become unsafe. Generally, SWL is about 1/4 of breaking strength.
4. Although BBB chain used to be the standard for anchoring, on Morgan’s Cloud we use, and are increasingly recommending, Acco G40 high tensile chain that is over twice as strong as BBB. For example, G40 3/8″ has a SWL of 5400lbs (2449kg).
5. The challenge with using high tensile chain is that you must find high tensile shackles to get a strong enough shackle to match the chain. We use G209A from Crosby.
6. There is an even stronger chain called G70, but here, to get the same strength in the shackles, you must order it with special oversized links at each end.
7. On your boat, by using the right high tensile chain, I think you could go down one size to 5/16″ (8mm) and save a lot of weight that could then be put into a bigger anchor.
8. Many people will tell you that you need much heavier chain than the sizes we are talking about here, but we feel that is not correct and that weight is better put into a larger anchor or more chain length. For example, Steve Dashew tells me that one of his Sundeer 64 boats went through the big hurricane in Grenada anchored on 3/8″ Acco G70 chain with winds of well over 100 knots and big seas.
9. Also, although it is purely anecdotal information, I have never heard of a yacht’s chain rode breaking though we have all heard of boats being lost due to a dragging anchor. Keeping that in mind, I know where I want to put the weight.
10. I do think it is important that a nylon snubber is used in extreme anchoring situations to relieve the chain and gear of shock loads.
11. I think that the idea that the catenary caused by heavy chain has benefit is wrong since on Morgan’s Cloud in winds of gale force, even with all 100 meters of our 7/16″ (about 11mm) chain out, it pulls out straight. So at the very time you need it most, there is no catenary.
12. When we next buy chain we might go down to 3/8″ G70 chain to save weight and carry an extra 30 meters. Our thinking is that once you have a good type of heavy anchor (we like SPADE or Rocna), having plenty of rode length is the next biggest contributor to anchoring security. It also lets you get away from the bumper-cars games in some crowded anchorages, by allowing you to anchor in deeper water than most other boats can.

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.

We had our friend Frank Luke customize it to speed up assembly and kept it on the aft cabin top from where, with practice and using halyards, we could launch and retrieve it at the cost of about 30 minutes of hot sweaty work.

However, since the change to the SPADE, we have not had to set the Luke once, despite having made a voyage to Svalbard, a trans-Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland, and a circumnavigation of Newfoundland, while anchoring about 150 times.

So this begs the question: Do we stick with our original recommendation of “don’t leave home without a Luke Fisherman Anchor”?

First off, I think there may still be a bottom type where the SPADE would fail but the Luke would succeed. I’m thinking of about a 5 to 10 foot thickness of kelp that would compress under the weight of an anchor to say 2 feet. Under this there would be rocks imbedded in a thick and sticky mud—glacial flour generated by glaciers. To get securely anchored you would need to get a fluke down into the mud, through the kelp and between the boulders. Even the largest SPADE will only have a maximum fluke penetration depth of 12 to 18 inches, and if it does not get to the mud very quickly, it will then foul with weed balled in between the stock and blade and have to be retrieved and cleaned before another attempt is made.

The Luke works well in this kind of bottom because it lands immediately with most of its weight on the tip, due to the cross bar, and then has more reach though the weed to get down to the mud. The Luke’s relatively small and pointed fluke will easily separate the weed and dive between the stalks and rocks to get to the mud and it is unlikely to foul due to weed balling. Once an anchor is through all the weed and rocks, the mud is actually very good holding, so the Luke’s relatively small fluke surface area is not a problem.

So I think our new recommendation would be: If heading for Labrador or Greenland, a large Luke is probably a worthwhile investment as a backup to either a SPADE or a Rocna primary. But if the high latitudes are not on the agenda, we would make the spare a second Rocna or SPADE since they will have much better holding in mud or sand than the Luke due to their much larger fluke area for a given weight.

On Morgan’s Cloud we have kept our Luke, but moved it below.

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

Answer: We got ours from a fishery supply business in Portland, Maine. These kinds of businesses are often a lot cheaper than companies in the recreational marine business.

A Google search on “crosby 209A shackles” will yield any number of companies selling these shackles. Here is an example.