Anchor selection help
- Thread starter woodchuck
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The anchor isn't the problem, it s the chain! On most boats when you rinse the chain you end up with muddy run off on deck... If only builders could make a recessed chute all the way to the WL for the water to run forward and not on deck!!!
My boat weights about 55,000 lbs. and we use a large (135lbs) Northill on chain. It has never failed to set and holds in sand, mud, grass, coral and any combination of those. After a big blow it digs in so deep that you have to work it loose with the weight of the boat with chain vertical. The only bottom that it takes a little work to set in is rock, which I rarely encounter. I carry a few extra Danforth's, mainly because they stow below deck easy and are easy to hand up out of the lower hull.
If you don't have a built in chain washer, have the deck hand stand forward with the wash down hose to clean the chain before it comes on board.
If you don't have a built in chain washer, have the deck hand stand forward with the wash down hose to clean the chain before it comes on board.
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It s often impossible to hit the chain before it gets on the boat using a hose while reaching the up foot switch a few feet back. Also, when dealing with thick mud the water needs to hit the chain in a perpendicular way to get into the links
No problem here with that, be it with fresh or salt water. got good pumps for one thing and for another I use the bar for the windlass clutch, with a little crutch tip on the end to hit the switches, but 99% of the time have my wife bringing up the windlass using the pilot house or fly bridge switch. Pretty much a piece of cake either way.
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My point is that the bow layout on many boats is not ideal...
Sure, we re going to haul out, replace the existing thruhull and sea cock to accommodate a larger pump which may have to be housed on deck...thanks for the idea, I didn't think about it...
On some Hatteras the foot switches are mounted vertical on the back of the pulpit. Even worst to use while holding a nozzle 5' forward over the roller!
Sure, we re going to haul out, replace the existing thruhull and sea cock to accommodate a larger pump which may have to be housed on deck...thanks for the idea, I didn't think about it...
On some Hatteras the foot switches are mounted vertical on the back of the pulpit. Even worst to use while holding a nozzle 5' forward over the roller!
Those production boat designers/builders think of everything don't they. Not much of an issue to install a new through hull and sea cock along with the new pump. I'd be sure and add a strainer while you are at it. Your sea chest may have an spare intake fitting just waiting for this type of install. On deck pump mount?? May not work very well, centrifugal pumps are not self priming and need to be placed below the waterline. Installing a swing check valve in line just adds another place for trash to hang up. With good flow and volume, 5' will not be an issue.
Capt. Bill1
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Just put a wand extension on a hose nozzle so you can reach the chain roller perhaps?
My Hatteras is set up that way, that's what I use the stick for if need be, which is only as the anchor is getting near the pulpit, other wise my wife is controlling the windlass from the pilot house. We use hand signals for up and down, or to move the boat forward to keep the line slack.
When I bought the boat I put in both fresh and raw water wash downs up there with the Hatteras style quick disconnects. I use a 15 ft length of heavy duty hose and a standard trigger style spray gun. Works great; we have been in some areas where the mud is very sticky and thick. We are avid anchorers so this whole issue is a big one for us.
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I was beating sarcastic about the deck mounted pump... Again you re forgetting the realities of small boat layout where in most there is no room below waterline at the bow...
Plus i like to rinse the chain with fresh water anyway
One of the project on the list is to run a SS tube along the pulpit forward of the roller to spray the fresh water on the chain as it comes up forward of the roller
Plus i like to rinse the chain with fresh water anyway
One of the project on the list is to run a SS tube along the pulpit forward of the roller to spray the fresh water on the chain as it comes up forward of the roller
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My regal has a hose bib in the anchor locker feeding off of fresh water.
The pressure is not great and the mud by me is usually thick.
Plus since its hard to coordinate the raising of the anchor and the boat starting to move since admiral will not do either job!
I usually hose off when I get back to the dock and if needed I will redeploy chain to wash it.
The pressure is not great and the mud by me is usually thick.
Plus since its hard to coordinate the raising of the anchor and the boat starting to move since admiral will not do either job!
I usually hose off when I get back to the dock and if needed I will redeploy chain to wash it.
"Again you re forgetting the realities of small boat layout where in most there is no room below waterline at the bow..." That's why pipe and pipe fittings were invented, so that you can remote mount a pump in a machinery space if required.
That old Hatt has plenty of room below the galley for a real wash down pump.
Sometimes you have to think outside of the Worst Marine box.
That old Hatt has plenty of room below the galley for a real wash down pump.
Sometimes you have to think outside of the Worst Marine box.
That's basically what I did. There was already a free through hull left over from the former salt water head system, stuck a strainer on it and mounted the wash down pump (24 volt Shur Flo Extreme blaster) right there in the genset/utility room, used the thruster bank to power it, easy run up to the chain locker and bow. Tapped the fresh water line off the forward head. When the genset is on, the shallow well FW pump puts out great pressure, though the DC Galley Mid pump ain't bad either. If water isn't an issue, I use the fresh, if so, use the raw.
I don't know how prior owners went all those years without wash downs up there, especially since the boat spent most of its life on the Chessie. Apparently they didn't anchor much. Though when I went to reverse the chain the other day, I did discover a thick coating of mud and gunk underneath the pile, not that I'd paid much attention to it previously. That project became quite a messy one to clean up.
Most of us have boats which are way too small to be having the luxury of a washdown hose at the bow. The method of anchor cleaning to go forward or astern slowly with the anchor just below the surface. I stand by my original comment. The Bruce style washes off much easier. The Bruce style also sets much easier than a Danforth & is better in shifting wind & tide for restting without a fuss unlike the Danforth styles.
Had all the major types, Danforth/Fortress, CQR plow & the Bruce. No question. The Bruce is the anchor to have for the majority of situations.
Had all the major types, Danforth/Fortress, CQR plow & the Bruce. No question. The Bruce is the anchor to have for the majority of situations.
Capt. Bill1
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Most of us running larger boats clean our anchors the same way as you.
"The Bruce is the anchor to have for the majority of situations."
To each his own. But anchor tests done over the years and my personal experiance would suggest otherwise to me. I'll stick with the newer "spade" type anchors as a primary, high holding power, wide bottom range anchor.
http://anchors.synthasite.com/resources/NZCoastGuard-anchoring_in_2007.pdf
"The Bruce is the anchor to have for the majority of situations."
To each his own. But anchor tests done over the years and my personal experiance would suggest otherwise to me. I'll stick with the newer "spade" type anchors as a primary, high holding power, wide bottom range anchor.
http://anchors.synthasite.com/resources/NZCoastGuard-anchoring_in_2007.pdf
That comment makes no sense to me. I see plenty of 21 ft fishing boats and smaller with raw water wash downs. In their case, mostly to clean the decks of blood and mess, but usable as an anchor wash down.
And I agree with Bill, the Bruce is hardly the be all and end all of anchors, and would be way down the list for the OP's cruising grounds.
I don't dispute the USCG controlled test numbers & I am not familiar with the spade.
My AhHa moment involving Danforth type vs Bruce came one night some years ago rafted with another boat of similar size. He had a Bruce out with ample chain, I had a Fortress, also with ample chain, in a grass/mud bottom. Middle of the night squall brought a radical wind shift. Both anchors pulled. The Bruce turned & reset, holding both of us. The Fortress pulled, turned & just laid there, a lump of mud.
We slept through the whole thing.
The Fortress is a great day anchor. I keep a smaller one as a kedge when I want to back up to a beach or anchor by the stern in light air.
My AhHa moment involving Danforth type vs Bruce came one night some years ago rafted with another boat of similar size. He had a Bruce out with ample chain, I had a Fortress, also with ample chain, in a grass/mud bottom. Middle of the night squall brought a radical wind shift. Both anchors pulled. The Bruce turned & reset, holding both of us. The Fortress pulled, turned & just laid there, a lump of mud.
We slept through the whole thing.
The Fortress is a great day anchor. I keep a smaller one as a kedge when I want to back up to a beach or anchor by the stern in light air.