paying out scope

[PascalG]

we got slip fever yesrterday morning and went out on the bay before the front came thru... winds were a good 20kts, we anchored near the channel entrance, no worry about wakes with very few boats venturing out in 7 or 8 feet of sand/mud.

even slowing down the drift with the engines and 150' of chain, i coudlnt' get the fortress 55 to set on the first attempt (pretty rare), i guess it was just skipping on the bottom.

on the second attempt i decided to pay out scope manually to speed things up and dump as much weight as fast as possible. i dropped 100', probably 3 times faster than with the windlass, and the anchor set right away. it dug in , the boat snapped in line, and it held great even as wind picked up to over 25' by the time we left.

has anyone noticed if speed at which scope is paid out really makes a difference in strong winds ?

anchor weight may be the reason, the fortress being lighter but i'm pretty sure that with 150' of chain, some of that was on the bottom and holding the anchor down...

 

[rommer]

My guess is that your drift speed was building faster than you realized and by free dropping the anchor you didn't have as much time for the speed to build.

 

[Radioactive]

I did notice that the Fortress would "sail" if there was current... And paying out rode rapidly would let the anchor drop without sailing. But I would have expected your all chain rode to prevent sailing.

 

[Flutterby]

I've experienced that as rommer describes. Sometimes faster is better!

 

[pdecat]

I think you are correct about the weight pulling down the anchor. Danforth pattern anchors sail amazingly well in any current or drift. One of the many reasons they are not my preferred anchor.

 

[PascalG]

correct, the drift speed was about 1.2 to 1.3 kts on the GPS without using the engines in fwd to slow it down.

bruce, true... like everything in a boat, anchors are a compromise and considering how well that FX55 remains buried in the bottom conditions i have, i'm willing to trade a little hassle on the rare occasion i anchor out in 20kts+. but if i was routinely anchoring in swift curent, i will probably use something else.

 

[tcijoe]

my fortress sails, they only way i use it is when i set it with my dink.

i have found that my 100ft of chain helps, but you really neeed to set that anchor at slow speeds.

 

[yzer]

I anchor by hand with a Danforth in muddy bottoms where 1-3kt currents are the norm. With the boat idling in neutral, I lower the anchor slow enough to let the anchor land properly. As soon as I feel the anchor hit the bottom I'll let loose with 20ft of chain or line pretty fast. That stops the anchor from sailing. Then I'll hold the line and let the boat drift with the current or wind. Once I feel some pull on the rode again, I'll pay out the remaining rode at about the same speed as the boat is drifting. Then I'll set anchor at full scope.

My set up is a Danforth Standard 1300 (16lbs) and 35' of 5/16 3B chain. The issue for this anchor is not sailing (even in 3kts of current) as much as a tendency to plow in that top layer of silt before the anchor sinks into the heavier sediments that will hold it. The fix is the same: give the anchor enough slack on the rode to get a bite on the bottom.

 

[oldfishboat]

Thats very much the way I always drop the hook Pascal. For decades using danforth style , plows , and now a Northill. Some with like 25 feet chain to the 150 feet I run now.

Has yet to let me down. Once the hook is off the bow I paint out about 50 feet more than I want to sit on as I coast along. When the rode goes taunt I pull back the extra 50 or so rode I laid down.

Invader has a drum type commercial winch that free falls fast. Just the way I like it. No plowing the bottom in hopes of hooking up.

YMMV

Works for me 100% of the time. ( so far < grin >

 

[pdecat]

yup always a compromise but i have had clams and rocks jam up betwen the flukes interfere with setting grass is also unwelcome. A sharp pointed plow, not a CQR, would work in your sand as well as many other conditions.