Need Anchor Advice

[Yankeeredfisher]

What anchor would you all recommend for my 22' Seafarer in ther Chesapeake baay. I currently have a FX-7 with 6' of chain and yesterday at the Gas Doxcks I tried for two hours in a N wind with riollers to get it to hold.Very frustrating!
It will have to fit in my anchor locker which takes a 23" bar off the anchor.
I had plenty of scope out and the water was 47' deep.I had out at least 250 feet of line out.

 

[ocnslr]

Never used a Fortress, but have read a lot that they "sail" due to light weight and need some chain weight to get down and to set.

Having said that, my usual recommendation is chain length equal to the length of your boat, regardless of the type of anchor.

So, I would put that 6-foot piece of chain aside and to get a 22' or 25' section of 1/4" galvanized chain. Bend that on, then see how the FX-7 works for you.

We have a 22# Delta, with 30-feet of chain and 600-feet of rode for the primary anchor. The secondary anchor is a Danforth 12H, with the 200-foot rode (with 12-feet of chain) stored below the V-berth.

Brian

 

[Yankeeredfisher]

Anchor Advice

Thanks you sir.Your the only one to respond so far. I had to go to BWI today so I stopped in Bass Pro Shop and bought a much larger and heavier Dandord. 22' of chain would be a much for my Seafarer anchor locker.
The Fortress has served me well in the past and maybe I created the problem by removing the "mud" plates.Over at the Gas Docks it appears that the bottom is mud. I'm going to "play" around with both anchors amnd see what I end up with.Thne Beauty of the Fortess is it's light weight and for a 69 year old fart like me that helps a lot!!

 

[rorkin]

Re: Anchor Advice

Thanks you sir.Your the only one to respond so far. I had to go to BWI today so I stopped in Bass Pro Shop and bought a much larger and heavier Dandord. 22' of chain would be a much for my Seafarer anchor locker.
The Fortress has served me well in the past and maybe I created the problem by removing the "mud" plates.Over at the Gas Docks it appears that the bottom is mud. I'm going to "play" around with both anchors amnd see what I end up with.Thne Beauty of the Fortess is it's light weight and for a 69 year old fart like me that helps a lot!!

I have always used danforth's (or danforth style) anchors on Chesapeake. They hold all too well in mud. I usually have to
get right up on them and break the hold using the boat .
I have used 10' or less of 3/8 chain.. Don't know why the fortress did not hold . I expect you did try to back down on it to set it ??

 

[Grog]

Another help may be an anchor ball. It's a lot easier to pull in rope that doesn't have the weight of the anchor on it an it also dislodges the anchor.

 

[CJBROWN]

The more chain the better, as long as you can haul it in. I run some 25-30' of chain, and 250' of 7/16 3-strand nylon. The downside is you have to dig a hole in the pile of line and chain in the well in order to fit the shank down into it. Kind of a drag.

I do wish I had 1/2" rode, will probably switch it out at some point. The smaller line is strong enough for the smaller boat, but it's too skinny to get a good grip on it. Makes it hard to haul in. I put a tag in the weave at 150' so I have some idea of what i have out there. We don't anchor much with this boat.

In the NW, a well fit-out cruiser has a windless and all chain rode. My 40' Alden Yawl had 275' of 5/16 chain and a 35# danforth style anchor. It generally stayed put. :wink: Man that was a lot of weight in the 'eyes' of the boat, but she was 12' wide and displaced 12 tons.

 

[Bokat]

I have a fortress anchor on my 23' Gulfstream. I don't remember which model it is but it is the size for up to 25' boat. I couldn't get it to hold and had to get a longer and heavier chain. It seems to be holding better but I haven't had a chance to test it all that much since I changed out the chain. You might be able to return the new anchor and try the heavier/longer chain first. I would definitely get an anchor ball to pull your anchor, it is much easier. If you don't know how the anchor ball system works, just ask on here, there are plenty of us who use the system.

 

[Strikezone]

I use a Fortress on my Seafarer without any problems. I have about 8' of chain and rarely have problems getting it to grab. In fact, more often than not I have more trouble pulling the anchor than setting it.

On ocassion I will use the anchor ball I keep on board, especially if I'm by myself.

 

[Yankeeredfisher]

Strikezone,

What type of bottom are you usually anchoring in??

 

[Strikezone]

It's usually pretty thick mud when I anchor. This would all be inshore in rivers, harbor, etc.

I use a reef anchor that I made for offshore bottom fishing. This is similar to a commercial Mitey Mite anchor. It was made from PVC with aluminum rods that will bend and pull loose and are easily re-bent into shape.

 

[HMBJack]

The Fortress and Guardian anchors are very good but because of their very light weight (aluminum), they need lots of chain. How much? Depends on the conditions you're in when trying to set it + how hard the bottom is. Maybe I'm on the overkill side but I have 40 feet of chain for my G-16 Guardian. I'm lucky though because I also have a windlass. Another idea if you have a short chain is to attach a down rigger weight to where the chain meets your nylon anchor rode. I think this is called a "Sentinal". In doing so, your 6 foot chain will behave like it's 20 feet long... Good luck!

 

[rorkin]

Another help may be an anchor ball. It's a lot easier to pull in rope that doesn't have the weight of the anchor on it an it also dislodges the anchor.

People often use a large inflatable fender to act like an anchor ball.. 2 for price of one

 

[Yankeeredfisher]

Anvchor ball

I would love to have some info on the anchor ball; how it works and where you purchase it

 

[ocnslr]

Re: Anchor Advice

The Fortress has served me well in the past and maybe I created the problem by removing the "mud" plates.

I haven't used a Fortress, but I think they have two sets of plates - mud and sand. The difference is the angle the plates cause the flukes to take for digging in.

When you say "removed", did you replace with the sand plates?

If not, then the anchor is useless without one of the sets of plates on it.

And you said in a later post that most of your bottom is mud, so the mud plates would be the best bet.

Brian

 

[Stonewall]

I have been on the Chesapeake Bay for more than 40 years and I'll bet you I have tried nearly every anchor out there. About 10 years ago I was complaining to a buddy of mine about not being able hold in all the varying bay bottom conditions. He recommended a "Horizon Claw Anchor" I said what? Well I went and got one at West Marine. It's not very fancy but I have yet to encounter a bay bottom condition that it won't hold. Plus they are a lot cheaper than most anchors out there.

The first boat I used it on was a 35' Luhrs with a fly bridge. With it's large profile it was like a huge sail in windy conditions. It worked perfectly. My 30 Grady and my latest boat a 33 Grady boat came from the factory with Lewmar Plow Anchors. That anchor wouldn't hold worth a damn. So the first thing I did on each boat was replace the anchor with a "Claw"

The trick it to look at the sizing charts for your boat and find the recommended size. Then buy the next size up. I believe for my 33 grady the recommended size was 22#. I upsized to the 33# and never looked back. Try one. You won't be disappointed.

 

[capt chris]

I have a 2008 Tournament 225 w/ a 9lbs Danforth that fits the anchor locker perfectly. I use about 4' chain and 200 ft of rope. Most of my bottoms in the Ohio River and @ Lake Cumberland are mud and it holds very well. Our hulls are identical so maybe this set up will work for you. Good luck!