New Anchor for 1995 272 Sailfish

[River Rat]

I'm installing new ground tackle this spring. I've got a bow pulpit with a roller. Seems like most of the GW that I see have the Delta anchors. Seems like the Delta will work better with the roller than the danforth style. We anchor exclusively in sand or mud here in the upper Chesapeake.

I'm leaning towards a delta 14# primary anchor and a Fortress FX 11 as a back up or 2nd anchor. Planning on 150 feet of 9/16 plaited rode with 30 feet of 5/16 G4 chain. Per the windlass literature this combination will work.

Any thoughts as to whether the 14 lb Delta is big enough, or should I go up to 22 lb?

Anybody have experience with the plaited rode, as opposed to three strand?

 

[DennisG01]

14lb is big enough, but you can't go wrong (as long as it will fit, which it most likely will) with a bigger anchor. 8-Plait is definitely superior, especially if your anchor locker isn't very deep. I like your idea of 30' of chain - some will say overkill, but again... can't go wrong. I have 50' of chain and 300' of line attached on my 28' Sundancer, with another 300' ready to go. I got caught once in freak rain/windstorm and the boat didn't budge. Found out the next morning the winds were up to 50mph.

BUT... what type of anchor roller did you purchase - what type of of anchor is it made for? Check out this thread: http://greatgrady.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... b8f1d94bc8

 

[River Rat]

The roller I have looks just like the one in the link. I was considering doing away with the metal bail that's bolted with the roller itself, or possibly making a taller one. Only if the existing piece prevents free launch or retrieval.

We had a fortress fx 23 with 300' of rode and 80' of chain on our Silverton 37 convertible. On most day trips we never got past the chain. Only set out rope when we overnighted. Don' t plan to do much, if any overnights on this boat. I'll see how the 22# delta fits the roller. If it works, I'll go with the heavier anchor. I figured we' d use the fortress in deep mud, with the flukes set at 45 degrees and the delta for anything else.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[DennisG01]

WAIT! Which roller in that thread does it look like? If it looks like mine, then yes - go ahead with the plow. If it's like the OP's roller, then you have to use a fluke. The big difference is the amount of distance that the front roller drops compared to the aft roller. Also, I'd probably leave the bail alone. There are times when the rode may hop over the tip of the roller (especially when retrieving) and the bail helps to keep the rode there.

My boat would have come standard with a 14lb, but I used a 22lb with no problems. Check the dimensions - from shank to tip and compare to the front edge of the roller to bow keel.

 

[River Rat]

My bowsprit only has one roller. I'm starting to think I want to go with the Fortress as my main anchor. With 30' of chain, the weight ( or lack there-of) shouldn't be an issue.

Dennis, thanks for the clarification of the two type of roller assemblies.....I didn't see that before.

 

[DennisG01]

Fortress makes excellent anchors and you have the #11 which is great - you're on the low side of it's capacity. Sounds like a good plan since you won't have to change the anchor roller. The only downside is that now you're storing, carrying around and launching/retrieving the heavier Delta by hand, whereas the light Fortress gets the free ride.

For what it's worth, I've used my plow throughout the Bay and never had a problem. That freak storm... we were in Still Pond... which wasn't so "still"! Never seen it in there like that before.

 

[lime4x4]

I use a fortress anchor on our 268 searay. We also boat in the upper bay alot. A few years back we were anchored overnight in the bohemia when those freak storms came thru around 4th of july. The searay did sway back an forth but the fortress held. When dawn came there were a few sail boats that sunk lots of trees down. found out later in the morning from the police that 90 mph winds came thru the area. Also when i retrieved the anchor the shank was slightly bent.

 

[River Rat]

We had a similar experience at Stillpond a while back. No breeze and stinking hot all night. Finally got to sleep and woke up a 4:00 AM with the wind howling. The anchor line was like a guitar string. That was on our 37 Silverton, which had a lot of windage. At the time we had a fortress FX23 with 20' of chain. The Fortress did its job on that occasion.

I'm not giving up on the Delta. I'll be looking at the bow pulpit tomorrow to see how difficult it will be to swap the roller assembly. I definitely don't like the idea of humping the heavy delta around. Another thought might be to carry two fortresses, one set at 32 degrees and the other set at 45 degrees. As I said earlier , we don't plan on doing much, if any overnights. At least I have all winter to think about it.

 

[DennisG01]

Funny - it was July 4th when we were out in that storm. I wonder if we are talking about the same night? Maybe it was more than the 50mph that I thought it was.

 

[lgusto]

We are big fans of Yale Brait. We carry 600' of 3/8 and 30' of chain over a 13# danforth. It was fun weaving the 8 strands into an anchor splice.

 

[River Rat]

Dennis, it was a forth of July for sure. We saw a bald eagle during the afternoon and commented on how cool it was to see one on Independence Day ......had to be the same night.

 

[River Rat]

So I'm reading the owner's manual for our 1995 Simpson Lawrence windlass which states " on no account should multiplait rope be used!". Does anyone have experience with multiplait rode and a vertical S-L windlass? I'm wondering if the newer multiplait lines are more suited for use with a windlass than they were back in 1995.

 

[ocnslr]

That's our bow pulpit with a different roller, and a 22# Delta in the post that Dennis referenced.

I agree with the comments about sticking with a Danforth-type fluke anchor if you are keeping the factory roller assembly.

I also agree with your 30-feet of chain - same as we have.

I do question your 150-ft of rode as it would limit you to a water depth of about 20-ft if you need a 7:1 scope. (180/7=25, minus 5 ft for height of bow).

We have 600-ft of 1/2" 8-plait rode on our main anchor, with 400-ft of it in the anchor locker and the last 200-ft led into the forward centerline compartment under the V-berth. Your anchor locker is a bit deeper and wider, and should easily hold 300-ft of 8-plait anchor rode.

Brian

 

[DennisG01]

So I'm reading the owner's manual for our 1995 Simpson Lawrence windlass which states " on no account should multiplait rope be used!". Does anyone have experience with multiplait rode and a vertical S-L windlass? I'm wondering if the newer multiplait lines are more suited for use with a windlass than they were back in 1995.

No, no experience relevant/specific enough to your hardware to post. But, the best answer might come directly from S-L if you can call them tomorrow. Might just be a simple matter of swapping the gypsy.