Hello again! Seems like I have a question every time I take the boat out!
Had it out Saturday and was going to anchor while we ate lunch. The anchor has never been used.
I took it out of the locker, the chain looked like it was attached....and it wasn't. Bye bye anchor.
Now, the anchor the dealer never sat in the locker property anyway, so i figured losing it wasn't so bad.
What's the current thinking on the best ancho to get that fits in the locker properly?
There’s quite a few anchors that can fit in there. I found a danforth / fluke style who’s stock was a bit wider than the holder brackets, I trimmed the stock down with a hack saw to fit with just a bit of slop which made for a secure fit. I think I trimmed the stock down to 21 & 3/8”. You’ll need to measure and possibly up size the anchor to get a stock length that’s wide enough to fit in the holder.
There’s several threads about anchor types, depending on what type of bottom you’re trying to anchor in, with mud or sand bottoms some folks like box anchors, I prefer the danforth / fluke style for its superior holding strength and it’s svelte design so it fits in the anchor well. I also went with a slip ring style fluke, these can be a bit harder to get set, but the slip ring makes them much easier to retrieve should it become stuck.
You can also rig a traditional fluke anchor this way to make retrieval easier should the anchor get stuck.
The Fortress fluke anchor is aluminum and is used by several members here, I’ve seen several folks mention the FX7, but the stock looks to be a tad too short but I’d have to double check that, and you’d have to check your boats holder.
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It was suggested to me to run a swivel at the top of the shank to connect the chain to the anchor. Be sure and use red loctite on the bolts.
Rule of thumb for the chain is one foot of chain for each foot of hull length. I have 21’ of 5/16” stainless steel chain. The chain serves two purposes, one is that helps to keep the shank parallel to the bottom provided of course you have the proper scope (length of rode) for the conditions, light conditions 3:1, moderate conditions the scope is 5:1, heavier conditions 7:1. Secondly the chain has superior abrasion protection and keeps the rode off the bottom.
Use a stainless steel shackle to attach the rode to the chain. Be sure to safety wire the pin to the shackle body to keep it from unscrewing.
Lastly get a quality rode with enough length for the anchoring you’re going to do. Keep in mind an anchor is a safety item and not just for the convenience of holding your boat in place, a good ground tackle rig could mean the difference of not ending up on the rocks in a bad situation. I have 250’ of rode, meant to get 300’, and I marked the road with spray paint every 25’. The Fortress spec sheet sheet also shows their anchors holding power in terms of the angle on the rode. I went with a yacht braid style rode, but the three strand style may coil better when stowing it.
