anchor choice

[Randy]

OK, I'll start this one up. What type of anchor do you use and what type of bottom are you dealing with.  I use a 35lb CQR in the muddy Chesapeake Bay. Not that happy with it.

[EdHouston]

I love my Bruce mud & sand.

[kevin barber]

35 Lb. Delta with 100 ft of chain, and 150 ft of line.  The Delta has never let me down.

[SV THIRD DAY]

45lb Mason Supreme with an all chain 275ft 5/16th rode.  I absolutely LOVE the mason.  We still carry our "45lb Drag-Q-R" as a secondard anchor.

We have anchored out almost every night of our cruise so far and have great confidence in our ground tackle.

[Jim S]

#35 Delta on 50' 3/8" BBB chain with 5/8" nylon primary
#22 Delta on 35' 5/16" BBB with 1/2" nylon secondary
Other anchors ar various sizes of Danforth anchors and chain/nylon
Our botton is mostly mud/sand with some shell
Sea Tiger manual windlass

Galveston Bay, Texas

[geraldwbayer]

35# CQR with 150ft chain.  Have used this in Chesapeake for years (on this Pearson 365 as well as previous boats.)  Have used this set-up very successfully all up and down the East Coast, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and South America.  Been in some pretty good blows too.   The most reliable for me.  Have a Bruce as backup but rarely use it.  What's your concern with a CQR in the Chesapeake?

Jerry Bayer  S?V  SARA

[zaya]

We have 45 lb CQR on 150 ft of chain for our main anchor & a 35 lb Bruce. This allowed us to sit nicely in many different types of anchorages.

[Randy]

Manson, Delta, Bruce (Claw) and CQR. Pretty much what I expected. I have 50' of 5/16" chain with 200' 9/16" 3 strand rode tied to a 35lb CQR. I have drug this rig several times during heavy thunderstorms and now have no confidence. Probably operator error. I just bought a 33lb Bruce (Claw) and shall try out this weekend. From the looks of it, it should dig in and hold well. Will report findings next week. I never had any problems with the CQR before, but have just lost confidence in the thing and can't sleep nights concerned I will drag. Not a good feeling in a tight anchorage. As always, thanks for all the input. 

[RayNWanda]

I guess we are going to look like the seagoing version of a cruiser's swap meet. We have a 30lb. Quickset plow on 200' of 5/16" chain, a 30 lb. Bruce on 50' of 3/8" chain and 200' 5/8" nylon on the bow. In reserve we have a 35 lb. CQR, 2- 20lb Danforth hi tensile, and a 13 lb. Danforth for the stern. We have a pair of new 5/8" X300' nylon rodes, still need chain for them. We are on Matagorda bay, just down the coast from Galveston with similar bottom conditions.

[JusRockin]

I have a 44 pound Rocna anchor, you can check it out at rocna.com. I had a QCR and now use a  Bruce, fortress and hydrobubble anchors as a back up. The Fortress and hydrobubble break down so it is easy store.

[SV THIRD DAY]

While we were outfitting THIRD DAY for cruising people would ask me,

"Hey Rich, why do you have two big 45lb anchors on your bow roller?"

My response:

"Because I can't find room for three!"

[Bev & Billy on Sta-sea-dawn]

I think I have 50' of 3/8" chain with 200' of nylon line.
I am thinking of going to all chain.  what type, length, and size of chain would everyone use? ideas?

[Dale Tanski]

If it were me, I would look at windlasses and decide which one of those I would purchase if you ever decided to purchase one.  You may not want one now, but a few years from now or one back issue, that maybe a different story.  If you choose something like an IDEAL windlass, they haven't changed in 30 years, so that model will use the same size and type of chain forever. This way, you will not have to replace the chain if/when you purchase a windlass, or have the added expense.

Dale

[Bev & Billy on Sta-sea-dawn]

I am going to buy a windlass next month. 

[Dale Tanski]

Then what chain you want is the chain you need for the windlass.
No decisions needed.

Dale