I’m a big believer in big anchors. And, as I’ve said before, an old USCG Chief taught me the rule of thumb is at least a pound of anchor and a foot of chain per foot of boat length. So my 38 has a 20 kg Bruce (44#) as primary anchor and a 45# CQR as backup on the bow rollers. I’ve dragged too many Danforth anchors over the years to really trust one, but I do have a Fortress storm anchor and lunch hook that will be broken down and stored below when I go cruising. Each of the has 65anchors on the bow has 65 feet of 5/16 high tensile chain and 200 feet of 2-strand nylon rode. That lets me anchor in up to 20 feet of water on chain (I let the rope/chain splice out to the surface of the water, and have about 10 feet of nylon between chain and boat to act as a snubber) and lets me anchor in up to about 35-40 feet if I need to someday.
If I had my druthers (and more money) I’d replace the CQR with a Rocna (probably the Vulcan) or a Manson Supreme and make that my primary anchor. I had the big CQR before I installed the rollers and my windlass. (I decided I’m getting too old to pull that b###ch out of the water by hand on a regular basis.) The windlass is an 1100 Watt vertical model with both a gypsy and a wildcat, so I can handle both rodes if I need to. The 38 mk2 doesn’t have a chain locker, so the two rodes are run through hawse pipes into the space forward of the v-berth. The primary anchor is routed around the gypsy of the windlass and down through the hawse built into the windlass, the secondary is pulled in using the wildcat and has a separate hawse pipe through the deck. To retrieve the anchors when both are set (which I have only done once or twice for practice), I need to free the primary from the gypsy and retrieve the secondary first – then reengage the primary rode on the gypsy and retrieve it. Not pretty or quick, but it does work, and two anchors is something I’d likely only use in storm conditions. As someone already pointed out, you need to think of anchor rode and windlass as a single system. I had to order the windlass with a gypsy that would work with my chain. Most makers offer different gypsy size options for their models. It’s actually not as complex as it seems because there are only a few chain/rope size configurations recommended for a given size of boat. But you need to think about how the system is going to come together before you buy any of the components. One last comment, I think a manual windlass would be preferable to my electric one. Less complex, no electric power required, simpler to install (no batteries, fuses, switches, remote or wiring), and potentially a lot more trouble free. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Whitmore via CnC-List Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 9:59 AM To: C&C List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Bruce Whitmore <bwhitm...@sbcglobal.net> Subject: Stus-List Anchor chain & rode advice, C&C 37/40+ Hello all, We have a 1994 C&C 37/40+, and the anchor chain connected to its primary anchor, a 35 lb. Delta, is fused together with rust. The chain is also about 20 ft. in length, which I suspect is too short, as the conventional wisdom I think is that chain at least as long as the boat is highly recommended in order to keep the anchor set. Then there is the line, which is about 150 feet, which equally I think is a little short, though we are located on the west side of Florida where anchoring in 20 feet of water is almost an impossibility unless we're stupid enough to set anchor in the middle of the ICW. That said, we will eventually want to be doing some cruising down into the Caribbean, so I'm thinking carrying some additional rode poses little downsides. Finally, I've read that the recommended line size is 1/8" for every 9 feet of boat length, but of course that is somewhat relevant as to windage and boat weight. I consider our C&C to be relatively low both on the windage and weight scales, especially compared to the 40 foot powerboats I've seen out there. The 1/2" line (which is on the boat now) has a breaking strength of 7,500 lbs., but I presume the issue is more about chafe protection than breaking strength per se. So, the questions are as follows: 1). What size, type and length of chain would you recommend? We don't have a windlass now, but may eventually put one in. 2). Should I go with 9/16" line vs. the 1/2"? What length would you recommend if you were going to consider cruising in the Caribbean? I'm thinking of carrying 40 ft. of BBB chain and 250 ft. of rode on the primary Delta anchor, and perhaps a little less on both chain and line for our secondary (a Danforth), though I'm not sure that carrying the lesser amount on the secondary is advisable. Thanks in advance, Bruce Whitmore (847) 404-5092 (mobile) bwhitm...@sbcglobal.net
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