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Anchors for Georgian Bay

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/12/2009 : 23:28:50

OK I'm here bugging you guys yet again for stuff. Sorry.

On Iris we have 2 anchors - the big Danforth and the little Danforth. Having heard of the storms that blew through last year, I want to be sure that I will have adequate ground tackle once we are out there.

I am thinking that it would be prudent to take at least one of the danforths with us, but I also think it would be good to have a second anchor that is of a different type and would hold a different bottom.

To that end - what size and type of anchor would you suggest - the Georgian Bay anchorages include rock, sand and mud bottoms? How much chain? How much Rode?

"Iris"
1984 FK/SR #4040
http://frosthaus.blogspot.com/

Take a minute to register your boat with the association!!
http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/owner_questionnaire.htm

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2009 : 08:32:55

I did a search and came up with [url="http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/search.asp?mode=DoIt"]this tread[/url] about general anchoring and [url="http://www.boatus.com/boattech/anchorin.htm"]this article[/url] from BoatUS speaks to rode length, chain length, etc. and [url="http://www.sailtrain.co.uk/anchoring/anchors.htm"]here's a page[/url] on anchor types.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2009 : 12:51:08

I anchored in the Georgian Bay on my year long voyage. I found a lot of weedy bottoms. I suggest a good plow, like a Delta, on 50 feet of chain + nylon rode to let you sleep at night. I'd go with something around 20 lbs.

In many places it is possible to take lines ashore. Drop your anchor, back into the cove, take a long line ashore and tie to a tree or rock. Have about 200 feet of 1/2 inch nylong for this.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2009 : 07:42:16

Chris, your concern is well founded. There are some bottoms that a danforth is not well suited for including rocky, grassy, and silty.

A claw is often better in these conditions and I've found the 16 lb horizon bruce clone to be very often the anchoring solution. To this I've 25' of chain and 100' of 1/2" nylon three strand rode.

On occasion I've used a mushroom anchor normally used with the dingy as a keg (? senior moment not sure if that is the right word), a weight and messenger line attached to the rode and allowed to slide half way down the slope of the rode.

On rare occasions I've had to dive (last resort in those frigid waters) to set the anchor though normally several tries in various locations will produce a set. I recall one occasion however where we were desiring to anchor in the lee of an island because of strong winds and could not get any anchor to take. The sounder showed the bottom to be weedless and hard. I dove to set the anchor and found a limestone layer an inch thick which broke up with some effort to allow hooking the anchor.

On another occasion I got a good set with a 13lb danforth but an early evening squall hit and I experienced my one and only anchor drag. It was scary, we were anchored on the western side of a large bay and the squall hit with tremendous winds and drug the anchor two thirds of the way across the bay towards a rocky outcropping. I had just gotten the 16lb claw over the side and was playing out rode when the squall abated. The danforth never broke out but had plowed a furrow across the bay.

If the squaw had continued and the claw not taken, I'd had to use the motor to relieve the strain but motoring with anchor rodes out is not a first choice.

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2009 : 13:37:55

Thanks for the tips.

Other folks who have done G-bay have warned me that anchoring can be tricky business due to bare granite bottoms or bottoms with a silt layer about 2" thick on top of granite. A couple from our club who did this trip last summer were anchored in one spot for 3 days. The anchor held for day one and two, but dragged on day three. At another anchorage, they never moved the whole time they were there, then only discovered that they were actually sitting on their keel when the boat wouldn't move as they tried to head out. They were in 15 feet of water, but were sitting exactly on top of a long narrow protrusion, with depth on either side of it.

Since these folks have been sailing for about 15 years, and have done G-Bay repeatedly, I am sure I will return with my share of stories as well, I just wondered what preferred designs would be best to take along.

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2009 : 08:04:48

Good luck with anchoring on your planned trip!

Do charts of the area show "H" for hard, and does that mean bare granite? That's a bit harder than oyster shells, I suppose.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2009 : 06:06:35

I'd make the argument that those who anchor a good bit, should consider a fish sounder for the depth instrument. It allows taking a look at the bottom structure where one intends to lay the hook.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2009 : 10:15:14

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Arlyn Stewart
 ...I've found the 16 lb horizon bruce clone to be very often the anchoring solution. To this I've 25' of chain and 100' of 1/2" nylon three strand rode...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Arlyn, did you mis-type? A 125' rode won't give you safe scope in a little as 20' of water? (20+4) x 7 = 168'. As discussed at length in other threads, chain and scope are as critical to the equation as the anchor itself. Too little scope will indeed cause the anchor to drag like a plow instead of burying. I've always carried 200' of nylon, generally made to 25' of chain. Indeed a kellet (the word you were looking for) helps, simulating greater scope, but might not do the job in a real blow that puts great tension on the rode.

Good point about the fish-finder--color being best for the purpose. Then the trick is to learn to interpret its picture. (I haven't really figured mine out yet, but it's a cheap, low-resolution one.)

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 01/19/2009 10:31:49

Stu Jackson C34
Admiral

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844 Posts

Response Posted - 02/16/2009 : 16:40:00

I would strongly consider the purchase of one of the new style anchors which have been tested thoroughly and reportedly have superior holding techniques: the Rocna (we bought on and love it after years with a Bruce) and the Manson Supreme.

See:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/anchors

and

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2705.30.html reply #33

IMHO, Danforths should be relegated to stern anchors in non-reversing currents.

Kellets or sentinels are good for reversing currents to keep the rode from engaging the keel, but, as Dave said, when the wind pipes up their usefulness diminishes or disappears altogether.

Edited by - Stu Jackson C34 on 02/16/2009 16:43:02

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 02/16/2009 : 21:37:25

Anchors generate more opinions than anything else. I suggest Practical Sailor (buy the annual Gear Guide if you don't have access to past issues) as a review and Sail/Cruising World/ BoatUS anchor tests. Read everything you can and ask anybody who has been where you are going, then take it all with a grain of salt. You definitely want two different designs without a lot of overlap in conditions where each is best. The Danforth may be old, but it still generates more hold per pound of anchor than anything else in sand and mud. I am leaning heavily toward one of the claw styles as my second since it might grab an outcrop or crevice in the granite and can penetrate moderate weeds.

Edited by - on

glen
Captain

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359 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2009 : 09:59:21

We have made 2 trips to the North Channel using a claw type as our primary. Our Danforth was used when it called for both anchors to be deployed. Worked well for us

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2009 : 20:11:54

Chris,

Well, I looked at the chart of the North Channel with the NOAA online chart viewer, and there are rocks, and rocks, and some more rocks.

So you might want to get one of those new powerful anchors, the Rocna or the Manson Supreme. I don't need that for my conditions, though.

I went down to the local chandlery and picked up a second anchor the other day - I got a good deal on an old, stainless, CQR 25-pounder that just needed a good cleaning. It will find a new home on my anchor roller, and for my mud-bottom bay this is plenty good.

Maybe you can find a store like the one in Annapolis in your area around TO that has dozens of old anchors selling at discount prices. Ground tackle is critical for safety, and I guess Stu knows about anchoring in rocky conditions in his sailing locale in SF Bay.

So good luck with your new anchor.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2009 : 22:00:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JohnP
 ...I got a good deal on an old, stainless, CQR 25-pounder...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Wow--those can cost more than some C-25s!

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 02/27/2009 : 07:24:46

I thought $200 was within my budget!

Edit: The anchor is actually galvanized steel, not the more expensive stainless, but they sell for $500-600 new, so it was worth it for me.

Edited by - JohnP on 02/27/2009 11:47:12

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