Anchors Away
My name is Bill and I’m an Anchor-holic, or so I’ve been accused. I confess, not counting the little dinghy anchors, there are 10 aboard Colony II. “Ten!? … where do you put ten anchors?” a reasonable person could reasonably wonder. I can explain quite reasonably, mostly.
Five of the flock live topside all the time and each has its designated duty.
Alongside the bowsprit and under the pulpit are a pair of CQR’s. To starboard is the 45 lb on the end of 300’ of chain. His brother the 35 lb’er has a goodly length of chain shackled to 250’ of 7/8” nylon.
Balancing those out aft on the stern is the 100 lb Bruce storm anchor and his tiny buddy, a light throwing weight Fortress.
“Okay that’s five, but you know the next question.”
They go below, below the cabin sole and only show up topsides when the weatherman is being evil. The biggest baddest of them is the Fortress FX-85, if there’s a hurricane in the offing he’s on deck. There’s a Fortress FX-55 and two FX-37’s, and the 43 lb Danforth was aboard when we bought Colony II. “So below, but where exactly?” Ha, glad you asked, I just happen to have a little video about that.
Correction dang it … the big Fortress FX-85 only weighs just a bit over 50 lbs with shackle and bag. It replaces a 85/90lb steel anchor for holding power. 🙂
Traditionally sailors cruising far and wide will set a hook in different bottoms–muddy, sandy, rocky, sand over coral, and in crowded or in blissfully open anchorages. So five is about average, when taking storm conditions into the mix. And ten is well, twice that, yes I know. I defend my anchor-holic’ism by pleading no contest and offer the explanation that some of them just came to me of their own accord.
The spare 45 lb CQR was a gift for help rendered to a fellow cruiser when the boat was sold. One of the Fortress FX-37’s likewise donated to CII from a now boat-less friend, the other FX-37 was a yard sale ‘offer you can’t refuse’ addition. Oh yeah, and as I said the Danforth was already aboard. And again likewise the 100 lb Bruce is off a 50 footer whose cruising days are over and whose captain needed some instant money.
So if it’s true that you can’t be too young or too rich or however that goes, I’m thinking maybe you can’t have too many anchors at least until you have to raise the waterline.
Side note: Extra anchors are of little use, except as good barter anywhere there are boats, without the accompanying tackle, which is another subject to talk about what we do on Colony II. And then there’s the subject of what kind of anchors, a controversial hot topic. Hmm, are the new to the scene anchors wonderful reasons to dump the old school hooks? I’ll think on it for some posts and get back to ya. ~ Fair Winds ~
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