Need a second anchor..

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Live2Dive

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I'm planning a trip to the Bahamas this summer and I'm trying to get everything ready. I currently have a 60# Delta with 200' of 3/8 chain rode. This has worked very well so far. I am planning on anchoring out quite a bit on this trip, and thought I should probably get a backup/second anchor. I was thinking of a Danforth with 100' feet of rope rode, short chain leader. Storage is an issue.
Does anyone have an opinion of an optimal set up? What size anchor?
Boat is 56'loa, ~50,000 lb.
Thanks in advance.
 
Check out the Fortress, they are lightweight and have awesome holding ability.
 
I second the Fortress. Most boats in the Bahammas use 2 anchors placed 45 degrees
each side of the bow or 90 degrees to the 1st anchor setting.With the Fortress you will only need 10 Feet of chain. Scope is normally 5-7 to one.
 
I think both anchors should have more rode so you can anchor in deeper waters. Also more scope is a good idea if high winds or heavy seas come along. I have 300 ft rode for my bow anchor and 150 ft rode for my stern, I boat where most of the water is less than 50 ft deep. I store my stern anchor in a lightweight plastic box with a small floaty on the bitter end. This prevents me from losing the anchor overboard or to retrieve it with a boat hook if I mess up!

Have a great trip. We want pictures and story upon your return!!!
 
Mark: We carry as a spare a large Fortress that disassembles ans fits in a bag with 20ft. of chain, and then I carry a large spool of line in the anchor locker to fit 2nd anchor. I realize it isn't all chain, however I carry only as a back-up. Since it comes apart--storage is not a problem.
Hope you have a great trip.
 
Thank you all for your replies. If you don't mind me asking, how exactly does the Fortress come apart? That would be a huge benefit for me.
 
The Danforth anchors are popular for second anchors because the store flat. You can't do this with a Delta or CQR. People
will hang the CQR on their bow sprit and keep the Danforth in storage.
 
When you order the Fortress anchor it comes in a box for you to assemble. So assemble it once then disassemble it for storage until needed.
 
"Most boats in the Bahammas use 2 anchors placed 45 degrees each side of the bow or 90 degrees to the 1st anchor setting."

Maybe were you go in the Bahamas. But I rarely see that, unless the boat is staying long term.

And you never want to set two anchors 180 deg. apart unless all the other boats around you have. Because if you have and they haven't, and they swing and you don't, you'll become very unpopular very quickly.

As others have said, I'd get a Fortress, at least a FX-55. Better yet get a FX-85 with 20 - 30 feet of chain and 150 - 200 feet of rode. In the Bahamas you are very rarely anchoring in anything over 20 feet for any length of time. In fact in most places you want to tuck up close to the beach in 10 feet or less to get in the lee.

Heck if I was you, and I really wanted to sleep well at night, I'd bump your main anchor up one more size.
 
Another vote for the Fortress as a second anchor. I am no fan of them as a primary anchor. In a wind shift they have a nasty habit of pulling out all clogged with grass & mud & then not resetting. However, as a secondary anchor that is lightweight & takes a big load, subject to the above, they are great.

If you want to back yourself up close to a beach use the Fortress to the beach. Easy to handle & under supervised conditions no need for heavy chain to make it effective enough.
 
mark, all you have to do us loosen a couple of nuts and bolts.
 
"nasty habit of pulling out all clogged with grass"

Which leads my to this question for you Veebyes.

I've been hanging out lately with a guy who sailed down here, USVIs, via Bermuda in January and he said Bermuda was full of sargassum weed. More than has been seen in decades. At least that is what he said he was told while there.

Is that true?
 
Capt Bill, Very true. An incredible amount of seaweed in the area this year. We are, after all, in the middle of an area of the Atlantic known as the Sargasso Sea. It has been around since later Nov. I have no idea why. From 30,000' on a clear day the massive beds of it offshore look like land.
 
I saw some tests that rated the Rocna very highly. Look very interesting. Maybe you want to look at that one - use it as a primary and keep the delta as your spare.
 
Try a Northill. Good holding in sand, mud and rock. The cross arm will fold if needed. 10,000 (+/-) commercial fishing boats can't be wrong.
 
I have a fortress as a second anchor also. Easy to take apart and store in the bag. The flukes and stock come off so the whole stored package is about the width of one fluke. Since it's aluminum it doesn't corrode. I keep it stored under a bunk the majority of time when it's not in use in an area where I could never keep a regular anchor. And it does the job well when I do need it.
 
I have a Fortress FX23 - only 15-20 lbs -I stow it in the swimplatform w/200ft of rode- our boat is about 50k lbs wet
sometimes I think it holds better that the 66lb bruce anchor I use as the main.
A couple of years ago we used it as one of the atern anchors for the HRCC/LICC raftup that had 20 boats at time
 
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