# Anchors or the curse of the dreaded lunch hook



## Seeds21 (Nov 24, 2015)

This my advice on anchors.

First of bad anchoring not only can cause loss of your boat and your life but also damage to other peoples boats in the harbour which at the least will cost you money or get your ass kicked. That being said here it goes.

How big is your boat if its 20 to 30 ft theres a good chance your cursed with a lunch hook also known as the 12 pound danforth its good for a dinghy or skiff or slowing you down to have lunch but by god dont sleep on it, they bust loose in a storm like a warm knife through butter.

I run a CQR plow 35 pounds and a 40 pound danforth on my 36ft cascade. The 35 pound danforth alone held me in 3 straight days of 100km per hr winds in a mud bottom there is no better anchor it has a hinge on it so when the wind direction shifts it doesnt pop out. 

The danforth digs in good in sand and weedy bottoms plus when all hell breaks loss makes a great stern anchor.

When picking an anchor consider this boat size, and bottom type you will be in most.

Plows ie bruce cqr delta are good for mud

Navy pick weeds and rocks

Danforth weeds sand ok holding in mud

Generaly somewhere between 25 and 40 pounds is where you wanna be for a 24ft to 40ft boat. 

Chain and rode

Theres charts on line regarding this but as a general rule i run 50 ft of chain minimum and 200 ft of rode. Check the charts re thickness matched to your boat. When anchoring always try to get a 5 to 1 ratio meaning in 20ft of water u want 100ft of rode out plus your chain. I had a 3 to 1 in a busy harbor one time was on shore partying it up and a surprise 40knot storm came in i rushed an hr away on the island to get back just in time to jump in my dinghy climb on my drifting boat and drop the fenders as i crashed sideways into the coast guard dock. Boat was ok and we mooched 3 days moorage but after that scare i learned your better farther put in less shelter on longer rode then cramned in on a 3 to 1.

Kellets

If your anchor is light you can about 10 ft up the rode or chain put a kellet just about anything metal and heavy works common ones are 10 pound lead fishing weights or dumbells of a weight set. 

Look online re multiple anchor tactics like the bermuda rig which is basically 2 off the bow in a v. By the way when chucking the 2nd anchor its almost always better to row out in the dinghy with it tied on and drop it makes your chances a lot better they wont wrap. 

Hope this helps

Keep yer stick on the ice

Captain Shawn


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## Tude (Nov 24, 2015)

Cool info Captain


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## iamwhatiam (Nov 26, 2015)

CaptainShawn said:


> This my advice on anchors.
> 
> First of bad anchoring not only can cause loss of your boat and your life but also damage to other peoples boats in the harbour which at the least will cost you money or get your ass kicked. That being said here it goes.
> 
> ...


Hey Cap'n Shawn -
So I am planning on learning to sail the Pacific Northwest and I had some questions for you.
So, for cruising around Whidbey Islands/Vancouver Island/Southeast Alaska inside passage the navy pick or Danforth anchors are best? Seems like you use the Danforth most?

And Do I really need that much rode for anchoring if I mostly plan to gunkhole it along the coast in shallow coves?

How often have you had an anchor snag where you couldn't get it back up and had to cut the line?
And finally, how many anchors do you recommend carrying onboard for backup, if space allows?


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