Anchors!! a Touchy subject

Today I finally fitted up the new anchor and chain.

Anchors are another hotly debated subject in the boating world and raise heckles and opinions all around.

I opted for a Plastimo Kobra 2 anchor, the boat came originally with a Bruce claw type anchor, no doubt a clone of some sort, the claws are good in some aspects in that they are easy to set, but do drag easily, they came from oil platforms originally and work well in a massive scale, but scaled down they are not so great.

With anchors there is a huge selection, some better than others for different types of bottoms, but unless you have deep pockets and lots of storage most boaters are limited to two, one,main and one kedge (a smaller anchor normally used off the stern.

The Kobra 2 anchor did very well in most tests and feedback from owners has been very positive and lastly price wise here in the UK it is much cheaper than other brands that many cruisers use, eg fortress or Manson supreme etc

The chain went on with a few hitches, the windlass packed in half way through (would only wind one way) a few knocks to the solenoid got the motor going again, (it must have dodgy contacts), heaving 80m of chain by hand is not the best of fun.

80m of chain is a good number, keeps the weight down a bit, but allows for plenty of chain for deeper anchorages , most cruising boats are sold with anywhere from 30-50m of chain out of the box so to speak, while fine for most everyday cruising, there are many times where you would want more!

Just watch that the chain you select matches the gypsy in the windlass, or you are in for one headache!

I used a Kong swivel to connect the anchor and chain, these are among the better swivels, many don't use swivels as the are a weak point, but they do make retrieving the anchor so much easier and some bow rollers don't get on too well with bow shackles ( a rounded shackle which connects the chain to anchor)