Do I really need to carry and use a boat anchor?
I've just bought my first motor cruiser, a 28-foot Merry Fisher. I mostly plan to do day trips and hop between marinas on the Solent, so do I really need to carry and use a heavy boat anchor? It seems like a lot of hassle and weight in the bow if I'm not planning to sleep out on the hook.
Answer
You must carry a suitably sized anchor and rode at all times, as it is your only reliable brake and primary safety device if you lose engine power. Even if you never plan to sleep at anchor, dropping the hook prevents you from drifting onto rocks or shipping lanes while you sort out a mechanical failure.
Your primary safety brake
If you pick up a stray pot line around your prop or suck a slug of diesel bug into your fuel filter, your boat becomes a dead weight at the mercy of the wind and tide. An anchor buys you time. Instead of fending off a lee shore or drifting into a commercial channel, setting the anchor secures the vessel. You can then bleed the fuel system, clear the prop, or wait for a tow. Ducking into a sheltered bay and dropping the hook is much safer than battling through heavy seas to reach your home marina. Always keep hands and feet well clear of running chain when deploying the tackle.
Selecting the right design
Ditch the outdated CQR or cheap copy of a Bruce anchor. Modern anchors set faster and hold better across varying seabeds.
- Rocna and Mantus: These feature a roll bar and a concave fluke. They set almost instantly and reset themselves if the wind shifts. A galvanised 10kg Rocna costs around £220 and is superb for a 28 foot boat.
- Spade: Features a heavily weighted lead tip rather than a roll bar. It fits better on boats with bowsprits and offers phenomenal holding power. It is more expensive, costing upwards of £450.
- Delta: A traditional plough anchor. It is standard factory issue on many production boats. It works adequately in sand and mud but struggles to penetrate thick weed.
- Fortress or Danforth: Fluke anchors made of aluminium or galvanised steel. Excellent holding in soft mud or sand makes them ideal as a lightweight stern or kedge anchor. They easily pop out when the tide turns.
Sizing your ground tackle
The general rule for a modern anchor is 1kg to 1.5kg of weight per metre of boat length. For a typical 28 foot (8.5m) motor cruiser, a 10kg anchor is the absolute minimum. Stepping up to a 15kg model provides a much better safety margin for very little extra cost.
The anchor is only as good as the chain and rope (the rode) attaching it to your boat. You have two main choices: