What size of anchor

two stroke mick · 05 March 2008, 20:45

I am looking for advice on which type and weight of anchor I should go for. The boat is a 4.9m valiant. I would be anchoring in sand and shell. I am thinking of 50m of rope and 4 m of chain. Your thoughs please

ian parkes · 05 March 2008, 20:55

I had the smallest Bruce and 3m of chain on mine . mainly sand and pebbles where we go .
It was plenty enough for the valiant .

I also carried a small folding grapnel to add to the line if I needed to but never did .

Having said that there are no heavy tidal flows here and I never used it for rough or stormy conditions .

two stroke mick · 05 March 2008, 21:00

Hi Ian

Could you get the anchor and rope and chain into the anchor locker in the bow. what length of rope did you carry

codprawn · 05 March 2008, 21:01

Folding grapnels are totally useless on sand - they only work properly on rock or other rough bottoms where they can hook in.

The Bruce is great - I use a 5kg with all rope for my big RIB - never a problem. I have a 6kg Delta with some very heavy chain but have never needed to use it and we get some very fast tides where I am.

Cypman · 05 March 2008, 21:11

I had a 5kg Bruce on my Humber 6.3m Ocean Pro which was more than adequate, so I guess a 3kg one should be big enough for you. It depends on how strong the currents are where you expect to anchor, also the Bruce type is not the most compact of anchors so check your locker for size.
Chain equal to boat length is a good guide and 50m of rope should cope with most eventualities. 8mm diam is probably strong enough but 10mm diam is much easier on the hands!!!

ian parkes · 05 March 2008, 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by two stroke mick

Hi Ian

Could you get the anchor and rope and chain into the anchor locker in the bow. what length of rope did you carry

Yes 3kg bruce 3m of chain and 50m of rope easily fitted in the locker , with room for another coil of rope ,rubber mats small grapnel , etc

i used 8mm rope .

i dunno what console you have but mine ,which seemed to be the usual one fitted , had room for a 10litre fuel can betwen the main tank and battery and 2 x 5 litre cans on top of the tank .

danwells · 06 March 2008, 11:45

the anchor i use is a 7.5 kg bruce 159 feet of rope nd 5 m of chain but i anchoy in deep water when i go out.