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Are fishermans anchors obsolete?

  • 12 Jan 2014 15:14
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    Reply # 1473144 on 1472594
    Deleted user
    David Thatcher wrote:

    We have just returned from our first cruise using our new Manson Supreme anchor, which is very similar in design to the Rocna but designed and built here in New Zealand. This anchor is a replacement for our 35lb Manson Plough which is a copy of the CQR and which has dragged on several occasions over the last 6 years. 

    ATM we are anchored in a sandy bottom of perfect consistancy, where only 2 weeks ago a hundred boats lay to watch fireworks, all using either ploughs or Delta's. Last night our modern Super SARCA dragged 40m. I was stunned, it never drags (except in weed). I dove down on it this morning and found it on its side with a big clump of seaweed wrapped around it. So it had an excuse I suppose. We often use our cheap 35lb plough copy too, it never drags and sets right away too. But it has no hoop to catch tumbling seaweed in a tidal stream..
    My wife loves the plough, so far its a been a drop and go to bed anchor, I'm trying to tell her the merits of these new anchors, but not convinced yet, and last night didnt help.
    Last modified: 12 Jan 2014 15:15 | Deleted user
  • 12 Jan 2014 11:21
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    Reply # 1473090 on 1460896
    Deleted user
    I occasionally use a 3 piece 75lbs Fisherman on our 10t engineless 35' Wylo. I keep it alongside the CB case. I usually put it together in the dinghy (I carry 2 plywood dinghys) and row it out. I have had it for 20 years being also in use on our previous boat a ±12t Eric. My main anchor is a 40lbs Bruce. Thierry
  • 11 Jan 2014 04:35
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    Reply # 1472594 on 1460896
    Deleted user

    We have just returned from our first cruise using our new Manson Supreme anchor, which is very similar in design to the Rocna but designed and built here in New Zealand. This anchor is a replacement for our 35lb Manson Plough which is a copy of the CQR and which has dragged on several occasions over the last 6 years. I resisited the change to the new anchor but now that we have used it in a variety of anchorages, and wind and sea conditions, I have to say I am impressed. It always grabbed instantly and everytime we pulled the anchor up it brought a coating of the sea bed material which indicated that it was always digging into the seabed. I don't think I would bother with the old fashioned designs of anchor which need to be very heavy to provide the required holding power, in fact I have removed the old Fisherman style anchor from Footprints, and a very heavy Danforth pattern anchor which was on the boat. So Footprints now has as her anchor wardrobe the 35lb Manson Supreme, a 30lb Manson Plough and the G16 Guardian alloy anchor which I would like to upgrade to the G22 which is the size up from that specified for a boat of the size of Footprints which is 10 metres in length and weighs 5 tonnes.

    The only downside to all this is that the new anchor now bounces it's way down the straight stem of Footprints when being lowered because of the extra bulk of the anchor, so I now need to extend the bow roller further forward, just when I thought I was clear of boat projects for a while!

    Last modified: 11 Jan 2014 04:47 | Deleted user
  • 08 Jan 2014 02:24
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    Reply # 1470450 on 1460896
    Deleted user
    Interesting, Shemaya. I think I happened upon the easiest method of fisherman anchor handling, lasso'ing a fluke tamed the beast very nicely. Dont really have enough room forward of the mast to perch on the bow roller and grab at it. 

    Looks like the secret to fisherman anchor selection, as Annie says, is the heavier the better and our 44 lbs version is on the light side. Last week I showed our anchor to a experienced south coast (Southern Ocean coast, no sandy anchorages anywhere) yachtie who suggested sharpening the flukes, which is something I heard elsewhere. Grass anchors need sharp flukes to penetrate between the roots. The guy even acknowledged fisherman anchors aren't perfect for weed, he just throws everything out if the holding is suspect.
  • 08 Jan 2014 00:29
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    Reply # 1470386 on 1460896
    Anonymous member

    On the coast of Maine the big schooners use fisherman anchors routinely, as do quite a few sailors, because of their reputation in both kelp and rocks, and tolerance of shorter scopes. With the giant anchors on the schooners, when they retrieve them they have a big metal hook, like a fishing gaff, attached to a block and tackle from the mast. When the anchor is within reach, somebody reaches down over the side to place the hook on the anchor's shank, near the flukes, and then they start hauling the anchor up. Describing it now, I don't know why the hook doesn't slide up the shank, but in the round of this that I got to watch clearly, it didn't. Then the anchor was easily pulled up on deck with the block and tackle.

    A fellow who sails a 22 foot cruising catboat with no engine, for trips of 1 to 2 weeks on the Maine coast, told me that the fisherman is the only anchor that will hold in "popplestone," large round stones, as big or bigger than bowling balls, that form whole beaches and cove bottoms in this area… I haven't tried it yet, because I'm still working out the retrieval process on my own boat, likely to include something like that big hook, and an informal cargo boom (to keep the anchor from bashing the topsides) and block and tackle at the mizzen mast. Looking at cockpit storage, because I don't want to put all that extra weight at the bow of such a small boat…

    Regards,

    Shemaya
  • 22 Dec 2013 05:52
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    Reply # 1462360 on 1461443
    Anonymous member
    Gary King wrote:
    I found the fishermans harder to retrieve than deploy (just heave it over the side the move the chain to the roller). Retrieving though, I had to lasso one of the flukes as it was dangling below the bow, pull it back onto the gunwale then manhandle it on board.
    Pete used to haul our Luke up until it was just under the roller, then lean over and grasp it by the stock with both hands.  He could then pull it over the roller and drop secure it with the stock behind the bollard.  Apart from the sheer weight of the brute (we actually weighed it and found it to be 68 lbs) it was no more trouble to handle than the Bruce.  But we had no pulpit.  Again, one picture, etc and Badger's Luke anchor, stowed, can be seen here.
  • 20 Dec 2013 01:53
    Quote
    Reply # 1461443 on 1460896
    Deleted user
    Yep, the 14kg SARCA is a size too small, found at a chandlery clearance bin cheap so couldnt resist. 
    I found the fishermans harder to retrieve than deploy (just heave it over the side the move the chain to the roller). Retrieving though, I had to lasso one of the flukes as it was dangling below the bow, pull it back onto the gunwale then manhandle it on board.
    This anchoring gig takes energy, but as a charter boat captain said to us last week, WA is a good coast to learn to sail on, its always blowing a gale.. (that bloke sails his 30'er engineless).
  • 19 Dec 2013 23:48
    Quote
    Reply # 1461393 on 1460896
    Anonymous member
    Well there's kelp and there's kelp.  Personally, I can't imagine anything other than a huge patent anchor working in the sort of kelp you find in the Falkland Is or South Georgia, and I know of people who have dragged 30kg Manson Supremes and similar anchors, not so much through it as over it.  I would say that the 50lb Luke we carried on Badger saved our bacon more than once when we were sailing around there.

    I think most people make problems for themselves in choosing to buy an anchor 5 kg smaller rather than 5kg larger than it should be.  If you don't fancy a fisherman and are still dragging, try trading up in your anchor size.
  • 19 Dec 2013 17:18
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    Reply # 1461127 on 1460896
    Anonymous member
    Yes, I believe so.
    Until recently, I had a 50lb Luke aboard - the Herreschof pattern three piece fisherman, with a cast, heavy crown. The last time I used it was in Tasmania, when it let me down, dragging though eelgrass. I've sold it. It was a terrible brute of a thing to deploy. I've found that my 20kg Rocna will do it all - eelgrass, kelp, stones, as well as better holding ground - and has not let me down yet. I used the proceeds from the sale of the Luke to buy a 10kg Rocna as my second anchor, as an upgrade from the 10Kg Delta. 
    So now my ground tackle armoury consists of:
    20kg Rocna, with 75m of 8mm chain
    10kg Rocna with 5m of 10mm chain and 100 m of 16mm octoplait warp
    Spare 20kg Delta
    Spare 10kg Delta
    Spare 20kg claw type(Bruce copy)
    Spare 27m of 8mm chain, with 50m of 16mm warp.
    Last modified: 19 Dec 2013 17:19 | Anonymous member
  • 19 Dec 2013 12:03
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    Message # 1460896
    Deleted user
    We tried our new 20kg fishermans (or admiralty) anchor and come up wanting. It let go on a weedy bottom at around 25kts of wind, about the same performance as our 14kg Super SARCA (I know because we tested the SARCA on weed the previous week). The SARCA isnt marketed as a weed anchor, but they say these new type anchors can handle a bit of the stuff. 

    When the fisherman dragged (with 10mm chain), I was very surprised because these type of anchors are popular here on the coast, so I dropped the SARCA, the two of them held for the night. But the next day winds hit 30kts and Ashiki started dragging again! This particular sheltered spot had no sand anywhere, but had a couple mooring bouys, which we spent the rest of our stay on.

    So I'm wondering, since this fishermans seems no better in weed than the lighter SARCA, the solution is either dont anchor in weed (south coast WA is 100% weed - good luck) or get a heavier fishermans, in which case, just get a heavier (22kg) SARCA and be done with it.
    I think 22kg modern anchor > 30kg fisherman.
    So are they obsolete?
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