I should emphasise that the OCC sailors, some of whom anchor in the wilder parts of the world such as the Beagle Channel, are unanimous in saying that the modern generation of scoop anchors (Manson Supreme, Rocna Original & Rocna Vulcan, Spade, Sarca) are a great leap forward compared to the CQR, Delta, Danforth & Bruce, which used to represent the state of the art. It's just this one occasional glitch that could do with some attention. 

Arne Kverneland wrote:

PS: Annie described a clever way of sailing the anchor up (tacking automatically). How did you get up the hook when anchoring from the stern  -  motoring?

To answer your question, I lead a bight of that horrid three-strand nylon that Annie mentions aft, leaving the bitter end attached to the bow cleat, before releasing the running section from the bows. To get the hook up I released the warp from the stern, allowing the boat to swing her bow into wind, before sailing off in the usual manner.

David, 

I have a shiny new Rocna anchor in front of me and I am now almost overwhelmed with the urge to drill holes in it......  For the sake of science I will at least wait until I've used it "as is" for a bit to see if the results can be replicated.   I do wonder about those experiments a bit though, how often does a boat at anchor switch direction 180 degrees and take off at 3.5 knots?

Bryan, 

For some Keel-Mast combinations anchoring from the stern is likely to give lower loads on the anchor rode than from the bow for the very reasons you state.  Indeed, it is probably the snubbing loads of a boat veering that cause many anchors to break free.  I've never tried anchoring from the stern, but here is a link to a well-thought-out argument from the designer of the Jordan series drogue.

Arne, 

I wonder if it wouldn't still be possible to retrieve the anchor from the bow, even when anchored from the stern.  I think an all chain rode would be the most difficult to deal with.  But even then, a nylon snubber is usually used from the bow, with enough extra chain let out so that the nylon takes the load and there is a small loop of chain not under tension.  I might be possible to make that small loop of chain into a large one that goes from bow to stern under the keel and then you attach the snubber as normal but to the stern.  Releasing the snubber would be the trick.  I'd be tempted to try a dyneema soft shackle to attach the snubber to the chain, and then just let the snubber fall into the water with the chain when it is time to retrieve.  This creates a hazard of a line that could get tangled in the prop, but would let you retrieve the snubber and chain over the bow roller easily and prevents handling of heavy lines.  

Like Paul, I have a full keeled schooner, so most of this info has just been sitting in a quiet corner of my brain filed away under the "in case of need on a difficult day" category.

Bryan Tuffnell wrote:

.....

Slightly off topic - one very windy day at anchor, Fantail, being a sociable creature, was visiting her neighbours and occupying somewhat more space than seemed strictly necessary (read: veering more than any other boat in the bay, and snubbing hard), and I decided to try something. Using the Armstrong strain gauge (read: I tried to hold a bight of rode in my arms), I found the peak loads were well in excess of my pathetic musculature to hold. Shifting the rode to the stern improved things out of site: all snubbing instantly stopped and the boat sat calm and stable; the loads as measured by the 'Armstrong' fell to the easy category; strain on boat, crew and neighbourhood fell to negligible. I feel I should stand by for a barrage of contrary views, but given that Fantail is probably typical of a fin keeled junk rig in that she is so stable stern to wind, there may be merits in trying this on other boats. No doubt someone will consider that wave action on the transom stern and rudder make this undesirable, but my very limited experience thus far doesn't suggest this.

Bryan,

maybe you could try this method for me:

The idea is to force the boat to lie at just enough offset angle to prevent it from tacking about at anchor. Just anchor as normal. Then tie on the ekstra line, and finally let out a bit more anchor rope/chain until you get the right (hopefully) angle.

Arne

PS: Annie described a clever way of sailing the anchor up (tacking automatically). How did you get up the hook when anchoring from the stern  -  motoring?

Thanks to discussions on the OCC forum, I've come across a series of videos of anchor tests that throw a great deal of light on how anchors behave:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1Fn_m9nfcf4asEG_bulHA

Of particular interest to me were #63 and #67 in the series. #63 deals with the Rocna anchor, which grabs the bottom very quickly and reliably on the first set, but can drag when the pull is reversed and the anchor resets (at a windshift or change of tide). I've found the same, very occasionally, and apparently it also applies to the Manson Supreme.

#67 goes through a series of modifications in an attempt to improve a Manson Supreme. It turns out that the cause of the problem is that a big clod of sea bottom attaches to the top of the fluke, and it is this that inhibits reliable resetting. 

There are commercially available anchors, from http://www.anchorright.com.au/ for example, that have perforations in the fluke - and it is these that make a dramatic improvement in the anchor's ability to shrug off the clod of sea bottom and then reset reliably. I'd never have thought of that in a hundred years.