I am the person who started this post. i did make it to block island and flet it is only right for me to share my experience with those who took the time to give me advice. Due to lack of time and funds i did not yet get more
anchor chain or buy a new
anchor. I have two
cqr (35 and 35) and a 55
fortress. this is what i experienced.
After a great sail from mystic river we arrived a great salt pond and knowing there were no morrings we tried anchoring. It took us a total of 1.5 hours to set an anchor. i was there a year prior and used my main anchor a
cqr 45 and after 2 attempts it held fast and stayed till we fought to pull it up. so i arrived confident that it would hold again. This time we dropped and pulled it up 6 times, couldnt get it to set. tried different areas with not luck. This was a tedious task as i do not have a windless. My anchor man decided he needed a break. i decided to get my 55
fortress out of the closet, assemble it and give her a try. at the second attempt she set and held strong. i stayed up till 230 am that night on anchor watch and watched as 2 other boats hit. In that time we did swing 360 degrees due to wind gusts. From what i hear that is when a dansforth style anchor will break free and need to be reset. We held secure!!! the next day i got a moorning but was thankful and felt lucky. When i pulled up the anchor there was lots of hard black clay on it. No wonder it is hard to set an anchor. i have to say the 55 fortress was an invaluable asset that night.