There is little doubt that, if I could, I would like to have a 60 pound
CQR on 400 feet of 3/8" BBB chain as a primary, and something just a bit smaller as a secondary.
A friend of mine, when I asked him what I should have for
ground tackle, once asked me in return "How soundly do you want to sleep?" That is the root of all anchoring answers.
Good catenary is essential to supporting a good
anchor in marginal holding. I have been collecting and reviewing every
anchor test I can find on
line and have found some disturbing results.
In the first place, I wish I could be sure an
anchor test that has a broad selection of
anchors was being performed without a marketing agenda aimed at one specific
anchor.
Anchor tests held for the Bruce are dialed into to gutshoot the
Danforth and
CQR''s. Tests for the
Delta go to places where the Bruce and
Fortress go belly up. Some tests are just plain lies. I have seen tests that claim "The
CQR just skipped across the bottom and never set." "The Bruce held up to (some lame number) then dragged." "We could never get the ( blah blah blah )
anchor to drag." (even though they were pulling at it with a 3000 HP tug)
Of course, all of these tests don''t mean anything because when you''re out there, you are left with what you have as far as bottom, wind, swell, and current.
I guess the only thing left is to ''go bigger, heavier, and stronger than you''ll ever think you need'' and then don''t scrimp on a
windlass - get a big strong reliable unit and let it do the work for you.