New ( ? ) idea on anchoring

[29 cascadefixer]

Thank you all for the replies and PATIENCE. I just now read the posts on anchoring previous to my post and saw sentinals covered pretty thoroughly. My conclusions-- get a plow, a Danforth, and a Grapnel-- stick one of them it on 50 - 60 feet of 1/4 inch chain at the end of 300 feet of 5/8ths nylon anchor rode. This , in my opinion , would handle just about any anchoring situation where I want to sail in the Great Lakes. The Grapnel would be best in rock right ?

[windship]

cascadefixer,
Good morning.
What kind of rock bottom do you mean?
Rocks,ledge or somthing else?

Dennis

[29 cascadefixer]

Now ya got me. Lake Superior shoreline is covered with, I believe, their called glacial rocks. Fist sized, double fist sized, some as big as your head. I made an assumption that these would extend out far enough to deal with when anchoring, which led me to think of a grapnel/Herreschoff type for this bottom.

[windship]

29 cascadefixer,
Good morning.
Rock is a tuff place to anchor. A danforth is out of the question.They bend.You have alot of ledge up there, right? Well, the danforth will hook the tip of a fluke on a ridge and because of their lightweight design,it will bend and send you drifting. As far as those fist and head size rocks,they will scoop-up those rocks in their flukes and become usless in no time. Or mabey it will hold just long enough for you to go to sleep and the wind to pick-up.Now your just,what I call, ''trolling for rocks''.And they won''t re-set. I don;t like danforths anyway except for mabey in pure sand, and then, only if I didn''t have my Bruce.Praise be to Bruce!
I''m glad I don''t have to anchor in rock and ledge like Great Lakes Sailors do but If I did,I would have (in fact I already do)a Fisherman(Herreschoff), A CQR and a Bruce.All on board. Properly sized for my boat, with properly sized chain and road for at least two anchors.
Oh,by-the-way,a grapnel is not really an anchor.They are mainly used for retrieving lost items off the bottom and lifting rodes off other rodes,etc.They are acually made to drag accross the bottom with-out holding.
Hope this helps,

Dennis

[29 cascadefixer]

Well Thankee for the input ! I was hoping for an easy answer for anchoring in rock. Perhaps a Kevlar bag attached to the anchor rode filled with rocks collected on site. 3 -4 hundred pounds of ''em ought to do the trick. Say. maybe I could sucker in a Powerboater to collect ''em at a few pennies a pound. Their always desparate for fuel money.

[windship]

29 cascadefixer,
I failed to mention that you can drop your hook and then dive on it to check it or to actually place it by hand in a trustworthy spot.Just be aware of wind shifts.

Dennis

[29 cascadefixer]

Thank you again. I had thought of diving to check on the anchor, but sometimes the water temperature in the Great Lakes is VERY cold. I went wading in Lake Superior one time and my feet ached after a minute or two. The water must have been down around 50 degrees. I''m too much of a wuss to dive in that, thank you.By the way, have you checked out the US Sailing site- Safety at Sea on their anchoring tests? Some eye opening material there, especially in mud.

[29 cascadefixer]

Well- guess we''ve taken this thread to ROCK BOTTOM--HEHEHEHEHHE.

[carisea]

Does this mean everytime you want to lower or raise anchor you have to attach or remove these weights. This might be acceptable when you know a real blow is coming but I would not use this method as an everyday sytem.

[manateee_gene]

You have asked an important question and the answer is yes!!! That is the reason on Teacher''s Pet III we use a 5'' piece of heavy chain. It does not have to be removed and it weighs 35# and it will move as the tide or current changes, abet, not as fast as the smaller change and slow enough that your anchor has time to turn TOO.
Gene S/V Teacher''s Pet III