2nd Anchor question

[Adamf24]

Hey guys I had a question about having a 2nd anchor to keep my boat from swaying while at local sandbars. I was thinking of getting a mushroom anchor and attaching it to the stern. I figure a mushroom anchor would be the easiest to "set", and I wouldn't need to worry much if it was dragging somewhat since I only am relying on it to keep the boat from swaying left and right.

Would this be sufficient or should I go with a typical fluke anchor on the stern? And if I go with the mushroom anchor, what size should I get for a 23 foot bowrider?

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Hey guys I had a question about having a 2nd anchor to keep my boat from swaying while at local sandbars. I was thinking of getting a mushroom anchor and attaching it to the stern. I figure a mushroom anchor would be the easiest to "set", and I wouldn't need to worry much if it was dragging somewhat since I only am relying on it to keep the boat from swaying left and right.

Would this be sufficient or should I go with a typical fluke anchor on the stern? And if I go with the mushroom anchor, what size should I get for a 23 foot bowrider?

I used to think the same thing...........then I tried it. Had a 10 lb. mushroom as the stern anchor on an old Searay Seville 21' cuddy. Completely useless on our local sandbar. I had to walk out and reset it at least every 30 minutes. I even tried completely burying the thing and it would still work loose pretty quickly. So currently, on my new 1802 Trophy Walkaround, I have an 8 lb. Danforth as the primary and a 4 lb. as the stern anchor. Works great.

 

[Adamf24]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

I used to think the same thing...........then I tried it. Had a 10 lb. mushroom as the stern anchor on an old Searay Seville 21' cuddy. Completely useless on our local sandbar. I had to walk out and reset it at least every 30 minutes. I even tried completely burying the thing and it would still work loose pretty quickly. So currently, on my new 1802 Trophy Walkaround, I have an 8 lb. Danforth as the primary and a 4 lb. as the stern anchor. Works great.

Hmm... well 10 lb seems kinda light though. I was thinking of getting 20-30 lb mushroom anchor.

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Hmm... well 10 lb seems kinda light though. I was thinking of getting 20-30 lb mushroom anchor.

20-30 lbs. is a lot to haul up when a fluke anchor less than a third that weight should do the job. Just my .02

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Just looked on West Marine, Defender and Hamilton Marine sites and the biggest mushroom any of them carry is a 15 lb. My guess is that with a 15 lb. mushroom, you'll have the same problem that I did.

 

[Starcraftguy1]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Do you have chains between your anchor and anchor lines?

 

[doug glass]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

had a problem with the mushroom anchor went to two fluke anchors and have had no problems have a 17' bowrider

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Do you have chains between your anchor and anchor lines?

If you're asking me, the answer is yes, I've always had at least 10-15' of chain on all of my anchor setups. The exception to that is the small Danforth that I'm currently using as a stern anchor . For its intended use (stern anchor and occasional lunch hook) I find that the chain is not necessary and just makes it more work to retrieve. The mushroom was useless even with 10' of 3/8 chain.

 

[bhammer]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Be careful about anchoring the stern down even with the bow anchored. I have see a couple boats get hit by weird wave combonations where the the bow is lifted by a high wave and the stern sinks and takes on another big wave. Both boats were double anchored this way. Others took hte waves and kept on going...

Two years ago, one boat sank so much that the stern was below the water line about 2 inches. We ended up using a three person tube under the lower unit and aired it up to get the stern high enough for buckets and the bilge to get the water out.

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

The sandbar that we anchor on is in a very protected area and is in less than 4' of water. On a nice weekend there will be over 150 boats there and fore and aft anchoring is not just courteous, its required. I agree however, that you have to be very careful about where and when you use this anchoring technique.

 

[Adamf24]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Well the reason I'd prefer the mushroom anchor is because often times the sandbar I go to is filled with many boats, so I park along the outskirts and the sand is usually very mushy which makes the fluke anchor hard to set. I figured a mushroom anchor would thrive in that kind of seafloor.

And so far the heaviest I've seen is a 20lb mushroom, but I'm sure there has to be larger sizes. I'll probably end up getting another fluke anchor though if I can't get a decent size mushroom anchor.

 

[Sharkfighter]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

I used a 8lbs mushroom anchor off stern of a 19 ft bayliner without chain. I was anchoring on a river and had a proper danforth off of bow with chain. the mushroom anchor would stop boat from swinging for better fishing.

Had to change it when tide reversed directions completely but other then that it held well. Wave on river was very minimal. Sand bottom with no structure.

I wouldnt rely on the mushroom to hold me in place though without the danforth up front. I am curious about those who use an anchor with flukes off of stern. Are you dropping it right down off of the transom or is the rode out at an angle. I always keep good scope off the bow but the secondary river/mushroom anchor goes straight up and down. I would be suprised that the flukes of the Danforth would dig and hold straight up and down better then just the dead weight of a heavier mushroom.

Rob

 

[lowkee]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Wondering the same thing, I pulled this from a 'selecting an anchor' site:

Mushroom Anchors are used for small boats to use as a lunch hook, but not practical for larger boats.

Maybe this will help you decide:

One of the most comprehensive Anchor tests was done by Yachting Monthly (UK magazine) and Sail magazine (US) in 2006.

The Yachting monthly test in conjunction with Sail magazine reviewed 14 anchors. The models were the Fortress FX 37, the Delta anchor, The Claw or Bruce anchor, The CQR, Oceane, Spade, Rocna, Bugel, Performance 20, Manson Supreme, Sarca Anchoright, Bulwagga, XYZ and the Hydrobubble.

The Yachting Monthly/Sail magazine tests were conducted in a sandy to sandy/clay bottom surface. The scope was 5:1 and the towing vessel was a large fishing boat to provide plenty of dragging power.

The best anchors according the YM/Sail tests are the delta, Manson, Rocna, Spade and the fortress. The Delta is a fixed CQR type, the Rocna and spade are Claw types and The fortress a Fluke type.

Not that it should sway you any, but I ended up going with a claw ("Bruce") type anchor, as it is made to handle wind/tide changes without moving.

 

[exsailor]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

I used a 8lbs mushroom anchor off stern of a 19 ft bayliner without chain. I was anchoring on a river and had a proper danforth off of bow with chain. the mushroom anchor would stop boat from swinging for better fishing.

Had to change it when tide reversed directions completely but other then that it held well. Wave on river was very minimal. Sand bottom with no structure.

I wouldnt rely on the mushroom to hold me in place though without the danforth up front. I am curious about those who use an anchor with flukes off of stern. Are you dropping it right down off of the transom or is the rode out at an angle. I always keep good scope off the bow but the secondary river/mushroom anchor goes straight up and down. I would be suprised that the flukes of the Danforth would dig and hold straight up and down better then just the dead weight of a heavier mushroom.

Rob

In a river (where the current is going to keep the boat from swinging much) I can see that a mushroom used as a stern anchor might work OK. We boat in the ocean and in some large lakes where wind is the primary factor in the boat swinging, and the mushroom doesn't work at all. So, like I said, I use a small Danforth (fluke) as a stern anchor. Like the primary anchor, I usually use at least a 5 to 1 scope (4' of water = 20' of anchor rode). I set the bow anchor the old fashioned way and I set the stern anchor by carrying it out and setting it then tying off the rode to a stern cleat. Retrieval works similarly. Obviously this isn't going to work in deep water but since the OP and I both are talking about stern anchor use on a sandbar, I thought my comments appropriate.

 

[rmurray]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Why not just use one anchor and add a shore spike? They are perfect in the sand. Even in four feet of water, just hammer it in under the waterline. I use it all the time and I have never had it come loose. I'll tie the bow to the spike and anchor the stern.

 

[QC]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

I use a Spike on the bow as well any time I beach the boat. With that said . . . you still need a spare fluke or similar anyway, so I'd only get the Spike as a third setup if you want it. Think of your anchor as the ultimate safety device, if it is that (it is) then you need a back-up . . .

 

[Adamf24]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

Ah I forgot all about shore spikes! Good idea, I'm going to give that a try.

I just googled shore spikes and found a pretty nice one from Slide Anchor that doesn't need a hammer to put it in and can have a buoy attached to it as well.

Slide Anchor's Shore Spike - YouTube video of it in action

Thanks for the help guys =)

 

[David Greer]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

You might think about the elastic anchor lines, too.

The mushroom is designed to dig into the mud as it drags, so straight down is not the best hold if there's any pressure on it. Add some line if it's not working; they are easy to throw.

 

[QC]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

I have the Shore Spike as shown, works very well . . . Don't pinch your hand in the slide hammer though , even just pulling it out of the storage bag hurts . . . Stows very well in the Ski locker.

 

[PhatboyC]

Re: 2nd Anchor question

You might think about the elastic anchor lines, too.

Would a snubber help in this situation? Preventing the small stern anchor coming out of the sand when the boat rocks? Is a snubber not elastic enough for this purpose?