Boat Anchor

[bigge31566]

I have a 18.6 bowrider used in mostly salt water, the anchor came with boat will not hold in sandy conditions , it has a no. 11 stamped on it with sliding ring is this a 11 pound anchor and should I go to a 13 or 15 pound anchor

 

[Tassie 1]

Do you set it or just chuck it over the side and hope it sets itself?

son has a 6kg plough on a 18.6 ft half cabin that works well depending on conditions

 

[scott8058]

I have a 20ft bow rider and if my 10lb anchor is set that boat don’t move. My back anchor is a mushroom style 15lb and it doesn’t hold nearly as well. I doubt you need a heavier one.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you have a sliding ring fluke anchor. they work ok for an aft anchor, however dont work as well as a true Danforth style fluke anchor with a section of chain.

an 11# fluke anchor is all your boat should need, however the anchor has to set.

 

[Mischief Managed]

How much chain in your rode? For that size boat, you should have a minimum of 9 feet of 3/16" chain, in my opinion (more or bigger chain will hold even better/require less scope). How much scope (ratio of the length of your rode vs. the vertical distance between your rode tie point at your bow and the anchor on the bottom) are you using? The scope needs vary by condition, but 5:1 is a good starting point with the minimum chain recommended. These are key details for anchoring. Any anchor should be able to hold in sand.

 

[Ned L]

At least here the responses started out by asking if he knows how to properly set an anchor (good job ).
On the other site they immediately started telling him he needs more chain, 10, 15, 20 feet. (20 feet of chain on an 18 ft boat for an afternoon of anchoring??? Lol )

 

[JoLin]

The biggest problem I see is with people not putting out enough rode when they anchor. Time and time again I see someone drop the anchor, let it hit bottom, let out a few more feet of rode and tie it off. Then they go shopping for a heavier anchor 'cause "it won't hold". You need to measure the depth of the water and add the distance from the waterline to the bow (in the OP's case, probably about 2 feet).

Your 'formula" for deploying enough rode is 5-10x the above distance, depending on wind. I routinely anchor in a cove with 14' of water depth. Distance from the waterline to my bow pulpit is about 3'. So, 17' x 5 (on a calm day) equates to 85' of rode I deploy on a typical outing in light wind.

My ,02

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have 150' of rode on board. luckily the gulf is only about 10-15' deep in most of my boating locations. a few times to ride out a storm, I used all 10:1 scope. however generally I can get away with about 4-5:1

 

[shrew]

My guess is the slide ring is part of the issue and causing the anchor to trip out. A 9lb Delta would be fine for your application and better handle conditions like reversing tides.

 

[DouglasW]

At least here the responses started out by asking if he knows how to properly set an anchor (good job ).
On the other site they immediately started telling him he needs more chain, 10, 15, 20 feet. (20 feet of chain on an 18 ft boat for an afternoon of anchoring??? Lol )

Ned, I know. I saw that too. Seems like they might be in the business of selling chain ;-)

GaryDoug

 

[Fed]

10-15 ft of 3/8 chain will fix it.
Have you blokes in chain denial ever tried it?

 

[Scott Danforth]

agreed that the chain helps, however the sliding ring anchor is not helping.

replace the sliding ring fluke anchor with a standard fluke anchor and add some chain. on an 18' boat, 5' of chain is all that would be needed.

 

[DouglasW]

10-15 ft of 3/8 chain will fix it.
Have you blokes in chain denial ever tried it?

NO, because I have never had any problem using only 5' of chain. If it isn't broke, I am not "fixing" it.

 

[MRS]

I buy the tow chains from harbour fright 14ft. cut in half and have two anchor chain setups works great on 19 footer. Like every one said you just have to set your anchor and you will be good to sit.

 

[fishrdan]

For the slip ring anchor, slowly lower the anchor into the water, so the ring stays at the top. I used to have one of those, and a couple of times when I "chucked" it in the water, the ring stuck at the bottom of the anchor and it just drug.

Agree with the others, bit of chain, proper scope and set the anchor.

That 11# anchor should be sufficient for your 18.5' boat. I have a 9# Danforth on my 18'er and like it.

I buy the tow chains from harbour fright 14ft. cut in half and have two anchor chain setups

I did the same, but used one of their 5/16" 20' chains and lopped 7' off one end for the stern anchor, then 13' for bow anchor.

If fishing deep, 100+-', I'll drop all 20' of chain out the bow. Just breezy, I don't have to run any scope on the anchor line, just enough out so I can feel the chain end bouncing, with the anchor line vertical. When the wind picks up, let out anchor line ...