Anchor of last resort: make your own storm anchor
IN the late seventies I had a painful lesson as a bosun aboard an old Baltic trader. It was my first job after navy service. We experienced a southerly gale while at anchor in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea.
To add to our problems the three-masted schooner was engineless, which sealed her fate. We dragged anchor fast and could not make it to deeper water under sail.
Sadly, despite all our efforts we grounded, resulting with the boat becoming a total loss. The sad irony was that a few months earlier her heavy fisherman’s anchor was substituted for a much lighter, stockless Halls-type working anchor.
I always felt that she would have survived the ordeal if her original fisherman’s anchor was in use during that gale.
Some of the anchors we inherited in the purchase of Rhythm were far too small and tired for her size. I chucked two of them in the skip and no one was tempted to adopt them or give them a good home.
We had to relocate the windlass from the chain locker to the deck, which allowed easy maintenance, room for more chain and space for a heavier working anchor. It meant that we could now self stow our new 27 kilogram (60 pound) CQR and the spare 27kg. Danforth on the bow roller.
So, with a long circumnavigation looming ahead of us, I was eager to add a much heavier, last resort, fisherman’s-type storm anchor for severe conditions. I was after an anchor which can be taken apart, stowed neatly and, above all, have great holding power in a variety of sea beds.
Yes, there are a few light weight alloy anchors on the market claiming great holding power, I
