We plan to anchor out - a lot. There are a number of reasons why. Chief among them is money. Renting a slip for Sweet Escape can cost as much as $100 per night depending on where you are. Dropping the hook in an idyllic and serene anchorage is free and in our judgment far preferable to the frenetic marina environment with neighbors on both sides and nosey people walking along the dock looking in our windows and cockpit.
You might say that we’re slightly anti-social and you would probably be right. It’s not that we don’t like people, it’s just that we value our privacy. It may have something to do with what we have both been doing for a living for the past thirty plus years.
In any event, we are configuring Sweet Escape to be a self sufficient cruising platform that can stay away from the dock for weeks at a time. The first step in that process was the addition of our diesel generator. Today we completed step two - changing the existing 45 pound Delta anchor and 200 foot combination chain and rope rode to a 60 pound Manson Supreme anchor with 300 feet of all chain rode.
After a lot of research on the subject we selected the
Manson Supremeanchor for it’s ingenious design and superior holding power. As with anything else, from time to time there are products that arrive in the marine marketplace that become “the” hot product. Right now with respect to anchors, that product is the Manson Supreme. The design of this anchor is very similar to another brand of anchor known as the Rochna and had Rochna not run into steel quality issues after moving their production to China, we could have just as easily gone that route, but since the anchor is probably the single most critical piece of safety equipment on board, we chose the New Zealand built Manson Supreme, and upsized from the suggested 45 pound model to the 60 pounder.
The next decision that had to be made concerned the rode. For those readers who are not familiar with boating terms, rode is the line that connects the anchor to the boat. It is usually chain or rope or a combination of the two. In our case, Sweet Escape came equipped with a combination 200 foot rode where the first 50 feet was chain and the remaining 150 was nylon rope. First, we felt that 200 feet was going to be inadequate for the type of cruising we intend to do. Secondly we did not like the idea of our twelve ton boat swinging at the end of a single nylon rope for an extended length of time and finally we did not like the looks of the rope to chain splice. More on that later.
We made the decision to purchase 300 feet of all chain rode. 300 feet will provide sufficient scope in most anchoring situations and the chain will provide strength and additional holding. There was some anxiety over the size and type of chain. Ordering this much chain and getting it from the store to the boat was going to be a major undertaking for us and for the people we bought it from. It was critical that the chain be the correct size and type for our windlass. After much agonizing and research that included taking the windlass apart in order to determine which gypsy we have, we ordered the anchor and 300 feet of 5/16 inch high test G40 galvanized anchor chain from West Marine. We had both items shipped to their store in Racine about five blocks from our slip at Pugh Marina. This enabled us to avoid paying for shipping which given the weight involved would have been significant.
The anchor arrived last week and Brian picked it up on Saturday the 19th. That day something called the Color Run was going on in Downtown Racine. As a result the city prohibited parking on Main Street around - you guessed it - West Marine. So, he was forced to park three blocks away and walk to the store which is no huge deal except that on the way back to the car he would be carrying a 60 pound awkward steel anchor that is all points and sharp edges - “think do it yourself vasectomy.”
But not to worry. The boys at West Marine allowed him to borrow a shopping cart from the store. This was not just any shopping cart but a mini version that would have been perfect for a homeless dwarf. The big Manson really did not fit in the shopping cart but it was either that or risk serious injury by attempting to carry it. So it was that Brian could be seen pushing a mini shopping cart containing an impossibly large boat anchor along the streets of Racine Wisconsin on a pleasant Saturday afternoon in May.
That was last Saturday. Today, we picked up our 300 feet of chain. The chain arrived in a small cardboard barrel that weighed in at 330 pounds. Using a dolly, our SUV and forklifts on both ends we were able to move the chain to our slip this afternoon.
The first step was to remove the old anchor and rode from our chain locker. While doing this the rope to chain splice jammed in our windlass, tripping the breaker and validating our concerns and our decision to go with all chain. With a little effort we were able to get the splice out of the windlass and empty our chain locker.
Occasionally due to wind and weather conditions it becomes necessary to use two anchors. Sweet Escape actually has two bow rollers for this purpose. We will figure out a way to use the old ground tackle possibly attached to a lightweight aluminum anchor as our backup. Anyone want to buy a 45 pound Delta? Let us know.
After some cleaning by Judy, using our windlass we began loading the chain into the locker. After most of the chain was loaded (and there was an impressive amount of chain), the big moment arrived - it was time to attach the new anchor and raise it onto it’s new home on our bow roller. Thankfully, It fits great with only a couple minor adjustments that will have to be made before we leave in August such as drilling a hole in the anchor to accommodate a locking pin.
With this system, we are confident that we will stay put in most any anchoring situation. The key to a good nights sleep is knowing that your boat will be in the same place when you wake up that it was when you went to sleep.
We have placed additional photos in our gallery.
