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New Anchor

Craigbk

Craigbk

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Lake Wylie - NC/SC
At the end of last season my anchor got stuck to the point that I had to cut rode and leave my Danforth anchor and 6' of chain on the bottom of Lake Wylie. Any suggestions for a 23' Benny as to replacement anchor? I am looking to size, type and length of rode. Lake Wylie generally does not get deeper than 45-50 ft and mostly has a mud bottom. Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Craigbk said:
At the end of last season my anchor got stuck to the point that I had to cut rode and leave my Danforth anchor and 6' of chain on the bottom of Lake Wylie. Any suggestions for a 23' Benny as to replacement anchor? I am looking to size, type and length of rode. Lake Wylie generally does not get deeper than 45-50 ft and mostly has a mud bottom. Thanks for any suggestions!
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Don't laugh but I bought the best anchor I've ever used for a mud bottom when we were at West Point Lake in Georgia and I've used it for 12 years now. It looks like a mushroom anchor but it's made out of lead with a coating on it and it weighs about 30 pounds.  It sinks several feet into the muddy bottom of the lakes we frequent and it will hold all day long, even with other boats tied on. I put a 5/8" line on it to get a good grip to pull it out. I never was able to get a Danforth with a chain to reliably hold on windy days and of course you risk getting snagged on sunken brush/trees. I've also heard the box anchors are really good but they are a bit pricey and I've never personally used one.
 
I use and love the slide anchor.  Many on here had talked about it some even carry two
 
Talking about anchors with boaters is like talking religion.  :p


Lots of factors that you should consider when it comes to anchors:


1.  How strong/young/old are you?  Pulling an anchor up by hand from 60' down (about 150' of rode to pull up) a couple times while fishing will quickly wear you out.  When I go out fishing, I'll drop the anchor as many as 10 times during the day.  My 62 year old shoulders and arms don't appreciate that kind of wear and tear.


2.  What kind of waters (big waves, little waves, windy, calm) will you be boating in?  A pontoon boat is going to automatically take any wind and make your boat a sailboat.  Adding waves, currents, etc. are only going to make it worse.


3.  What kind of boating are you doing?  Will you be fishing (where you might pull the anchor 10 times while out), or will you mostly be just "setting it and forgetting it" for the day while enjoying your favorite adult beverages?  This ties closely into #1.  If you're doing it often, I'd consider the lightest weight anchor that you can get that will hold you.


4.  Will you be anchoring out overnight, or just day trips?  If you're doing this, you're going to want an anchor that sticks like glue or else you'll be up all night worrying if you're dragging the anchor.


5.  Would you consider a windlass for pulling/dropping the anchor.  This will allow you to use pretty much any anchor.


When I went through this checklist, #1-4 led me to buy a Fortress FX-11 anchor.  it's a Danforth style anchor, but holds much better than any other Danforth I've had - and MUCH lighter in weight.  You can adjust it for mud bottoms or sand bottoms, based on the angle of the fluke (32º or 45º).  I could have gotten away with the FX-7 (weighs 4 lbs) but because I'm out in the Gulf I wanted a little more holding power (FX-11 only weighs 7 lbs).  Here it's all sand, so when it sticks, it STICKS.  I've rarely had it slip on me, and when it did it was my fault for being too lazy to set it properly.  The think I liked about the Fortress anchors are that they're so light.  


A windlass is a great addition if you're doing a lot of anchoring, but in the end, you still need a lot of rode and a good amount of chain.  I have 8' of chain on mine (which by most standards is short for the type of boating I'm doing).   You'll want at least 150' of rode for the depth of your lake to give you a 3:1 ratio at it's deepest point.  
 
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What chain do you guys recommend? Our lake has a max depth of 50ft.
 
lakeliving said:
What chain do you guys recommend? Our lake has a max depth of 50ft.
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Your boat is pretty similar to mine, and I went with 3/8" about 8' in length, although you could probably get away with 5/16".  5/16" will give you a maximum working load (MWL) of about 4,700 lbs, whereas the 3/8" takes you up to 6,500 lbs.  The heavier the chain, the less you'll need as well.
 
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Thanks for the input! I now feel like I have been to a graduate course in anchors! :)  Really gave me a good feel on what I need to do. Based on what tcpip95 said, I am probably going to stay with a Danforth with 3/8 150 ft of rode and a 6-8 ft chain. I think that will continue to work for me. You know it is a sad day when you have to cut one loose  (1st time in 20 years of boating) Thanks again for the conversation on this!
 
Found a smaller danforth yesterday. Just have to let the water warm up a little till I take possession. It's in about 12-14 feet of water. I noticed it while putting around yesterday.  It'll make a good second "toss" anchor for the stern. 
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
Found a smaller danforth yesterday. Just have to let the water warm up a little till I take possession. It's in about 12-14 feet of water. I noticed it while putting around yesterday.  It'll make a good second "toss" anchor for the stern. 
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Do you play golf Semp? If so, you probably never buy golf balls either! LOL
 
1Blderbob said:
Do you play golf Semp? If so, you probably never buy golf balls either! LOL
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I can just see him wading around those small hazards, feeling for gold balls when his feet. :D
 
tcpip95 said:
Talking about anchors with boaters is like talking religion.  :p


When I went through this checklist, #1-4 led me to buy a Fortress FX-11 anchor.  it's a Danforth style anchor, but holds much better than any other Danforth I've had - and MUCH lighter in weight.  You can adjust it for mud bottoms or sand bottoms, based on the angle of the fluke (32º or 45º).  I could have gotten away with the FX-7 (weighs 4 lbs) but because I'm out in the Gulf I wanted a little more holding power (FX-11 only weighs 7 lbs).  Here it's all sand, so when it sticks, it STICKS.  I've rarely had it slip on me, and when it did it was my fault for being too lazy to set it properly.  The think I liked about the Fortress anchors are that they're so light.  
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1+ on the Fortress. Lightweight with amazing holding power! Our lake does have some muck in areas but little debris, and I have had no problem with our anchor in some pretty rough conditions. I have the FX-7 and it holds my 28' like glue. 
 
1Blderbob said:
Do you play golf Semp? If so, you probably never buy golf balls either! LOL
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Hahaha .... its funny you say that. I still have a bag from when we visited my brother in Myrtle Beach many years ago. He lived off he side of the driving range, and it looked like it snowed in his back yard. I must've collected a couple hundred ...... I golf once a year on a customer outing, and yes you are correct. I normally end up with more than I started with ......  :lol:
 
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