Ugh. This is tough to get used to for me, but there is no denying it at this point. I have transitioned myself and my boat to a 100% full blown cruising boat. Our racing days seem very distant at this point.
Definition of a Cruising Boat
- Roller Furling (check)
- Dodger (check)
- BBQ (check)
- Haven’t hoisted a spinnaker in over a year? (check, check, check!)
- Fuel Jugs on deck (check)
- Paddleboard on deck (check)
- And finally, one big ole anchor hanging off the bow? (check!)
That last one is a big one aesthetically for me. For twelve years now, we’ve done just fine with a danforth anchor which lived strapped down in the bow locker, and which I carefully lifted and deployed through the bow pulpit each time it was needed. That anchor was great, and it allowed us not to have a big ugly piece of metal hanging off the bow while sailing.
But, here in Greece we began to run into a ton of anchorages with thick grass growing on top of a hard sandy or rocky bottom. The danforth would slip through the grass a bit, pick up a wad of plant life and then it was all over. No hope of ever getting dug into the bottom. We dragged 3 out of the first 5 times we tried to anchor in that stuff and it was time for something different.
Lucky for us, we found a store selling anchors that were more appropriate for what we would see in Greece and Turkey. I was able to purchase a new anchor from a NZ company called a Rocna. I’d never heard of them, but my research online said this was the anchor to get.
The anchor which has no moving parts actually came with an owners manual!?! Who needs an owners manual for an anchor?? Well, I’m glad I read it, because one of the most important things it said was to back down after dropping this anchor slowly. It seems that these anchors set very quickly and boats have been known to back down “as per usual” and damage their windlasses as a result.
Our experience with this new anchor has been great. We’ve used it for three weeks now without dragging once. Deb and I are both sleeping better knowing we have something down there that is going to keep us right where we belong.
It may be ugly on the bow, but its doing its job and for now, I’ll just try not to look up there when we are sailing!!
-Jim
Morpheus Sailing 