T&T: Anchors- Anchoring

[C. Marin Faure]

 >People I have spoken with swear by the Bruce style.

The Bruce is probably the single most popular anchor in this area  
(PNW) followed or maybe equalled by the CQR.  The CQR is more  
prevalent on sailboats, the Bruce is more prevalent on powerboats.   
We changed the big, no-name Danforth knock-off that came with our  
boat for a new Bruce the day after we got the boat some nine years  
ago.  We also carry a Fortress sized to be our main anchor on the  
swimstep as a stern anchor.

The Bruce's claim to fame is that it's supposed to set very fast, and  
re-set very fast when it comes out, and it's supposed to set quickly  
in a variety of bottoms.  What the Bruce is NOT good for is holding  
power.  I have never seen an anchoring test in which the Bruce was  
not at or near the bottom of the list in terms of holding power.  We  
knew this when we bought our Bruce but we figured that in the  
relatively protected places most people anchor up here, holding power  
would not be as much of an issue as the ability to set and reset  
quickly and reliably.

Judging by their popularity a lot of people up here do very well with  
the Bruce.  Either that or not that many boaters around here actually  
anchor very much.  We did okay with it although we did not anchor all  
that much.  But we're starting to anchor more, and we became less and  
less impressed with the Bruce to the point where we replaced it this  
year with another type.  LIkewise we have friends who have Bruce  
anchors and they say the often have a hell of a time getting it to set.

But as other posters have pointed out, every anchoring situation is  
different and an anchor/rode/scope combination that works great in  
one situation may work poorly in a different situation.  But the  
Bruce's lack of holding power, even though we didn't think it would  
be an issue, and even with a lot of all-chain rode laid out, is what  
finally encouraged us to go a different way.


____________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington