T&T: Anchor loyalty

[Peter Gelinas]

 They
> shackled a Danforth-type anchor and 15' of chain to the eye at the top of a
> Delta or CQR. They deployed the Danforth and let the chain stretch to its
> full 15' and then deployed the plow. The two anchors seem to work in
concert
> and improve the quality of the set.

Hmmm! might work, until the anchors dragged a bit, then the Danforth would
have a nice furrow to slide along in, thoughtfully provided by the plow?
or
Unless the wind or current changed by 180 degrees, then the plow would pull
out the Danforth as it 'plowed' past.

The British magazine 'Sailing Today' did an anchor test a few years ago. A
real 'scientific' as they could be test.

They dropped various anchors (one for each test) each into 4 types of bottom
(mud, gravel etc)
They had a power boat pull on identical lengths of rode.
They had an industrial weight scale between the boat and the rode.
By accelerating gently, they were able to determine the pull out tension of
each anchor.
They had a diver down on the bottom observing the movements of the various
anchors

I seem to remember my anchor at the time, a Britany, was rated within 85% of
the holding strength of the best anchor, whichever that was, depending on the
type of ground, in 3 of the four tests. In the fourth, it failed miserably.

I seem to remember that what the plows did best was plow.

For some strange reason, they couldn't get the Spade to set! I don't remember
if it was the Stainless or the aluminum Spade

Maybe someone with better computer skills than I can find a reprint of this
article?

Petetr


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