Hi NeilM,
Yes, keep putting anchors on the bow till the “experts” on the marina docks and at the yacht club bar chuckle. Then you know you have nailed it. Weight in the anchor is weight more powerful in boat safety than weight put anywhere else. I have a 35kg Spade for my 40 foot boat. That said, anyone who says they have never dragged anchor has likely not anchored much.
Motoring astern in the way you describe has the added benefit of helping to clean the new generation anchors who often come up encumbered with embedded sea bottom.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

we had a 20kg rockna on our 8.4 ton cat.  and it did work fine but stronger winds. we did drag a few times,  so we went up to 33kg (biggest that will fit on our setup.
And on our trip to carib and back 16/17,  we only draged once, it was on deeper w, and buttum was very hard,  so mostly we did not get it to digg in.
Rockna has been good to us.. we sleep well with it digged in, and pulltested,  2 motors 2000rpm,  and even more if we know there will be havey winds/waves.
we also haVE A SPADE 15KG, TO USE ON THE BACK, if we go for a shorter stopp with the bows to the rocks, (norwergian style)

+x

 

Geir Ove Bø - 8/2/2020

we had a 20kg rockna on our 8.4 ton cat.  and it did work fine but stronger winds. we did drag a few times,  so we went up to 33kg (biggest that will fit on our setup.
And on our trip to carib and back 16/17,  we only draged once, it was on deeper w, and buttum was very hard,  so mostly we did not get it to digg in.
Rockna has been good to us.. we sleep well with it digged in, and pulltested,  2 motors 2000rpm,  and even more if we know there will be havey winds/waves.
we also haVE A SPADE 15KG, TO USE ON THE BACK, if we go for a shorter stopp with the bows to the rocks, (norwergian style)

Hi Geir,
Thanks for the field report: always the best kind of information.
More weight in the anchor certainly, to my mind, is the best use of weight to promote good sleep habits. That said, I am surprised your 20kg Rocna dragged after setting. Is it possible that it was a scope issue? Especially if on a catamaran where the use of rope rather than chain is more common.
Or was there a wind shift or current change that might have contributed? I believe it to be fairly well established that Rocnas, on occasion, fail to re-set after being dislodged.
I can only imagine that a 33 kg Rocna has nailed you to the bottom (barring the above-mentioned wind shifts). I have the same weight anchor (SPADE) on my almost twice the weight cutter and most people consider that over-kill. But I sleep very well.
That said some of the Carib and Bahamas anchorages are like trying to anchor on a concrete landing pad: impossible to get the anchor in.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

We where 2 cats on that 20 kg anchor,  so more like 15 tons,  when we dragged,  and we do use chain al the way. there where high seaweed and a hard botum under. and when i did dig in the anchor i did not know i was going to have one more cat hanging on me. :)  the 33 kg is a good nigth sleep,  and we have 75m , 10mm chain also. and sometimes it takes some force to get it back out again,  but thats ok.

+x

 

Geir Ove Bø - 8/3/2020

We where 2 cats on that 20 kg anchor,  so more like 15 tons,  when we dragged,  and we do use chain al the way. there where high seaweed and a hard botum under. and when i did dig in the anchor i did not know i was going to have one more cat hanging on me. :)  the 33 kg is a good nigth sleep,  and we have 75m , 10mm chain also. and sometimes it takes some force to get it back out again,  but thats ok.

Hi Geir,
Between the added weight of the extra boat and the high seaweed/hard bottom you describe, your Rocna dragging makes more sense.
One of the reasons I like the Spade anchor, which you are likely aware from your Spade stern anchor, is the large cache of lead concentrated in the tip. This, I believe, allows it to penetrate weed and grass more effectively than many other designs.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Yes.  Spade is a good anchor. along with Rockna, Manson ++.