[Rhodes22-list] Anchor Rodes

Sat Nov 17 12:08:58 EST 2007

Hi Dan,
I'll chime in here.

First I would figure out where you are going to store your anchor(s) 
(if you are cruising you need more than one) and how you are going to 
deploy them. Most of the Chesapeake is thick mud so most any anchor 
will hold if you can get it to set. There are a few bottoms that are 
sand - I'm not sure that we've actually ever anchored in one of 
those. There are a fair number of places where the bottom is very 
weedy and others that are very soft mud and it's more difficult to 
get an anchor to set in those. As far as depth, most of our anchoring 
has been done in 5 to 12 feet of water but a few years ago we 
anchored in Shaw Bay on the Wye River in 23 ft. of water.

The Rhodes does not have the best anchor storage options. As usually 
set up from General Boats, it has a Danforth-type anchor on the bow 
with the rode leading through the dorade vent into a storage bin 
above the v-berth. Other options are in a bin in the cockpit (anchor 
and rode), in a bin or bag in the lazarette  or on the stern rail. 
Your choices will limit the size and type of the anchor and to a 
certain extent the weight.

The bow option isn't bad, the boat doesn't mind the weight up front 
and if I were anchoring in clear seawater and sand or rock, I might 
consider it. Because the Chesapeake is so muddy, we didn't want to 
put our primary (wet muddy) rode right over the v-berth. We sleep in 
the main cabin and use the v-berth for storage, but still....

We've never used the bin in the cockpit method because we have lots 
of other things stored in that space.

We put our primary anchor and rode in a mesh bag (available from West 
as a "rode bag"). The bitter end of the rode comes through a grommet 
in the bottom of the bag so you can quickly fasten it to a cleat and 
if you have flaked your rode neatly into the bag deploy the anchor 
quickly. There are always 2 of us so we have never had to deploy it 
from the cockpit and then walk the rode forward but it should be 
doable. Under normal anchoring conditions. I walk the bag with the 
anchor and rode forward, fasten the bitter end to the cleat and then 
deploy the anchor. Once I have let out enough scope I tie the rode 
off to the cleat over the initial hitch. Retrieving the anchor works 
in reverse. I go forward, undo the top hitch, flake the rode into the 
bag as I retrieve it, pull the anchor, wash it by dunking or by 
splashing with a small bucket and then stow the anchor in the bag. 
When it's all stowed, I uncleat the bitter end and walk the bag back 
to the cockpit. We often let it dry in the cockpit before we stow it 
back in the lazarette.

We had a Danforth (a real Danforth) from our previous boat that I 
liked a lot. It was a storm anchor for the 16 but only a little 
undersized for the Rhodes. I liked it better than the anchor that 
came with the boat so we used that for a number of years with 6 or 8 
feet of chain. After a couple of nights in stormy weather we added 12 
feet more chain and gained piece of mind but it was now uncomfortably 
heavy for me to carry forward. Two years ago we got a good deal at 
the boatshow on a Fortress. The literature that came with it 
suggested 6 feet of chain so we went back to the shorter length (I 
think it's 8 ft.)

There is an art to setting a Danforth and even more so the Fortress. 
I try to lower the anchor with the flukes pointing aft. Once it is on 
the bottom we let the boat drift back, paying out rode until there is 
a scope of about 3 to 1 (measured from the bottom to the height of 
the cleat by the way). At that point we power back making sure that 
the anchor bites into the mud and holds fast. I then let out the rest 
of the scope - usually 7 to 1. We were somewhat skeptical about the 
Fortress as they do have their detractors. I've found it a bit more 
tricky to set than the Danforth but once it's set it seems to hold 
well. It's biggest test so far was this past summer when we anchored 
into a north wind in an anchorage that was wide open to the south. An 
hour or two after we anchored the wind shifted, came up strongly from 
the south and built up 1-2 foot waves in the anchorage. As it was 
dark and we were in completely unfamiliar territory we didn't want to 
move unless things became really dicey. We had the motor ready to 
take up the strain if we started dragging, we put the cabintop and 
bimini down to reduce windage and let out scope until we were at 
10:1. We stayed up on anchor watch until things quieted down around 
midnight. The anchor held well and had a lot of mud on it in the morning.

We also got it to hold in a very dicey situation when our motor quit 
just after we had come through the Kent Narrows drawbridge. We were 
maybe a quarter mile beyond the bridge and in a very string current 
that was sweeping us back toward the bridge. Our attempts at sailing 
weren't helping so we went to the anchor. It held after about three 
tries in a very strong current and an iffy holding ground. Fred got 
the motor started and we got out of there. I was very pleased.

My advice is to read up on anchoring (West has a good brief 
description at 
(http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/westadvisor/10001/-1/10001/AnchoringTechniques.htm) 
and the various types of anchors.

Our primary anchor is the Fortress FX-11 with 6 or 8 ft of chain and 
200 ft of rode. Most advice tells you to take the manufactures advice 
and go up one size. We did that in sizing the Fortress. Our secondary 
anchor right now is the old Danforth with the extra chain. It's heavy 
and stored in the v-berth but available if we need a second anchor 
for something.

Hope this helps. I'd be glad to answer any questions. I don't really 
have any familiarity with claw or spade type anchors.

Mary Lou
1991 R22  Fretless
Rock Hall. MD

At 10:31 AM 11/17/2007, you wrote:

>Dan,
>
>I have very little experience anchoring so if someone disagrees with me, I'd
>listen to them.  Lots of varying opinions from true experts--I'd get a book
>or read an article or Google anchoring.  It will tell you how much rope rode
>(typically seven feet of rode to one foot of depth) and chain rode (I think
>based on length/weight of boat and anchor size) that you'll need.
>
>I use Stan's Danforth anchor, which is probably a little bigger and heavier
>than necessary.  I also have 200' of rope rode, which is also overkill.  Too
>much is better than too little, but excess anchor and chain rode is heavy
>and more of a hassle to use, and excess rope rode is just that much more to
>handle, store and untangle.  I doubt that you'll ever really need more than
>100' in the Chesapeake and surrounding bays.
>
>The Chesapeake is extremely shallow in most areas.  Chances are good that
>you'll anchor in less than ten feet of water for an overnighter.  If I'm in
>deep water and don't want to sit and drift without anchor, I normally "heave
>to," which is something good to practice anyway.
>
>Of all the incredible features of the Rhodes, the one I find least useful is
>the rode storage above the v-berth.  I keep my backup rope and chain rode
>stored there for emergencies, disconnected from my backup anchor attached to
>the bow pulpit.  I keep my primary rode and anchor in the stern lazerette,
>and walk it forward when anchoring.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Lee
>1986 Rhodes22  At Ease
>Crab Alley (Kent Island, MD)
>
>
>
>Dan Johnson-5 wrote:
> >
> > We will be getting our Rhodes from Stan next spring, and plan to sail it
> > exclusively on the Chesapeake Bay.  Initially we'll operate out of the
> > Solomons area, but hope to eventually cruise most of the bay.
> >
> > For those of you with experience in the area, what would be your
> > recommendation as far as an anchor (type and weight) and anchor rode -
> > length, how much chain?
> >
> > I have no experience sailing in the bay, so only know what I've read about
> > bottom types, etc.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Dan
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> >
>
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