Speaking of Anchoring

My Land N Sea houseboat, Big Duck, is 12,000 lbs on the trailer. I boat with a friend Doug, who has a 2120 Parker - it's about 6,000 lbs on the trailer. When we boat together, we always raft for meals and  for the night. For rafting we use the Parker's 22# plow - I think it's a Delta. It has always held both of use soundly even in some challenging conditions.

We use the plow for a several reasons:
First, Doug's boat has a windlass and mine doesn't.
Second the plow is larger than my 'primary ' anchor which is a 13# Rocna.
And third, it's much easier to manage my approach to the Parker while rafting than it is for him to come to me. I have no way to fend off his anchor pulpit if his approach is not parallel, whereas my boat has a flat bow and the Parker is a walkaround.

The last trip was to the Grand Canyon of the East Coast (more on that in a different blog entry). We spent 5 days and nights aboard without going ashore (except to dinghy the dog for potty). Doug's plow kept us secure for 4 of those nights. On the 5th day when we anchored for lunch the plow wouldn't take hold. We tried it again in a different place...still no go. We motored up a few miles into a more protected area and tried it again...she drug again about 300 feet before we decided on a different approach. We stayed rafted and motored up to the original spot. The plan was for each of us to set an anchor.

I dropped the Rocna and scoped out about 60 feet. By the time Doug got the Plow down, the Rocna had fetched up and Doug eventually just pulled the plow back up on deck. That night the wind came out of all quadrants as witnessed by my MOB showing 130 feet from the drop.

I'm a fan of big anchors but when we're alone I may anchor 3 or more times a day to watch the wildlife or to knock one back and ponder, or for a nap. In these instances it's too much for this old man to wrestle his 22# Claw up and down -- that's why we got the Rocna.

Here we have 3 of us swinging from MokeeDugway's hook.

I'm not making any judgments here, just sharing some experience, maybe shedding some light on the value of more than one type anchor?


Big Duck's Anchors