Brag about your anchor
 

Looking for info on anchors.
Post info on:
Boat size
Extream weather conditions if you have had any
Assumed bottom conditions
Ease of use
I did a couple searches and couldn't find the info that I was looking for.
Thanks for the help

I have a Fortress FX-11 for my velocity 260. One size larger than recommended by fortress for the size of my boat. Very light weight all aluminum construction danforth style anchor, 15' of chain on it. I boat almost exclusively in lake michigan. Last year I held in about 30' depth, soft mud/sand, and 5' swells for over 5 hours. I have NEVER had this anchor pull up in any conditions. Nearly impossible to pull up by hand, I have to drive over it to get it unstuck from the bottom most times.

ive heard great things about the box anchor

I had a couple of Magnums with the square anchor that fit into the custom bow locker. They were unbelievable. I could always toss it out and forget about it. It would watch in amazement as guys would spend all day trying to get a danforth type to grab.

Mid sized box anchor, held five boats at Redfish Reef which is a hard clay bottom and very difficult to set a Danforth.

Had to circle it for five minutes to get it out after.

Fortress...

Box...

This is the best anchor on the market end of discussion. It is expensive, but it is the best.
http://www.quickline.us/stainless-steel-anchors.aspx

I have the 5kg model recommended for boats up to 18' and about 3500lbs, it is the smallest one they make. My boat weighs 10,000-12,000 lbs depending on who and what is on board, and is 37' long. With 6' of 5/16 stainless chain and about 50' of line out it held my boat and my friends full cabin 38 Intrepid in a thunderstorm that came up in the afternoon. Winds had to be 50 mph. Both boats were anchored, we were at the sandbar out by stiltsville, almost everybody who tried to stick out the storm had the anchor pull out including my buddy's anchor on the Intrepid, so my little anchor held my boat and his 15000lb beast without issue in sand and grass. I have also anchored in 115' of water bottom fishing for Mutton Snapper, but with 20' of chain, and it held no problem in 2-3 kt current.

I use to have to do the anchor dance I call it making sure it was hooked up at the sandbar or jumping in and manually set it, now I toss the anchor in toss out a little line cleat it off and I am done, it sets every time perfectly. If I really want it set hard I let some extra line out and back down a little and it digs down into the sand and completely disappears.


I now use my fortress as a stern anchor to keep from swinging around or keep the boat pointed a certain way. It will not grab in the grass, only sand or mud.

Her name is Andrea and she is quite amazing......
[ATTACH=CONFIG]520987[/ATTACH]

I love Fortress anchors, but the boat I have now came with a Maxwell SS Windlass Plow Anchor. I cannot say enough good things about my Maxwell anchor. I LOVE IT! Never once has she broke loose and she's held some nice rafts ups as well. Below is a link to galvanized Maxwell anchors, but if you go with a windlass set up then I would choose the SS. Just my two 1/2 cents.

http://www.defender.com/maxwell-anchors.jsp

Unless you have a windlass, the Box Anchor is the best anchor on the market. I've owned one for 12 years or so, and only once has it failed to hold. That was in a hydrilla (sponge seaweed) that was 2-4 feet thick. NO ONE with any type of anchor was able to set an one that day.

Drop the anchor over the side of the boat, 99% of the time it sets immediately in any conditions: mud, sand, rocks; wind, waves, etc. etc.

I had the Box, it held ok with no waves, throw some Lake Michigan water and it dragged my 33 so no way was it going to hold the 38.. My buddy with a 31 Sonic same thing, always dragging , The teeth on it just too short to dig in... was heavy too but folded up nice.

The Fortress is so light! Its awesome and it looks great and once it digs in forget it, it aint moving. If I could use it without a chain it would be the best lightest anchor ever

I had a box anchor for my Velocity and loved it. It was a bit heavy, but folded up and did not require a chain. It always set and would hold many boats in a raft without issue. It is designed to roll over so if the wind shifts and the boat rotates it will just flip over and grab with the other set of teeth. Our (new to us) Concept has an anchor locker up front, so I figured I would try out a Fortress (picked up a used one on ebay for $90). Since we are in the middle of an endless winter here in MI, who knows when I will be able to try the Fortress....

Fortress for sand, mud and soft clay. Plow type (or box) for hard clay, rocks or vegetation. "Horses for courses."

What scope were you guys using?

Well played! Beat me to it!

The worse it gets the more I let out , 50ft rope is what I got.

How deep is the water? 45 feet? :D

Not so much :D

http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v2/p584640192-3.jpg


I blame the box anchor for landing me in the emergency room with a sliced open foot because the stupid thing wasn`t holding and I had to go move the boat. Word of advice don`t kick your feet like flipper trying to climb up on the back of the boat in big water. :lolhit:


http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...54890670-3.jpg

That reminds me, wouldn't of helped you then but.....I attach approx 6" red plastic bobber, if you will, to my anchors (floating on top of water of course) when in very shallow waters where people hang out and walk around. Works great so you can see/know there is an anchor there. People that see it, comment, and usually get one for themselves. Makes for a much safer hang out area.

does she hold the bottom well? or do you hold hers?

box anchor has held 8 of us rafted together on the pamlico river during the boat races and never let loose. Mine has always set in the lakes, rivers a little hard to get up sometimes.Mine is the large version.

Small lakes and rivers aint no test for an anchor, I could probably tie a rock to a rope and it would work good.
Try your anchor in some white caps and then lets talk.

Check out this anchor
 

I have a Digger Anchor. Works great. No issues. Just google Digger Anchors. I have the larger size.

I use a 15lb Digger Anchor, fluke style. They claim use with no chain so I tried it and works great, have bought a second. Best part is you can drop the flukes and it comes up clean, no mess on the boat. Works for us.

how does the box anchor work in silt/mud?

I will never tell...... :bunnydance::evilb:

Rubber coated fluke anchor with 5' of rubber coated chain and 200' of line. Pain in the ass to get set but holds well when set with a long scope. Typically anchor in 15-40' of water so I normally don't need all that line. Deepest I've anchored is 95' LOTO main channel and "The Quarry" at KY lake which was about 110-120' deep if I remember correctly.
I also use a 10lb rubber-coated bell anchor to set the back of the boat if needed. If helps quite a bit if the wind keeps changing.

If I had to do it again, I would buy a box anchor for my main anchor.

OK, its winter.

Large Box anchor w 150' is my primary for a 25'. Small Box can not even hold my single boat in mud. Large box can hold about 3 similar boats in the wind with mud.
Quick, low scope set is good for party lines where getting a proper scope and back down to set a Danforth is difficult.

Fortress is my backup, lock down anchor w 250'. FX-23 was my intention but picked up a FX-37 (HUGE) for the same money on ebay. Fortress is compact and light but quickly assembled.

$600-700 in ground tackle seems like Overkill until you realize the security and convenience being well anchored brings. No more setting down the drink or waking up to check if the anchor is holding. Less orchestrating the movement of a boat line because it is blowing into danger. Break downs follow Murphy's Law and occur in nasty, rough weather with no one around to help, a good anchor is a Must IMO and a backup option will keep you off the shore.

So you carry 3 oversized anchors in your 25' boat? Do you have any space left for beer?

Fortress FX-11

Fortress + chain. Tried the box anchor everyone raves about and after one outing with it I sold it to a fellow OSO member. It sucked so bad my wife even told me to just cut the line and kick it off the back of the boat.

I thought this would be a thread about your wife and/or kid(s)! :D

Two - Large Box and FX-37 each have their own line. Fortress broken down plus line takes up about as much room as three life jackets.

I never run out of beer :evilb:

pretty sure I said end of discussion! :)

60 lb SS plow anchor, with 475' of chain. And I still have room for a lot of beer!

Mine is shiny. :D

And we all know how starring at shiny things has a hypnotic effect on you......... :party-smiley-004:

I'm guessing this is a pretty big SeaRay, 40'+ ?