The boat, and we'll call her that until she gets her new name, came with two anchors. A 35 lb CQR on the bow roller, and a 45 lb CQR that was never on the boat, but the last owner had purchased because he thought it might be a good idea. 20 or so feet of two different sizes of chain connected together with 200 ft of braided nylon line that was cut in a few places. Good stuff for a lunch break, but maybe not so good for hanging on in a good blow.
Anchors. Originally I though that a 45 lb CQR was too big for the boat. After all, according to the chart, it should hold a 58 ft boat. However, if it holds a 58 footer, it should hold something half that size twice as well, right! On top of that, I have the anchor, and a new Delta or Rochna would cost $300.00 plus. Versus free, not a hard decision. So, the 45 lb CQR becomes the main anchor, and the 35 lb CQR becomes the secondary. For the stern anchor I wanted a smaller Danforth, I have a 25lb one in the shed, but its too big. Easy to stow, light for its holding power, yadda yadda. Serena and I were getting ready to go to the Port Credit boat show, and knowing that there was a consignment tent there, I had mentioned that all I really wanted was a stern anchor. We were at the show when it opened, and we went to the consignment tent right away to look around. There wasn't much there, but there was a newly painted 14lb Danforth anchor sitting right there on the table for $17.00, perfect. Its in my shed right now, waiting for spring to get mounted.
Chain. I wanted as much chain as I could carry. But chain is very heavy. I ran the numbers, and if I used 1/4" HT, I could get a lot more length for the weight, and it would take up less space, while still having plenty of strength to hold the boat. It was more expensive, but I figured the gains were worth it. I calculated that 130' for the main anchor was about as little as I was going to get away with. That would be good enough to anchor in 20 ft of water with a 5:1 scope. I don't think that I will need to anchor in much deeper water than that, for now, but we'll add 200 ft of 1/2" three strand nylon line to it, to make sure there is lots of length. The secondary also gets 1\4" HT chain, but only 30 feet to help it set, and for some abrasion resistance. The stern anchor is getting a little piece of chain that came with the boat, and I don't even know what it is, but it'll work.
All the remaining rode will be 1\2" three stranded nylon, as mentioned above. The secondary will have an additional 250 ft, and the stern anchor will have 200 ft. On top of that, I will likely carry a further 300 ft in a locker somewhere, if I can find the space.
Windlass. We had no choice really. Both Serena and I have really bad backs. In fact she has 2 herniated discs to deal with, so she would not be hauling in chain by hand. I can do it if I need to, but everyday, perhaps several times a day, not going to happen. Pride marine in Kingston suggested the Lofrans Royal, which is a manual windlass. This was number one on my list, and Dave suggesting it, just reinforced my thoughts. However, I didn't buy it from them because I got a really sweet deal from Binnacle online. $739.00, free shipping. Hard to beat that when the wholesaler's recommended sale price is over $1300.00. I ordered it with the 1\4" HT gypsy. It is a nice piece of gear.
So that's it. Quite a list. But as the saying goes, you can never have too many anchors! Of course that has a limit too. I am of the opinion, as are many others that it is wiser to spend money on ground tackle than insurance, if you had to choose between the two.
See you out there. Rob :-)
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