Upgrading our Anchor

When we bought our CSY 33, the boat was once owned by a live aboard who stayed in Florida during Hurricane Season. He had more anchors, chain, and rode on board than you could imagine. When we decided to move aboard the sailboat this year, I pulled everything off the boat and we sorted it to decide what to toss and what to put back aboard.

I kept the primary anchor, which is a 36lb Delta with 56′ of 3/8″ chain and another 150′ of rode. This anchor is fantastic! Set it and it stays! Our secondary anchor is a 25lb Danforth. I am not a fan of the CQR or Danforth anchor. We set two anchors at Cumberland during the gale force gusts and the next day we decided to reset the anchors farther out. Usually I have to trip the Delta. You pull up all the slack you can, then tie it off and move forward slowly. It will pull the anchor arm up, dislodging the anchor, and you can haul the rest of the anchor in by hand. When I hauled in the Danforth, it came right up. I didn’t realize I had pulled it up until it cleared the water!

As you can tell, we don’t have an electric windlass on the boat. A windlass pulls the anchor in mechanically, FYI. So I have to haul the rode, chain, and anchor in by hand every time.

I read about a new/used marine trading store called Sailors Exchange at St. Augustine and on a good day we walked the 6 blocks from the Marina to the store and it was like a candy store for sailors. All kinds of used nautical stuff EVERYWHERE!

They had ONE 44lb delta! After a bit of discussion, it was agreed that I could trade the 25lb Danforth in for credit towards the 44lb Delta.

The next day I lugged a 25lb Anchor and 3 oversized (for our boat) fenders the 6 blocks to Sailors Exchange. I must have looked a sight, because I got several stares along the way. After the trade, the guys at Sailors Exchange were nice enough to give me lift to the City Marina so I didn’t have to haul the 44lb anchor, 4 smaller fenders, a 17″ diameter stainless steel sink, and 4yds of navy blue Sunbrella fabric back on foot!