Way back last year (or was it even the year before?), the anchor had a rather too close encounter with a wooden post on a diesel pontoon. Oops.
At first, we didn’t really notice that anything much had happened, but later realised that we were having more difficulty getting the anchor to hold, and then noticed that the anchor was bent ….. surely these two things could not be related?
We did buy a replacement anchor over the winter, but since we ended up flying over this year, it is still in the shed in Ireland. Not much use there.
The lovely weather over the last few weeks made anchorages a very attractive option, and yet again, the bloomin’ thing dragged and jumped and took ages to settle in.
One afternoon, we were nicely swinging in what the books described as ‘excellent holding’ and having a lazy lunch, when there was a gust of wind. Not enormous, only 20 knots, but within seconds the boat was suddenly drifting quickly towards the shoreline, and we were in serious danger of running aground! William fired up the engine and started to pull the boat back into deeper water. I started raising the anchor, which by this stage was now trying to reel us back to the reedy shore. By the time we were free, we were also traumatised, and set off back to the safety of a harbour berth to recover. And to order a new anchor!
You’d think that it should be an easy thing to buy, but in fact the whole shape of the boat’s bow and the roller attachment used to deploy the anchor make it quite specific, and we had to be very careful of all the measurements of the new anchor to ensure it would fit, and launch and retrieve properly. Not to mention finding a supplier.
Our new anchor is the same brand as our old anchor (Lewmar Delta) but straight!
We ordered it from the marina chandlery here in Sønderborg , who conveniently are a Delta agent, and it arrived in five days.
We calculated that we could fit one that was one size larger – 20kg instead of 16kg. Once bitten, and all that.
Or perhaps you could say – all the bigger to bash another post 😳🙄
Just need to be a wee bit careful not to bring delta home
Great fit on the bow sprit.
Try not to use it for a fender!
Now where to try it out? Back to the reedy shore perhaps?
Great adventures ahead!
Very interesting that a slight bend made all the difference. Somewhat surprising.