I've been singing the praises of our primary anchor for some time now in spite of all the authoritative reports which state that no single anchor works well in all situations. Most work well in mud; some work well in sand, but many do not work well in rocky conditions or in areas where the bottom is thick with grass or kelp. We'd had such good luck with our Manson Supreme that we thought it was an exception to the rule...until yesterday.
We'd left the harbor with plans to head out into Florida Bay for a few days of peace and quiet by a lonely mangrove island. Our intention was to go to Coconut Key, an island we'd been to a couple of times recently and really enjoyed. However, as we approached the island, we noted that someone else was anchored there, possibly for the same reason we had chosen it. So we changed course to East Bahia Honda Key with the plan of moving over to Coconut Key in a day or so.
We anchored with little difficulty and then went in for a swim. As is my usual custom, I swam out to check on the anchor and noted that it wasn't dug in as much as I like. But I'd seen that situation on a couple of occasions in the Bahamas last year with no ill effects. As the day wore on, the wind increased a bit and was gusting in the 18-20 kt range. Still no problem. I'd set our anchor alarm as I always do, and it was nice and quiet.
As we began to watch a movie sometime near 8:30 PM, however, the alarm sounded. I checked and could see that we were indeed dragging. What a pain to have to deal with this in the dark in the shallows with the wind blowing as it was near 20 kts. We got the engine going and brought up the anchor and moved into better protection from the island, since the wind was now coming from a different direction than predicted.
Well, after three attempts and lots of frustration, we finally got it set – sort of. It seemed that the bottom, having lots of grass, was sandy down a few inches and then hard coral under that, so the anchor just wasn't easily secured. I'd heard that some found that dropping the anchor and setting gently and leaving for a while sometimes works better than backing down on it with force. I tried that approach and then crossed my fingers. I stayed in the cockpit for the next couple of hours to watch our GPS as it showed our position. No dragging. I finally went to bed after midnight, not a happy camper. I got up during the night a couple of times to check again, just in case the alarm wasn't working. All seemed to be fine.
As I write this, it's another beautiful day in the Keys, but somehow this spot no longer holds such appeal. The boat at Coconut Key has moved on, so we'll be sailing over there and diving in to check very carefully how well the anchor is set before we relax.
Oh yes, the Manson Supreme is a really good anchor, but it's not the perfect anchor for all occasions. There...I've said it. I've officially changed my tune.
Happy sailing and secure anchoring,
Captain Bob
Carpe Diem
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