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G,day all

With all you intrepid cat sailors and builders can you advise me on the weight of anchor,length of chain,thickness of chain etc.I would also like to know how to make a bridle for my cat.How many anchors,should one trust those reef anchors they use on small fishing boats.

A lot of questions which is a true reflection of my ignorance on this issue.

cheers paul.

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OK, I'll start. . . l~)  My ground tackle consists of a 17lb Bulwagga with about equal weight of chain (5/16" IIRC)25' in length. Rode is Nylon 3-strand 1/2", 300', for the main anchor. The secondary anchor is an aluminum Fortress (7-10 lbs?), equal weight of chain, 15' in length, using again Nylon 3-strand 1/2", 300' . So, a total of 600' of rode between the two anchors.  I have two very small Bruce anchors (3-5lbs) available for kedging or other uses, as well.

I have 2  50' lengths of 3-strand for tying a rolling hitch to the main rode for creating the bridle. I have seen a creative use of a carabiner to position the bridle leg, adjustable as well, I may have a picture of this somewhere. . .

Found it! Wonder of wonders. . .This actually appears to be a fixed length bridle with a snap hook to the rode, using a shackle to trap a bight of the rode.

thanks Kim for all the info,what do you personally make of this set up in the pic?I have just bolted and glued my no.14 winches to the sides of the cockpit and have made a box for the compass,naturally the winches are not self tailing;]

cheers paul.

With a good 3-strand, like the New England Ropes above, sized for the load,  it's likely fine. I have to say I haven't used the rigging above personally, though. There is another method that makes a bowline out of the port/starboard lines; if tied leaving a long tail in order to make two half-hitches for security  at the finish, it should be a quick technique. Pic on my desktop at the moment

Bonjour, 

Anchoring a Tiki 26, with peace of mind, you need:

5 times the length of your boat in 8mm (0,3 inch) chain, 130 feet, or 40 meters.

260 foot or 80 meters of nylon, 10 or 12 mm (0,4 - 0,5 inch).

Two anchors, shape or design according to the most ordinary bottom of your navigation area. I think of one of 15 kg, or 33 pounds, one of 7 kg, or 15 pounds.

"If it is looks too heavy, it's because you're too light", some say.

Of course, it is not necessary to use all the stuff all the time, but it may save your boat some day, and you'll find that it was cheap. 

Thanks Eric, those numbers are what I need.

The bight of the anchor line going through the carabiner would worry me, the bend seems to short and it looks like it would be very susceptible to chafe.  The addition of a thimble in the anchor line bight, held in place with small stuff, would make that workable.  But I could tie two rolling hitched around the anchor line much quicker.

I'm reluctant to join discussions on anchors because everyone always seems to have a strong opinion, which is very different to everyone else's strong opinion.  It's rather like religion, which I also try to avoid debating.  However as this is such a friendly group I'll chip in with my views this time...

Kim's and Eric's numbers are very different, especially when you work out the total weight you'll be stowing, and what you'll have to haul up from the bottom.  Do the sums, and I think you'll find with Eric's setup you'll need a windlass unless your back's a lot stronger than mine.  Also think about where you'll stow that sort of weight in a boat as light as a T26.  You need to avoid too much weight in the narrow ends so that she can rise to the waves properly, otherwise the performance will suffer.  I'd be comfortable with what Kim's got.

My main experience comes from a year doing 10,000 miles in a 26ft monohull (Frances26), from England to the Caribbean and back.  We used a 10kg Bruce main anchor, with 5 metres of 3/8" chain and 60 metres of nylon eight-strand anchor-plait sliced into it.  We also had a genuine CQR of about the same size just on rope as a kedge, and a danforth as a spare which we never needed.  The Frances weighed about 4.5 tons loaded, ie more than three times a Tiki 26.  The masthead was 36 feet above the deck (10 ft more than the Tiki), and was held up by 11 stays of 6mm wire as opposed to the 5 small stays of the Tiki.  I think you'll agree that lot put much more load on its anchor...  We rarely used marinas, anchoring whenever we could, and in the whole year we never dragged on any occasion.  The most common hazard we faced when it got windy was other boats dragging into us as we sat still...  Occasionally we put the CQR out with the Bruce in a "Y" configuration to reduce swinging room, or if we were leaving the boat unattended while we went inland, but mainly we just used the Bruce.  We didn't usually choose deep places to anchor, but if we needed more rope we could always have tied a long mooring line or two onto the anchor line.

With Zest, my Tiki 26, I'm still learning, but my main anchor is a 15 pound Bruce with 5 metres of chain, then 12mm nylon spliced into it.  That's very similar to Kim's setup.  I also tried a 10kg Lewmar Delta, but often it didn't bury properly as we didn't put enough load on it with such a light boat, which then caused problems when the tide changed and we swung.  I'm going to sell that anchor and get a 7.5kg Delta as I think I do need one anchor that will cut into weed better than the Bruce might.

It is very inportant to use an anchor bridle with a cat, because it greatly reduces sheering about and so cuts down a lot on the anchor loading.  That obviously wasn't an option with the mono and sometimes she did sheer around a lot.

The other thing I've just made but not yet tried is an angel.  It's a weight you attach part way down the anchor line.  It changes the angle the line makes relative to the bottom, increasing the holding power and reducing the length of rope you need out.  It also greatly reduces snubbing loads.  I've made one about the same weight as my anchor and another half that size to experiment with.  To start with I'll attach it where the bridle joins.  The idea is you can bring it aboard before you break out the anchor, so you don't make your tackle harder to haul up.

I think anchoring tackle is rather like wedding tackle.  Size isn't everything, it's not so much what you've got that's important, but knowing how to use it properly ...   ;-)

Amen Robert, been watching the Ashes mate? Your mob has been causing the locals here a bit of bother. I look forward to your experiments with the ''angel'  inshallah.

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