Bradley [Brad] Warne's Comments

There is a Tiki 30, a really, really nice one in Port Charlotte for sale. The owners name is Ray Barkley. I believe the boat is on craigs list now. The boat is as nice as Abaco, the red Tiki 30 we built. 

Hi Bradly,

     So what are your questions?  We have the Tiki 46 so our anchors are big - like an 80 pound Monson Supreme.  We also have a 44 pound Delta which we modified by adding a "Pinoccio nose" which is a 8 inch rebar put on the pointy end to make it easier for it to cut through Bahamian grass and crust where we like to anchor.  We also have two Fortress anchors in the alloy - a 37 and a 57.  So we like big anchors.  For the kind of cruising we do, it is best for us to have security.  We never go to marinas, live aboard (though not this year) and after 25 years at sea and well over 60,000 miles, we just know that for our cruising style it works best. 

     We also have 200 feet of 5/16 high test grade 40 chain on the two bow sprit mounted anchors backed by about 300 feet of nylon that almost never gets wet.  But on the odd occasion it is used and appreciated. 

     Did I answer everything?  Remember that if you ask any gathering of distance cruisers, you will get any number of answers.  I think it is all a lot like music preferences.  No two people like the same music and no two cruisers like the same anchors. 

     We have used a kellet (some call them angles or simply anchoring weights) that you slide down the chain to keep the anchor settled in the ground.   We  had to give it to a friend who kept dragging and somehow we never got around to making another one.  Melt lead in an old sauce pan and lower a huge shcakle with the bow end down in the lead and the rest of it sticking up.  You will figure it out once you see it. 

     We usually go to Titusville for a few days on the way to Bahamas from our family home in Rhode Island.  Want to get together sometime this atutum?  I can't say for certain when we will get there, but we can talk anchors for ages. 

     Regards to your good wife who is indulgent of your curiousity.  A good woman! 

     Ann and Nev