For cruising sailors who like to explore off the beaten path, anchors are their most important safety gear and insurance policy. If you are going to sleep well at night when anchored, you have to be confident in your anchors, your tackle and your windlass.
But not all anchors are created equal and not all bottoms are the same. As you explore the world you are going to run into some very different bottoms to hook into from sand, to rock and coral, to grass over sand to mud. And each type of bottom requires different qualities and capabilities from your anchors. That’s why experienced cruisers always carry three or four anchors of different types and at least three anchor rodes. Safety at sea is almost always about having the right skills, the right gear and redundancy and that is certainly true when considering your anchors. Read more.
