In a message dated 12/29/07 12:01:00 AM, Rob Brueckner writes: > People I have spoken with swear by the Bruce style... Rob Brueckner > That's funny. Most people I know swear AT the Bruce anchor. Their major claim to popularity in the Northeast is that they fit nicely on the anchoring platform of Sea Rays. Apparently they do reset well during a tidal current change but don't hold worth a damn if the wind picks up. If the bottom is covered by sea grass, you might as well use a rock tied to a rope. My son in law, who has boated in the Chesapeake most of his life, tells me that in the gunky yucky mud bottom, the design of the anchor doesn't matter as much as the fluke area. Concurring with Rob, his favorite is an old broad fluke Danforth with a very short chain connected to a small diameter nylon rode. He maintains that the elasticity of the rode is essential to prevent the forces from transient wakes, waves, or wind gusts from jerking the anchor out of the poorly holding bottom. I tend to agree. When we boated in the Florida Keys and in the Bahamas, we used a CQR and a boat length of chain attached to a nylon rode. Never a drag in several years. The chain protected the rode from coral cuts. Probably a shorter length chain would have done as well. Now we rely on a Fortress with 6 ft. of 3/8" chain and a braided nylon rode for most anchoring. It holds very well in our typical sand/clay bottom and is very easy for my wife to deploy. I finesse the problem of wind, tide, and current reversal in suspicious areas by setting out a secondary anchor, either in a Bahamian moor or 45 to 60 degrees off the line of the first anchor. It's not much more work and it makes for less anxiety provoking nights. Regarding the sea grass, most of the lightweight anchors I have used simply skip over the bottom. It takes real weight or a grapnel to hold. And most small boats don't carry those kinds of anchors. We have found that we get the best results with a sharpened fluke Danforth. I ground the fluke edges of an old Danforth HT until they were as sharp as a lawnmower blade. Not like a razor but sharp enough to cut butter. The anchor slices its way through the grass and sets in the bottom. The blade area is not too important since the entire mat of grass would have to be ripped free for the anchor to drag. The sharpened flukes will rust in time but a yearly resharpening restores the edge. The only conclusion I can reach from reading the T&T comments on anchors is that there is no best anchor or anchoring system. It all depends on the boat, the bottom, and the owner's risk tolerance. Larry Z ************************************** See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)