Good deal on Claw Anchors at Defender

[Salty19]

Defender has had the Lewmar Claw Anchor on sale for awhile at deep discounts.
$18 for an 11lb anchor 15-25ftboat. Also smaller and larger for lunch or bigger boats with similar savings.

Great deal if the claw anchor suites your needs.

http://www.defender.com/defender-marine-clearance.jsp?path=-1|619045&id=1970771

[skip1930]

Wrong anchor for me. I would rather have a Danforth and not a Claw anchor.
The Navy can't be all wrong.

skip.

[MacGyver]

What is a claw anchor good for?

I have been eyeballing it on Defender for a while........pondering.......

Mac

[Shawn]

"Wrong anchor for me. I would rather have a Danforth and not a Claw anchor.
The Navy can't be all wrong."

True, but the Navy (and Coast Guard) has the HP to bury the Danforth deep enough to prevent it from pulling out on a tide/wind shift. When that happes they tend not to reset as the chain fouls the flukes. Nave/Coast Guard also always has those on duty for anchor watch.

Very few cruisers use a Danforth type as their primary anchor for this reason. Many have a Fortress (optimized Danforth type) onboard as a storm anchor though.

Shawn

[Shawn]

Mac,

Check out:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f118/

For more threads on anchoring than you would believe. The claw is a copy of the Bruce anchor. I've seen many reports that the copies don't work as well as the original Bruce anchors due to differences in their geometry, also some problems with castings breaking on the cheaper copies. The Bruce is supposed to be a pretty decent anchor in most bottom types (except weeds) and it tends to pivot in place on tide/wind shifts.

From tests 'next generation' anchors have higher holding power per pound though.

Shawn

[skip1930]

Mac, claw anchors don't articulate [shank up/shank down] but some claws swing side to side at the end 'business end' of the shank.
For the bottoms I sail over a Danforth has always held my CP-19.
It's light weight welded up from sheet steel [not cast] but has all the surface area for holding power. It's all about spreading out the weight [pull].
I can't remember a 180 wind shift where ever I have anchored so I'm not concerned about going in a circle and fouling the flukes with the anchor chain road.
I have no current to speak of where I park. We did have Danforths on the houseboats in a 4+ knot river current. That is a 7,000+ lb steel boat.

Different bottom = different anchors. I don't really know why a claw anchor is preferred on high dollar vessels...probably just a point-of-purchase selling point.
They look good and don't rattle.

Our 1000 footers use Danforths here in the Great Lakes.

skip.

[Jason]

Hi all,  I went with the 11lb lewmar claw for my 16, no moving parts, more than heavy enough, fits well on bow roller.  Has held the boat very well.  I worry about dragging so its probably oversized....  I use a plastic coated chain rode, then transition to a 150ft anchor rope.  Have a danforth for 2nd anchor.

Snowed again yesterday, looking forward to spring!

Jason

[deisher6]

Have used a 22 lb Bruce anchor on a C-27 with a couple feet of chain to anchor in the bight of Cape Lookout in 20+ mph of wind and several times with less wind but rafted up.  It held anyplace that we used along the outter banks and costal waters except in Swansboro. 

I would recommend them.

Still have the anchor, hope to match it back up with a boat sometime. 

regards charlie

[NateD]

My CP16 came with a small Danforth with a couple feet of chain, always held in the places I anchored. It even reset one night on a 180 degree wind shift on Superior one night.

My CP23 came with a 22lb claw with 10' or so of chain. It has held in the same mud/sand bottoms that the Danforth did.

I'm sure there are bottom types where certain anchor designs work better, but my limited experience has been that for mud/soft-medium sand, Danforth and claw both seem to work well. I do have a very large Fortress tucked away in a locker as a storm anchor, but haven't tried it out yet.

[capt_nemo]

On both a 35' Sailboat and 36' Trawler, the Bruce (claw type) Anchor was my Primary, with CQR and Delta as Secondaries. And, as Shawn said, I used a Fortress FX23 Aluminum (Danforth type) as a Storm Anchor.

The Bruce served me quite well for thousands of cruising miles, including two trips to the Bahamas, anchoring in all types of bottoms.  In all that time only dragged twice while trying to anchor so tried others successfully.

I am a firm believer in the Claw type anchor. Currently use one as primary on my Sun Cat.

capt_nemo

[Bob23]

My primary is a homemade (not by me) Danforth type made of stainless steel. Bought it a nautical flea market with 450' poly rope for 5 clams. It has about 8 feet 3/8" chain and 100' 1/2' 3 strand. It has held my 23 in winds up to 30 or so but it doesen't always set the first time. Don't ask me how I came to discover that. I don't know the comparative Danforth size but it seems big for the boat...I'll never give it up. That being said, the bottom where I sail is sand and/or eel grass.
Bob23

[skip1930]

A Danforth gets you two 'digs' with the flukes through the sand while a plow get's you one 'dig'?

skip.

[capt_nemo]

Skip,

Once you get the "two digs" from the Danforth they are nortorious for "undigging" on a bold shift of pull (wind), and FAILING to "re-dig" in the new pull direction, often skipping along the bottom. The Claw type "digs" once, but stays "dug" in, rotating beneath the bottom surface to orient the shank in the new direction of pull.

Granted, the Danforth type are good anchors, if used carefully with limitations. HOWEVER, I, along with many other experienced long distance Cruisers, refuse to trust the safety of our boats and crew to an unattended Danforth as Primary.

capt_nemo

[Rob]

Thanks Salty ,ordered a 11lb one today it will look good on the front of my 16 .I have my danforth in the conner of the garage it worked ok but the big problem is where to store it doesnt fit the bow roller if I hang it from the pulpit it gets in the way .At 18$ I had to order other stuff to meet the 25$ minn order ,it wasnt hard to find something . Rob

[philb Junkie19]

Salty, thanks for the info. Just also ordered the claw. I'm glad to read that it fits on the 16's bow roller.  The price dropped to $15. Shipping cuts into the savings but gas to the nearest marine supply would be more. I always used Danforths because of cost or they came with the boat. I did look for a mud bottom on the charts when planning for an overnight anchorage. That usually wasn't a problem but I'd steer clear of some good places where I thought another anchor was better suited.  Phil