I’ve been listening to a lot of AC/DC recently. But that’s not important right now. Besides, they’re Australian, and the Rocna anchor was designed in New Zealand. I should probably have selected a Flight of the Conchords musical reference, since they’re from New Zealand.
Anyhoo! I’ve decided to get a Rocna anchor and try it out aboard Two Lucky Fish. The Rocna is one of the new generation of Funny Looking Anchors we’ve discussed here previously.
I’ve got 6-kg model on its way from Suncoast Marine in Vancouver, the North American manufacturer. This should be plenty big enough for my C-Dory 22, especially considering that I don’t usually anchor out when it’s really rough, and I cruise in areas where some sort of shelter is nearly always close at hand. I don’t need a hurricane anchor.
I’ll report on it periodically as I gain experience with it. I’m not going to attempt to conduct genuine “scientific” testing, but I might take it out to the beach with my current Bruce-clone “Claw” anchor and a similar-sized Delta I can borrow from my sister, and play around with them all in the sand.
All I know now is that my Claw anchor seems to stay in place about as well as a pile of loose chain would. Yeah, I know…I’m probably not setting it right. That’s almost certainly true. I don’t claim to be any sort of anchoring expert.
But that’s sort of the point.
My anecdotal impressions will probably be more helpful to the average coastal cruiser who only anchors occasionally than will reports from the serious offshore voyagers the Rocna was really designed for (and by).
Will my experience with the Rocna measure up to the manufacturer’s claims and recent test results, particularly in the short-scope anchoring situations typical in the Pacific Northwest?
Stay Tuned!
8 responses so far ↓
Craig Smith // Jun 26, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Hi Tim, pleased to see you’ll be gaining some first hand experience with the Rocna. Just a brief message to point out the hyperlink to Rocna.com at the top of your entry sends one to a (very friendly it’s true) 404 page-not-found page. All the best mate – and cheers from down under.
Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor // Jun 26, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Woops! It’s fixed, now. Thanks, Craig.
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[...] that I was critical of some of Rocna’s online marketing efforts, but that later, I decided to purchase a Rocna anchor for my own boat. Let me say, for the record, that this Knowledge Base is an appropriate and powerful online [...]
Bob // Jul 13, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Hi Tim,
Came across your “About to Rocna” article researching anchors. How did it work out for you. I noticed you posted a few times on fitting the Rocna to your bow roller, but couldn’t find a post about how it performed holding the boat (please forgive me if I’m not looking in the right place).
I have a Ranger 23 – similar in size to your Cape Dory, but with a fin keel, so she sails on her anchor a bit. I was thinking about the 6kg Rocna to complement my 7.5kg claw. Most comments about the Rocna seem to be from larger boats. Yours is the only site that mentions using the smaller 6kg size. How does it hold up (or rather down)?
Cheers
Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor // Jul 13, 2010 at 7:25 pm
The trouble is that I anchor so seldom! I’ve only used it seriously once, and it held just fine through a 30-knot overnight blow. Ive used it for short stays several times, and let me say that every time, it seems like it holds almost too well. It’s a hassle to bring it up, because it brings up so much of the bottom with it! I keep meaning to do more testing, but I just don’t anchor that often. I should take it back to Pelican Beach on Cypress Island…that bottom offers pretty bad holding, judging by my generic “claw” anchor’s performance a few years ago.
Bob // Jul 15, 2010 at 4:44 am
Thanks for the info – sounds like your experiences are pretty positive. I mostly wanted to make sure there weren’t any weird ’scaling effects’ at small sizes. Since most of the other comments I’ve read have been about much larger anchors, it’s helpful to know that the small version also seems to work well.
Cheers,
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