5m boat dragging anchor

About 12 months ago I replaced a sand anchor after losing one and have had nothing but trouble since, from anchoring in 2m in the protection of cockburn sound fishing for kgw or out to the high teens for pinkies in the swell, the anchor drags 95% of the time and only seems to grab when it catches onto some broken ground. When I replaced the anchor I also upgraded the chain as previously I had 2 lengths of 8mm chain joined with a shackle and pulling the shackle through the bow roller was doing my head in so swapped out for a single length of chain instead.

The set up is 5m of 10mm chain to a 10lb/4.5kg sand/danforth style anchor. The boat is a 5.2m ali side console, completely open boat, no structure for the wind to catch on.

Is this set up adequate for this size boat? The anchor is a generic sand anchor from Road Tech Marine. Inspecting the anchor on the front lawn I noticed the main shaft has a lot of side to side movement, I'm almost under the assumption that the main shaft has so much side to side play that the anchor may be "barrel rolling" as the shaft gets pulled to the side.

I'm prepared to replace with a new one, just after some first hand experience from anyone with 5-6m boats.

Cheers

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Posts: 1346

Date Joined: 05/05/06

 I use a sand anchor and

Tue, 2025-06-03 13:45

 I use a sand anchor and about 6m of chain with a reef anchor 'd' shackled half way up the chain. For sand or light reef anchoring and have stayed put every time for the last few years. Touch wood havent lost anything yet.

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Bend over

Posts: 154

Date Joined: 09/01/12

 The setup should be fine,

Tue, 2025-06-03 16:07

 The setup should be fine, particularly if you let out enough rode. Its a bit cold to get in and see it in action so why not see if you can borrow an anchor from someone local to try before you replace it.  I am a bit surprised that it doesn't catch even with play in  the main shaft as pulling it directly back should still set it. 

marble's picture

Posts: 780

Date Joined: 03/09/09

 Get a Sarca I reckon  

Tue, 2025-06-03 17:09

 Get a Sarca I reckon 

 

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PMY 25 Centre Console DF300 Suzuki

tot's picture

Posts: 1168

Date Joined: 31/01/10

agree

Tue, 2025-06-03 19:18

 Number 2 Sarca for the win

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Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits

Posts: 129

Date Joined: 31/07/10

 Another vote for the sarca.

Tue, 2025-06-03 21:11

 Another vote for the sarca. I have never dragged anchor using a sarca on the 5.2m genesis which has a big sail area (canopy) 

Daniel Westerduin's picture

Posts: 437

Date Joined: 30/10/06

 I have a 4.8m fibreglass

Wed, 2025-06-04 04:03

 I have a 4.8m fibreglass boat and use a sand anchor some of the time. My anchor is 13lbs if I remember correctly without checking plus a decent amount of chain. It sometimes drags but usually it's because I haven't let out enough rope. Once the anchor hits the bottom you still have to let out quite a bit more.If too short it pulls up and out. There is a recommended ratio of 5/1 -7/1 not that many people let that much out. So in 10m you would need 50-70m of rope out etc to be as safe as possible. Now I personally have anchored out in 40m-70m and let out most of my rope which is approx 110m.(Way less than recommended) It holds sometimes and sometimes let's go. It depends on how rough, windy, how big the swell is. I also sometimes use a reef anchor and if the rope length is relatively short the reef anchor prongs straighten out really quickly and I start drifting away. If I put out a lot of rope it doesn't happen so much.

Posts: 827

Date Joined: 22/07/10

 anoher vote for a sarca.

Wed, 2025-06-04 18:52

 anoher vote for a sarca.

sunshine's picture

Posts: 2641

Date Joined: 03/03/09

And yet another Sarca lover

Wed, 2025-06-04 19:02

 But i agree with others that rope length can be critical 

Posts: 48

Date Joined: 06/12/16

I’ve had the same issue

Wed, 2025-06-04 20:41

Hey mate,

I've had the exact same issue with generic danforth anchors.  I'd guess that the one you have has short, wide flukes and only small bars out the end. I had one of those and found that it never sets unless the sand is super soft. It just seems to slightly dig in on one fluke then just rotates up and turns the anchor on its side, never grabbing.  I got a new one with wider bars out the sides (to stop it tipping on its side) and longer narrower flukes and it has never let go.

 

Hope that helps.

beau's picture

Posts: 4117

Date Joined: 24/01/10

Thanks for the anchor feedback

Thu, 2025-06-05 08:10

CD you are bang on mate, I do have the short wide fluke style. I ended up back at RTM yesterday to have a look at the next size up, and noticed all the anchors 10lb and under are short/wide fluke and 13lb and up are the long/narrow style. I assumed it was an anchor issue and not a rope issue the moment I couldn't grab bottom in the protection of the sound, with 30-40m of rope out in only 2-3m of water, but had no idea until now of the 2 different designs. Will pop around some boat dealers today to see if any stock the longer design.

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carnarvonite's picture

Posts: 8685

Date Joined: 24/07/07

Offset

Fri, 2025-06-06 12:05

 Check that the flukes are offset. Lay it on a flat surface, one fluke point should be on the ground and the other shoud be up off the ground so that when you drop anchor one is always going to dig in and pull the other on whichever side it lands on. Not enough rode/rope out is usually the fault

beau's picture

Posts: 4117

Date Joined: 24/01/10

Anchor issue resolved

Tue, 2025-06-10 10:02

As CD mentioned previously, the issue was the design of the anchor I was using. I took some measurements of the anchor that was giving me grief and set out to find one with longer/narrower flukes and longer round-bar stabilizers that poked out each side. Ended up with a Blueline brand 10lb danforth anchor from BCF.

Anchored up at 3 or 4 different spots yesterday in 10-15knt northerly and didn't have a single issue, to the point where even when retrieving and being directly above the anchor the deckie was struggling to get the anchor out the sand, rope ripping through his hands battling the chop.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you guys an update and thanks to everyone that commented.

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Posts: 48

Date Joined: 06/12/16

Good to hear

Tue, 2025-06-10 20:40

Good to hear that. I can't understand how they are still selling these anchors that don't work.

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18171

Date Joined: 11/03/08

Now you need an anchor

Tue, 2025-06-10 11:37

Now you need an anchor retriever (that's not the deckie) . The ones with the float that clips to the anchor rope and you just drive off and it floats the anchor to the surface. Lot easier to pull in 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together