Question for San Diego/Mission Bay Sailors: Manson Supreme anchor no set in mud

[Noah]

Just finished a 3-day solo sail to Mission Bay where I tried 5 times to get my 35 lb Manson Supreme anchor to set. No go. It would not bite. Tried in several spots in 12 ft to 21 ft of water.  Ended up using my back-up Danforth, In 21 ft. which set on the first try. Anyone experience this issue in Mission Bay mud or elsewhere in mud with Manson Supreme? Both anchors and chain came-up clean with no wash down needed, so it appears the bottom was not sticky.

[Kevin Henderson]

Following   

[Stu Jackson]

Noah, interesting situation you describe.  I have a Rocna (similar - not an "anchor war" here!)and haven't, yet, experienced your issue.  Much of my anchoring in Northern California was in mud, never a problem.  Haven't had any issues up here yet either, sand, mud and sometimes muddy with sea shells.

There is a great series over on Cruisers Forum (CF) about anchors, and, as you can imagine, those folks who are more liveaboard world travelers than those of us here, have some very good resources about anchors and anchoring.

Here's a particularly good one:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f118/videos-of-anchors-setting-155412.html

If you go to the CF Forums tab, upper left side right under the window, and hover your mouse over it, you'll see all their categories, and one is Anchoring & Mooring.  This link ^^^ is a sticky in that sub-forum.

Good luck, will be illuminating to learn more.  Please keep us posted, as we know you will.

[Frasse Pelle]

Hi Noah,  I anchored in Mission Bay (Mariners basin) on Aug. 22 with the same exact anchor without problems. I was in 18FT of water at almost high tide, with winds from the south.  I got 50FT of chain, it was very very crowded and was able to payout only 80 FT total (far less the desired 5:1 ratio).  We swung quite a lot during the night as the wind died and turned to the west in the morning. That was my first time anchoring with my new Catalina 34.  Reasonably happy. But based on your comment, I probably need to experiment further... 

[Mick Laver]

Hi Noah
We've anchored in Mariners basin twice in the last 1.5 months, both times near the entrance in about 22ft with 3:1 scope. No problems with our Rocna 15 setting, and since the Manson is so similar I'm curious why you would have. The anchor came up relatively clean (nothing like La Playa) but the bottom was definitely mud. I did break down and add a Mantus swivel last year, mostly because the Rocna would invariable come up backwards, but I hadn't had any problems anchoring with the shackle-only anchor connection before. I doubt if that's the difference.

[Noah]

Thx for feedback Whitecaps! Good to hear it worked for you. I was single-handing, a little stressed as my autopilot had just failed, and yes, the anchorage was very crowded—so maybe I wasn't at the top of my anchoring game. I will try again there next month, but will have my Danforth on deck ready to go just in case.

[Noah]

And you too Mick!