Capt Chris, sunny and hot
07/13/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Here is a shot of the anchor with the new 3/8 stainless swivel. After all my issues with dragging while in the Bahamas and then the subsequent loss of the CQR and chain in the Dominican Republic, I finally am back to full anchoring strength.

I used the Delta several times over the pasted week or so while exploring the local area. I was amazed at how quickly it set compared to the CQR. The manufacture claims it will set itself within two shank lengths. I would say in the Salinas mud it set right where it landed on the bottom. The Delta is self-righting and all the weight of the anchor is positioned well forward which is why it sets straight away. Another advantage over the CQR is it will launch and recover without me having to manhandle it off and on the bow rollers. This advantage now makes it possible for me to raise and lower via remote switch from the cockpit. An upgrade I am working on while here in Salinas.

Sorry to bore all you with the technical and all, but for you arm chair sailors, you have no idea of how emotionally attached you get to an anchor when it keeps you safe gust after gust and day after day. Nothing worse than losing confidence in your anchor.

My choice of the Delta Set was not without research and interviews of other cruisers. As I have noted before anchors and anchoring is a very controversial topic amongst seaman. I failed to hear a bad report from anyone who had been using the Delta Set. But I relied mostly on a great, in depth study of voyaging anchors done by Blue Water Sailing magazine that I saved from several years back. It is scientific in nature and is to long to really repeat. But the gist is that there is really no right anchor. All anchors have strengths and weaknesses in certain types of bottoms and environmental conditions. This is why most cruisers carry three to four different type of anchors. But the Delta Set, CQR and Bruce anchors work in the vast majority of situations and so this is why they remain the most popular.

Capt Chris

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Capt Chris, sunny and beautiful
07/11/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Well, our trip to Puerto Rico has come to an end. As usual Alexa and I have met wonderful people. The cruising community is very special. Alexa made a wonderful new friend named Emily. They bonded immediately, Alexa even had a sleep over!! Chris is a wonderful host. We trekked to the island of Culebra and I do mean trekked. After missing the first ferry and having 6 hours to kill before the next one, we had to hike all of our gear back to the car. Alexa was not a happy camper and we almost had a "PTS" which is Chris code for Pouting Type Situation. Now that I think of it, we didn't have one PTS which is pretty amazing. The only thing that Alexa broke this time was Chris's diving mask. Another pretty amazing thing since after our first stay aboard the Christa, Alexa was dubbed "the human wrecking ball". Poor Alexa! After finally boarding the ferry for Culebra at 3pm which left late, we made it to Flamenco Beach campground. By this time we were hot and tired and unknowingly chose the farthest campsite available. Par for the course for our day. The beach was spectacular and a fine time was had by all. We had planned on hiking in El Yunque rain forest but we decided we had had enough travel and we parked ourselves at the marina pool for the rest of our stay. Sun and relaxation was on the schedule for the rest of our stay. We had a great 4th of July picnic with the Burton family at the Cruisers Galley. We also had a movie night, since no trip is ever complete without watching Captain Ron. I envy Chris this wonderful adventure however I am so happy to be able to share parts of it with him. Alexa and I hope to share many more ports. Thank you Chris and Christa!!

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Capt Chris, weather is perfect
07/10/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

I pulled anchor a couple of days ago and headed about 6 miles east into the Jobos mangrove system. Might as well been another planet. It really felt isolated even though it was still close to Salinas.

But first thing. I snapped this shot this morning from the top of the mast. I was removing my running backstays to stow which is part of the hurricane prep. The shot is looking south toward the entrance of Salinas Harbor. You can just make out some of the cays that line the south shore of Puerto Rico. Just beautiful.

So anyway it was great to break the pattern of sitting in Salinas. The brush with Bertha has spurred me to expedite the hurricane plan. I anchored for two nights in the jobos mangrove system and spend one entire morning meandering through out the creeks. I found multiple good spots to tuck into for a blow. But my first impression was there is not as much room to lash in multiple boats as I had expected. What it really boils down to is what a person's definition of a bullet proof hole is. If a sailor believes ramming the bow into the mangroves and then streaming anchors off the stern is adequate then I would say there is plenty of room. But bow in is not ideal for me. I don't have a good way to attach anchor rodes to the stern of Christa and in fact most people don't. An alternative is to back into the mangroves which makes the handling of ground tackle much easier. But then you run a greater risk of rudder damage. Plus the weight aft is much greater and you then risk being stuck in the mud after the storm passes. So the preferred method is to center the boat in the creek and lash off to both sides. There are spots to do this in the Jobos but space is limited. Also you must have a large stock of lines to lash with. So I spent a portion of the passed two days doing line inventory and thinking things through. One must be prepared to be pinned down in the mangroves for a longtime. One must have an evacuation plan in case a Katrina style blow is going to strike. Another issues is one you'd never really think about. Here it is. So many leaves blow off the mangroves that they will clog up the deck drains which can lead to flooding of the cabin. How to prevent this? I'm working on it. So that's that for now!

Capt Chris

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Capt Chris, sunny and hot
07/06/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Yesterday the predicted track of Bertha was becoming uncomfortably close to Puerto Rico. But today's track has pushed the track further north and west. Yesterday afternoon I pulled out of the slip at the marina and sank my new anchor into the Salinas harbor mud to pre-stage myself in case a rapid move to the mangroves was in order. While this may not be necessary in terms of Bertha, I had plans on heading to the Jobos hurricane holes, about 5 miles away this week anyway. Just south of the Salinas harbor sits a series of "cayos" that have clear water and great swimming and snorkeling. So I plan on anchoring in the neighborhood to more easily clean the bottom of Christa, which by the way is a constant battle. I then plan to head into the mangroves and do a full hurricane prep dry run to ensure I have a handle on the scope of the job.

I really really have missed being anchored out. The anchorage is much more peaceful and cooler. The direction that the wind blows can make my slip uncomfortable during the day. But when the boat is anchored she snaps head to wind and nice breezes funnel through the hatches. The only downsides to being anchored out really is the lack of shore power and it can be a pain to use the dink to get back and forth to shore vice just stepping onto the dock. So I may stay in the anchorage from here on out instead of pulling back into the slip. For $100 a month you can still use all the ammenities of the marina, including the pool, showers, laundry and secure parking. So I have some time to think about it.

Now my sister and niece have been aboard visiting this week from Conneticut. It was a very relaxing week, with the exception of the day we took to the ferry to Culebra. Tracy and Alexa got the full Salinas experience. I'm encouraging Tracy and Alexa to write up a guest blog entry. Stay tuned.

Capt Chris

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Capt Chris, clear and calm this morning
07/05/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Here is a shot of my new anchor picked up at a discount from West Marine in Farjardo. It is a 44lbs Delta Fast Set cast by Lewmar which bought out Simpson Lawrence. As you may recall I lost my coveted 45 lbs CQR and associated chain in Rio San Juan Dominican Republic back in late Feb. Ouch!

I really would have preferred to replace the lost CQR with a CQR but I balked at the price. The CQR was a hair over $800 and I was able to get the Delta Set at under $300. The only difference between the two types are small. Both are plow types but the CQR has a knuckle that allows the fluke and shank to pivot. The Delta is just one solid piece. Blue Water Sailing mag did an in depth product review of just about every anchor used throughout history. The holding power of the Delta Set was certainly comparable to other anchors. Other cruisers I've met who have used the Delta Set are pleased with its performance. Besides anchors are such the controversial topic, that opinions vary and when a sailor weathers a blow at anchor you become convinced the one you use is the best. So my anchoring system just about up to par with the exception of a swivel, still searching for an suitable replacement.


Capt Chris

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