60lb. Fisherman. Anchor Test Video # 104

A 60lb. Fisherman/Herreshoff/Yachtsman anchor tested in Cobblestone and Mud seabeds.

[theislandpackrat]

Guess I won't use one of those in a storm! I have one leaning against a tree and the tree hasn't moved yet!

[wartono.-]

I was looking for a video of how ancient anchors work, and your video explains well. Thank you Sir 👍🏼👍🏼

[JonBrooks]

We've always used WC Fisherman anchors. A 38 and a 50 for heavy-weather back-up on a 38 Matthews. Typical sand/mud eel grass bottom. I can't remember ever dragging, but we always had 4' chain before the stock. I have an 8 1/2 bronze Herreshoff on my 12 1/2... but I only use it for lunch!

[jamesknape]

We use a 43 pound fisherman in Florida keys in thick grass. Nothing else gets thru the grass as far as regular anchors. But yes we have dragged it even in grass over mud. Our solution was think shaped rocket find hooked to rope bridle and pounded thru the grass into mud. Very interested to see if others have pounded in anchors

[pauljamison]

When they say they are better on Rocky seabed’s, don’t they mean rocks and boulders???

[dustman]

This was an interesting video, tells us a lot about what makes an anchor effective.

[henrycolie]

Used properly, this style anchor serves many very well. There are many benefits when deployed properly; no chain required, cuts down into deep grass and sea lettuce, finds grip between rocks, happy with as little as 3:1 scope. Of course it’s not going to have the ultimate holding power of a modern anchor, chain and 5:1+ scope...But in a tight New England cove...

[CoastLife]

Love it... Glad to see those results. I won't lose any sleep about not having a fisherman anchor onboard. Lol.

[markpilger]

Wow, I totally missed that bit in the middle where you talked about the 100 lb

[Misteribel]

You'd wonder how they ever managed to hold the giant ships from days past. Perhaps it was more a matter of weight? I mean, those old anchors they used on VOC ships were massive. Or, they used actual rocky bottoms, like coral or big rocks and boulders.

[Pocketfarmer]

Did the fishermen that carried those anchors actually anchor very much?

[svbarryduckworth]

We have one of these that came with our boat. The last owner seemed to think it was awesome but we have never used it. It is just more crapmwr have hauled around for 5 years. We use our 45lb Mantus exclusively with all 8mm chain. Thinking of donating this Herrishoff fisherman to someone's front yard rock garden. We also have a couple of 30lb Danforth anchors as well, one is on the stern rail. Why should we carry this fisherman? We have a 10lb Danforth in the dinghy and it seems that would even hold better.

[adriangleprin]

Thanks Steve, seems best place for this Fisherman is back as decoration in the front Yard .

[markpilger]

I admit that I have am easily infatuated with certain lost causes of which the efficacy of old-timey fisherman's anchors is definitely one. You would have to be a freak (like me) to invest the time and effort necessary to properly evaluate them, and for what? The modern anchors really are great in comparison so why bother? Still, watching this lawn ornament bounce along the bottom and declaring all fisherman's anchors to be duds would also mean that the Herreshoffs were fools which I don't think stands the light of day. In this video you did not even mention the previous test where the anchor set readily and held firm at full throttle.

[markpilger]

Fisherman's anchors seem to retain a reputation as being better than others in hard bottoms. This unfortunately means that they will rarely be used until the owner is in a bind and has run out of options. If the unfortunate owner has gotten hold of a dud he won't know it until he needs it and can't afford for it to fail. That 100 lb anchor really seemed to set and hold well and while it may never provide the thousands of pounds of holding that a modern anchor can in soft bottoms it might provide the hundreds of pounds that they can't in harder bottoms or in thick weed. I can see that your efforts would provide a benefit to boaters out there in the real world if you tested such anchors enough to show what they can and can't do. Part of the job would be making it clear that the same style anchor that gets chosen for a tattoo often gets chosen for an obscure back-up anchor for the same general nautical flavor. I would also love to see a genuine Herreshoff anchor get tested. It might be eye-opening. It is my understanding that considerable engineering design and testing went into them.

[CheersWarren]

Hi Steve thank for all these videos you do.
I was wondering if you had addressed how you calculate scope?
I find there is a lot of confusion over how to calculate this. The confusion I think comes from a 80’s rewrite of the us coastguard guide with some ambiguity, then every anchoring guide copying each other! With miscalculation you can end up with double the scope on 2 different boats in the same depth!
Cheers Warren

[MrAthlon]

Interesting video. Thanks. On the subject of old school anchors, I have noticed out there on the internet that many of the anchor “test” videos (not made by you) that show the CQR anchor to fail always test it at a scope much greater than 10 to 1, close to an infinite scope, which causes it to drag on its side. I wonder if it is worth suggesting the idea to you that you could test the CQR at 10 to 1, or 20 to 1 or even greater scope and compare it to your previous tests that showed it performing reasonably well at shorter scopes. You could potentially save many a boat or sailor’s life if it turns out letting out too much scope causes the CQR to fail, when the reverse is true for other anchors. Certainly could be of value to the boating community.

[fredio]

That's pretty bad. We have a big one around the same size as a spare anchor. It's coming off the boat. I can tell you first hand from recent experience that in a soft seabed without being assembled properly, it has about 10lb holding power :-D Ie, easily dragged (not drug!) across the bottom by hand! A lump of large chain gas axed in half did a lot better for the purpose of minimising yawing.