Hi Deena and Harvey, Last year I installed chocks at the bow of LEPPO.
I did it by cutting down the toe rail to gain a flat surface; then added a teak block inboard of the toerail so that the cleat could be positioned and supported by both surfaces. The top of the chock is now about level with the old toe rail. The cleats were installed with backing plates under the deck, and with bolts / elastic stop nuts holding them in place. So far, they work fine. No improvements or modifications needed. Your anchor question is really a function of where you sail: what the bottom looks like; and what problems you may encounter. If you only sail at the same lakes, then your anchors can be optimized for the type of bottom you find there. If the lake bottom is soft mud, then a Danforth type works well, as will a Bruce. However, the moment you have weed (eel grass is the worst) then the Bruce is the anchor of choice. Why? Well, when the Danforth hit bottom and starts being pulled along the bottom, weeds will be picked up between the flukes and the anchor won't set, because the flukes can't reach their "dig-in" angle. The anchor just lies on the bottom holding nothing but heavy bundle of weed. You can tug on the rode and it will seem to be holding, but if a greater load is imposed, (wind speed increases) then you'll find yourself sliding slowly backwards through the rest of the anchored fleet. This is where a Bruce is superior. The Bruce will go down through the weed and grab bottom. If you are anchoring in a lake where there are tree roots, snags, rocks and other debris on the bottom, then you have to put a trip line on your anchor so that if it gets stuck you can pull it out backwards and retrieve it. If you don't, and loose an anchor, then this is another reason for carrying more than one! Go to your library and look up cruising books. Most will have a chapter on anchoring and anchoring techniques. To find out what the bottom is consult your nautical charts. They list the type of bottoms. The old way of determining what the bottom was like was with a sounding lead. This is what was used in the days before depthsounders. It is a lead weight with a hole in the bottom, and a long heaving line. Tallow is put in the hole, the lead line is dropped till it hits bottom, and when it is pulled back, you know the depth and you can see what sticks to the tallow: sand, grass; shells, pebbles; mud, etc. This is how the old timers determined what was "down there". Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
