Re: Anchor doesn't hold?
gold bear- as a former deck officer on a 570' naval vessel, i actually have some experience and knowledge on this subject (unlike most of the topics on this board, where i'm absolutely clueless). i will retract my comment that the anchor does not hold the ship, but stress that we do not 'set' the anchor like i do with my 20' fishing boat. the heavy weight of the anchor assists in dropping or 'placing' the anchor in the desired anchorage. chain is then paid out to form a heap of heavy steel. we then slowly back down and pay out 5-7 times the depth of water in chain. at 100lbs a link, the weight builds quickly. in that sense, the weight of the chain does hold the ship. under extreme storm conditions, the scope of chain may extend and possibly pull on the anchor, causing it to drag, but trust me, we are already dropping the second anchor before that occurs. i'll stick to my guns that the large weight of the chain holds the ship, and that the anchor is never actually 'set'. hope that's clearer, although it doesn't help the original poster much. sorry-