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#81
Tales and Trip Reports / Re: Cedar Key Small Boat Meet ...
Last post by Riley Smith - May 11, 2026, 08:26 AMGreat report Charles! It's always fun to mingle with pretty boats. And yes, a custom boat is ALWAYS more enticing than the run-of-the-mill plastic. If you could only sell tacos when you have to tell some random stranger about the boat 
I do enjoy it though and sometimes I can rope them into HELPING!!!
I do enjoy it though and sometimes I can rope them into HELPING!!! #82
TSBB General Talk / Josh Kali’s Return
Last post by Wolverine - May 10, 2026, 03:54 PMhttps://towndock.net/
I plan on meeting him on the water. Before he departed he gave me a tour of his boat. It is quite impressive.
I plan on meeting him on the water. Before he departed he gave me a tour of his boat. It is quite impressive.
#83
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Timm R Oday25 - May 10, 2026, 12:53 PMWearing a Bears jersey will eventually get you service in a restaurant or bar .
We like taking money from tourist and seeing them head south.
The bottoms you will be anchoring most likely be small rocks .
The plus Lake Superior is cold enough that algae doesn't grow .
Water clarity is usually very clear down to 15 to 20 feet .
Lot's of small bays to hide out in . The islands are close
enough that you can see the next .
We like taking money from tourist and seeing them head south.
The bottoms you will be anchoring most likely be small rocks .
The plus Lake Superior is cold enough that algae doesn't grow .
Water clarity is usually very clear down to 15 to 20 feet .
Lot's of small bays to hide out in . The islands are close
enough that you can see the next .
#84
West Wight Potter Yachts / Re: Alameda Small Boat Regatta...
Last post by George16 - May 09, 2026, 08:46 PMOne quick update: I sent the wrong discount code for the Marina Village Inn. Use "Silver2026" and you'll get 30% off their standard room rates. Sorry for the confusion.
#85
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Wolverine - May 09, 2026, 05:46 PMIf you pass through or close by Chicago, a deep dish pizza and/or an Italian beef is a required stop. When you go behind the cheddar curtain, a brat and a local brew is a must. Don't forget the cheese curds. No one does them better than cheddarheads.
If you get the chance, a nort woods fish boil is a special treat. Whitefish straight out of Superior is heavenly.
edit: don't forget to wear a Bears jersey.
If you get the chance, a nort woods fish boil is a special treat. Whitefish straight out of Superior is heavenly.
edit: don't forget to wear a Bears jersey.
#86
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Charles Brennan - May 09, 2026, 03:14 PMSailTow, People up North, refer to sweetened carbonated beverages as "pop", whereas in the South, they are called either "soda" or "coke" (no matter the flavor). So when you say "fluke" anchor are you referring to the kinds of anchors you see on sailor's tattoos, or are you referring to the Danforth anchor developed by Richard Danforth, in 1939?
The Danforth is a popular anchor for the southern half of Florida because of all the sand. You could think of the lower half of Florida, as a sandbar made of Sand, Oolite and Coral rock, that ran aground against North America's continental bedrock, which starts well above Orlando. I sailed in Biscayne Bay all my life and used to be impressed at how well sailors from up north sailed around so effortlessly, in the ICW channels. I took my own sailboat to Wisconsin once and learned why. Down here, when you go out of the channel, you run aground on sand; up north when you run aground, it's on GRANITE. That stuff we only see in Miami, on the sides of banks, is laying around all over everywhere in huge jagged chunks, just below the water's surface.
Everybody down here thinks you use a Danforth anchor on a sandy bottom, you're bullet-proof.
Not so.
There are places in the Bahamas, where there is sand, but it is only two inches deep above a hard coral rock floor. Tidal currents scour the bottom, into a hard coral rock, featureless floor. There are places in the Keys the same way and in both places, there are areas where it has a sandy bottom but there is also Eel grass and Turtle grass that clogs up the Danforth flukes and renders the anchor useless.
The problem is just as bad up north, in places like the North Channel.
There, glaciers running over all that Granite for tens of thousands of years, have smoothed out all the rocky floors to the point, where there is nothing for the fluke of a Danforth to dig in and catch, on all those smooth rocky floors. And places where there IS a sandy bottom, you have the same problems as the Keys/Bahamas. You'd be GRATEFUL to have only Eel and Turtle grass, in a place where you're dealing with Hydrilla, Milfoil, Muskgrass, Coontail and Sago Pondgrass. Try to drop a Danforth in there and you'll likely pull up a bushel basket's worth of vegetation on the flukes and with no hope of the anchor flukes digging in and catching in the sand.
While I have no quarrel with the advocates of CQR, Manta and Rocna anchors, for the waters I sail in, my own anchor selection is sufficient.
You cannot view this attachment.
On my 12 foot Dinghy, I have 6 different anchors, for different tasks:
1) Beach stake with 100' rode.
2) 4.4 lb Lewmar Claw with 100' rode and 10' of chain.
3) 4 lb Danforth with 100' rode and 10' of chain and a second 4 lb Danforth (not shown) with 25' of rode, that I use like a "parking brake".
4) 10 lb folding rock anchor with 100' rode and 10' of chain. (Not kept aboard, until I travel to an area, that requires it.)
5) A Sea anchor/drift anchor (not shown).
On the beach I use the sand stake, in clear sandy areas I use the Danforth, in weedy areas I use the Claw and in rocky areas or tidal-scoured bottoms, I use the folding rock anchor.
The Claw is actually, my go-to anchor, in that the end can easily dig into sand, can catch on moderately rocky bottoms and can penetrate weeds enough for the flukes at the sides, to dig in underneath the vegetation, before the anchor gets clogged up.
In the pic below, you can see the beach stake lower left and the "parking brake" Danforth at the port stern.
(Keeps the boat from slewing sideways onto the beach in the tidal currents.)
You cannot view this attachment.
An additional challenge anchoring up north, is the large amount of underwater trees, limbs, and branches, that can snag an anchor's flukes and make it difficult to retrieve. If I ever went up there again, I would bring a float and a trip line to attach to my anchors, to un-snag them, if necessary.
Right Anchor for the Right Bottom, My Man.
Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan
The Danforth is a popular anchor for the southern half of Florida because of all the sand. You could think of the lower half of Florida, as a sandbar made of Sand, Oolite and Coral rock, that ran aground against North America's continental bedrock, which starts well above Orlando. I sailed in Biscayne Bay all my life and used to be impressed at how well sailors from up north sailed around so effortlessly, in the ICW channels. I took my own sailboat to Wisconsin once and learned why. Down here, when you go out of the channel, you run aground on sand; up north when you run aground, it's on GRANITE. That stuff we only see in Miami, on the sides of banks, is laying around all over everywhere in huge jagged chunks, just below the water's surface.
Everybody down here thinks you use a Danforth anchor on a sandy bottom, you're bullet-proof.
Not so.
There are places in the Bahamas, where there is sand, but it is only two inches deep above a hard coral rock floor. Tidal currents scour the bottom, into a hard coral rock, featureless floor. There are places in the Keys the same way and in both places, there are areas where it has a sandy bottom but there is also Eel grass and Turtle grass that clogs up the Danforth flukes and renders the anchor useless.
The problem is just as bad up north, in places like the North Channel.
There, glaciers running over all that Granite for tens of thousands of years, have smoothed out all the rocky floors to the point, where there is nothing for the fluke of a Danforth to dig in and catch, on all those smooth rocky floors. And places where there IS a sandy bottom, you have the same problems as the Keys/Bahamas. You'd be GRATEFUL to have only Eel and Turtle grass, in a place where you're dealing with Hydrilla, Milfoil, Muskgrass, Coontail and Sago Pondgrass. Try to drop a Danforth in there and you'll likely pull up a bushel basket's worth of vegetation on the flukes and with no hope of the anchor flukes digging in and catching in the sand.
While I have no quarrel with the advocates of CQR, Manta and Rocna anchors, for the waters I sail in, my own anchor selection is sufficient.
You cannot view this attachment.
On my 12 foot Dinghy, I have 6 different anchors, for different tasks:
1) Beach stake with 100' rode.
2) 4.4 lb Lewmar Claw with 100' rode and 10' of chain.
3) 4 lb Danforth with 100' rode and 10' of chain and a second 4 lb Danforth (not shown) with 25' of rode, that I use like a "parking brake".
4) 10 lb folding rock anchor with 100' rode and 10' of chain. (Not kept aboard, until I travel to an area, that requires it.)
5) A Sea anchor/drift anchor (not shown).
On the beach I use the sand stake, in clear sandy areas I use the Danforth, in weedy areas I use the Claw and in rocky areas or tidal-scoured bottoms, I use the folding rock anchor.
The Claw is actually, my go-to anchor, in that the end can easily dig into sand, can catch on moderately rocky bottoms and can penetrate weeds enough for the flukes at the sides, to dig in underneath the vegetation, before the anchor gets clogged up.
In the pic below, you can see the beach stake lower left and the "parking brake" Danforth at the port stern.
(Keeps the boat from slewing sideways onto the beach in the tidal currents.)
You cannot view this attachment.
An additional challenge anchoring up north, is the large amount of underwater trees, limbs, and branches, that can snag an anchor's flukes and make it difficult to retrieve. If I ever went up there again, I would bring a float and a trip line to attach to my anchors, to un-snag them, if necessary.
Right Anchor for the Right Bottom, My Man.
Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan
#87
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Spot - May 08, 2026, 07:39 PMSailTow, welcome.
I am hoping to attend this year.
https://catalina22.org/index.php/events/eventdetail/411/-/apostle-islands-cruise
In years past, there have been online meetings and group chats to connect the participants.
Is the Fluke anchor in question some sort of lighter weight unit like a Danforth or something with some mass? Typical guidance would be a boat's length of chain between the anchor and rode.
I am hoping to attend this year.
https://catalina22.org/index.php/events/eventdetail/411/-/apostle-islands-cruise
In years past, there have been online meetings and group chats to connect the participants.
Is the Fluke anchor in question some sort of lighter weight unit like a Danforth or something with some mass? Typical guidance would be a boat's length of chain between the anchor and rode.
#88
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Noemi - Ensenada 20 - May 08, 2026, 03:51 PMOh Charrrrrles, anchor questions....^^^
#89
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by Wolverine - May 08, 2026, 12:52 PMThe Apostles have been on my bucket list for years. I planned trips, but something always came up. It was an easier trip when we lived in northern Illinois. Now living in NC, it's a much farther drive.
I would like to return to the north channel too, so maybe if I combine the two.
I would like to return to the north channel too, so maybe if I combine the two.
#90
TSBB General Talk / Re: Tampa Bay to Apostle Islan...
Last post by SailTow - May 08, 2026, 09:29 AMThanks for the tips. I've been studying up on the weather. It is not tropical patterns for sure.
Speaking of bottom conditions - it's been suggested my fluke anchor will not hold. I'm curious though as to how different is the sandy bottom of the Apostle Islands vs the sandy muddy bottom of Tampa Bay. Do I need a different anchor, a heavier anchor?
Speaking of bottom conditions - it's been suggested my fluke anchor will not hold. I'm curious though as to how different is the sandy bottom of the Apostle Islands vs the sandy muddy bottom of Tampa Bay. Do I need a different anchor, a heavier anchor?