Our anchor setup had previously consisted of a 35 lb. CQR anchor as the primary  and a 33 lb. Bruce anchor as the secondary. This was a good setup for sailing on the bay and along the coast but our needs were changing. We wanted to beef up our primary anchor because we knew that when we would start cruising we would spend most of our time at anchor.

After some research we ended up buying a new 33 lb. aluminum Spade anchor. The Spade anchors are available in aluminum and galvanized steel. We chose the aluminum because of it’s lighter weight since we have a manual windlass and have to bring it up by hand. Though the 22 lb. aluminum model was rated as sufficient for Bruadair I wanted our primary anchor to be oversized. The 33 LB model is definitely oversized as it’s rated for boats up to 65’ or 40,000 pounds. The 33 lb aluminum anchor has the same holding power as the 66 pound steel version. This is because holding power is determined by the surface area of the anchor not the weight. The steel anchor, being twice the weight, is supposed to set much faster especially in grassy or hard bottoms. We’ve been very happy with how fast our aluminum anchor sets. We weigh 26k pounds loaded. The Spade anchor, unlike some other anchors, sits very well in a bow roller.

We have used our Spade anchor quite a bit since we left Texas in mud, sand and grassy bottoms. I can’t say enough good things about it. It has set the first time every time, has never broken out when we change directions with the tide and we have never dragged anchor. With our all chain rode in 40 knots of wind we have always stayed put. The anchor is relatively easy to break out of the ground but on occasion it does require a bit of effort.

The only down side of the Spade anchor is it’s price, they are not inexpensive by any means. But when living on the hook most of the time peace of mind of having a good anchor is always worth something. We have yet to use our CQR or Bruce anchor so we cannot compare them to the Spade. We have met many boaters out there using the Spade and the consensus is the same, it’s an excellent anchor.

Rating:

Performance                  10
Quality                              10
Ease of Use                    10
Installation                         9
Documentation                  8
Customer Service         n/a

Overall Rating                 9.75
Would buy again            Definitely
 

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