I forgot to mention a scarry moment that occurred while at anchor in Mills Lake. We had been in the same spot for two days and the wind had been stiff out of the NE at 20 knots. There were even a few white caps on the lake. Anyway, I was in the salon powering up the WxWorx software to check out the weather. Donna was on the bridge reading. It was about 11 AM in the morning. I happened to look out the companionway and saw that we were adrift and only a few feet from a large rock island astern. I flew out into the cockpit, dashed up the ladder, fired up the diesels and prayed as I shifted into gear that we had sufficient deep. One of the reasons I pick this anchorage was that there was 8 feet of water right up to the island we were suddenly against. God was apparently looking out for us, cause the boat lurched forward without the props touching a thing.
We had just put on a CQR anchor prior to the trip. Our old traditional was too much of a strain for the windlass to pull up. I think it is sufficient to hold the USS Enterpise from drift. However, I sure wished I had had it then. We ended up reanchoring and setting out a second anchor. The other one I used is a pack away Fortress. That did the trick, but I will tell you folks, the anchor alarm was on from then on out.
What are your thoughts on anchor types? My CQR is now ready for sale.