I’m doing work in the anchor locker at the moment for trolling motor connections. With that I am thinking about anchors, size, styles etc. I’ve seen the praise for the Sea Claw and reached out to him to discuss. His suggestion was a 11x18 10lb model which is a bit long at 18”. I’m thinking about an 8 lb. but don’t have the dimensions. I found this picture from the ‘other’ site it looks like a Sea Claw but is aluminum. Is this the correct proportion for a real 8lb Sea Claw? Also, is at 8lb enough for a larger 17’ skiff?
The quality of these anchors is obvious, but dam $$$$ for an anchor. LOL
I also just looked at a Lewmar 4.4 lb claw anchor at West. Size and price are good but I’ve never had an anchor like this. I would think this would be good for how I’l use this skiff. Most bottom would be sand, mud, grass and maybe some broken bottom small rock.
I anchored my 38-foot motor yacht thousands of times in 17 years in the Caribbean. I had five different anchors, and the one that would hold when no others would was the Bruce, which is like this Lewmar Claw. I use a 1 kilo(2,2 pounds) on my kayak and a 2 kilo(4,4 pounds) on my flats skiff, in Texas coastal waters. They can hang up on immovable objects, so it’s best to attach your anchor rode to the aft hole, and use 2 tie-wraps to secure the rode to the oval slot. If you get it seriously stuck, you can pull and break the tie wraps, and the anchor will back out of the jam. The Bruce anchors were developed to secure floating drilling rigs in the North Sea, where seas average 60 feet!
YMMV TexasJim
@TexasJim Thank you sir. Glad to hear these work well, a 4.4lb anchor makes life easier. Are you running a short piece of chain to tie wrap that to the oval slot?
8lb sea claw with 3 ft heavy stainless chain here. Holds my Evo in ripping current. Only issue has been in grass because it’s just too small but I’ll usually retry and get it to stick. They are expensive but worth it. Mine fits in a milk crate in the front hatch with a ball.
I bought a 4 lb. Fortress for the Skull Island and it’s held in insane currents in an inlet on a mixed sand and mud bottom. I still have it to use in the Challenger, but I very seldom use an anchor down here. I’m almost always in 2’ or less water over sand, mud, or clay, and I carry two stakeout sticks aboard. I have a small Bruce Claw that I kept when I sold the Solo Skiff and it’d hold my Challenger easily in sand or mud. The Sea Claw has a great reputation but I can’t justify that price tag for an anchor I only put in the boat 0 to 2 or 3 times a year at most. My Fortress is all I need. I will say though, if you spend most of your time in water too deep to stake out a good anchor and plenty of rode are must-have safety items.
Seaclaw w stainless chain. Checked my old galv chain one day and it was 75% worn through I will add that I tried the 12# without a chain for a week and in rough conditions on a sandy bottom it slipped some.
I don’t use a chain on mine. Probably should, but haven’t had any problems. I bought my 2 KG online way cheaper, direct from the folks that make them. Been 3 or 4 years, but it was around $30. TJ
That aluminum Sea Claw “look alike” doesn’t look authentic. The Original SeaClaw is the best all-around anchor IMHO. https://www.seaclaw.com/
However, for great holding in sand, mud, gravel, etc. I like the Hurricane Anchor the best. They must be popular now because they’re temporarily out of stock https://hbanchors.com/
I have a 6# Pemberton now branded as Sea-Cure that’s same design as Sea Claw with 3’ chain in a bucket bungeed to poling platform for hard bottom.
I also carry a 4# Fortress FX 7 for sand/soft bottom that I found snagged in some rocks off Homosassa. It works great off the beach.
Claw anchors are great all around anchors but require a lot of chain to keep from plowing, hang up more easily, and harder to rinse clean. Not a problem for larger boats with anchor pulpits and rode lockers.
If you don’t have rock piles in your area I would get the Fortress.
Because I use the vee in my bow compartment space for my $$$ Lithium TM battery I try not to put anything metal or wet in there.
I will add that I tried the 12# without a chain for a week and in rough conditions on a sandy bottom it slipped some.