Built Rocna Tough

Friday February 1, 2013

It’s official, we have our first sponsor!  The very kind people at Rocna Anchors have collaborated to work with us after we lost our original Rocna during our grounding in the St. Augustine Inlet.  It was a big blow to us to lose our trusty Rocna, and before we hauled out and found out what the damage was, at the time, it was to us the worst part of the whole incident.  After we got back that night after some much needed dinner and drinks with our friends on Hideaway, I kid you not, Rocna Anchors were the first people we contacted.  Not family, not friends, but a thank you note to Rocna for saving our boat from certain demise.

Let me explain a little.  When you live on a boat and you’re anchored out all of the time, you anchor is a HUGE part of keeping you and your boat safe.  When we left, we went big with our anchor.  It was 55 lbs of peace of mind attached to our bow.  The one we purchased was rated for a boat ten feet larger than ours, but in the case of our anchor, we really wanted to oversize.  When the size and brand of your anchor can determine whether or not you might drag through an anchorage in bad conditions and crash into shore, or worse, other boats, you want to go with the one that’s going to give you the least chance of that happening.

We had heard great things about Rocna from other sailors, and while getting all the last necessary bits to start cruising, it was enough to make us switch over from our Manson Supreme this spring.  And I have to tell you, we could not be happier with it.  I’m not kidding when I say this, it sets on the first try every time.  There have been so many times where we’ve been sitting at anchor when another boat comes in and they go through a routine of dropping and upping their anchor multiple times because they just can’t seem to get their anchor to set.  Not only do I feel bad for their extra hassle, but I worry that they may not stay set and might go bump with us in the night.  We on the other hand, drop, back-down, and relax.  It has never failed us once.  During Hurricane Sandy we were relying solely on our Rocna to keep us safe while settled up a creek, and any worrying was for naught.   We never even straightened out our chain.  It has been magnificent, and certainly the most trusted part on our boat.

The biggest test for our Rocna so far though, was when we had our grounding mentioned above in the St. Augustine Inlet.   Our prop was fouled leaving us dead in the water with no engine power, and the wind was right on our nose giving us no way to sail out.  Although we were eventually rescued by US Tow Boat and a local Search and Rescue team, they were nowhere in sight while we were quickly drifting back towards shore.  With his quick thinking, Matt dropped our anchor to keep us from drifting any further back than we already had.  And guess what?  It set right away.  No positioning, no backing down, just solid and secure.*  If our anchor had not held right away like it did, there is no question that Serendipity would have rolled over in the breaking waves of the shore and our boat would have been a true shipwreck, completely totaled out.

So do we love our anchor?  Yes.  Do we love it even more knowing that it’s a Rocna and built Rock Solid?  You bet.  Would we trust our boat and our lives to it?  Already have.   And it has passed with flying colors.

To check out our testimonial on Rocna’s website, including pieces of the letter we sent to them thanking them for saving our boat, check it out here.  And if you’re at all interested in buying a Rocna, please do.  We’ll feel much better if you’re ever anchored next to us.

*Not that I’m suggesting you shouldn’t always anchor properly.  I’m just stating that in this emergency, it did what it was made to do without any help from us.