Coastal disaster relief

Fortress Anchors

We are flabbergasted and gobsmacked. Thank you guys, here's the anchor in Thunderbird 2's starboard hawsepipe with The Captain moving it into stowage position.

Fortress Anchors are sent us their FX-125, the largest anchor they make. The Coast Guard use these anchors aboard their vessels. At only 69 pounds in weight, providing over 8,000 pounds of holding in soft mud, and 27,000 pounds in hard sand, Thunderbird 2 will have the best holding in even the most horrific of storm conditions in a good anchorage.

This donation actually makes us rethink the entire ground tackle system; we need to re-size the chain, rope rode and galvanized steel wire rope that we need to match this holding power, even the design of the windlass on deck that we are going to custom build!

Calling mechanical engineer volunteers - we would like to set up a trial with this anchor and the ground tackle with strain gauges, comparing the FX-125 with our existing other anchor which is a new 100 pound Baldt. Please feel free to comment below.

Captain Ray

ALL THE COAST GUARD VESSELS IN THIS PICTURE HAVE FORTRESS ANCHORS.

Thunderbird 2 is receiving the same anchor you see in the foreground on the 154' Fast Response Cutter (FRC) which displaces 353 long tons (790,000 lbs).

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Comment by Captain Ray Thackeray, IRG on March 1, 2013 at 12:16pm: These are the dimensions of the FX-125 anchor that we will fit into the starboard hawsehole of Thunderbird 2. The 3-strand nylon rope required (we will have a length as shock absorber) is 1 1/4", and the shackle needed is 5/8" for a minimum of 6 ft of chain for every 25 ft of water depth, probably totaling about 24 feet, since we are unlikely to anchor in more than about 100 feet of depth. We can always add a lead kellet for deeper anchorages as necessary.

Comment by Captain Ray Thackeray, IRG on March 1, 2013 at 8:42am: The main rode length on Thunderbird 2 will be galvanized steel wire rope. We now know that for holding up to 27,000 pounds, we need to source a few hundred feet of 5/8" diameter to balance the ground tackle set-up. This will weigh 0.66 pounds per foot. Our staff machinist Matt will have to work out the winch drum size necessary for this wire, then start designing the windlass system and build prior to our departure to operational station.

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