"We have carried an Anchor Buddy aboard our sailing vessel " Meridian Passage" a 20 ton sailing cutter rigged Whiting 45 since 1995. We purchased an Anchor Buddy in 1995 at a boat show in Auckland NZ. I was very skeptical as to whether this device would perform as advertised but was keen to see for myself if it was worth the extra weight carried aboard our cruising yacht. As all cruisers appreciate extra weight is something that just grows as time goes by so unnecessary weight is a no no.

I am a very keen scuba diver and observed, in the first six months, the actions of the anchor buddy at work underwater. This was at varying depths in ALL sorts of conditions in and around NZ. I was absolutely sold on the merits of this device. In my opinion it performs better than advertised for our fin keeled yacht with a displacement weight of 20 tons. The optimum depths for best performance we feel start at 4-5m and get better as we anchor in deeper water.

Without the Anchor Buddy, anchored in a bay where the wind has started to blow strong and a lift/chop has developed our boat tends to sail a bit on anchor. Also when limited swing room means limiting the scope possible for safe anchoring without the risk of dragging, deploying the Buddy in these same conditions we are very stable. When observing the action going on under water this is what I see - the Buddy in 5m depth hanging about 1m up from the bottom keeps the chain close to right angles to the boat leaving the chain to the anchor laying on the seabed. In many of my observations I note there is absolutely no pull on the chain between anchor and Buddy The effort of the motion of wind and sea state trying to straighten out the rode with the Buddy hanging off the rode keeps the rode in most cases at between 60-90 degrees and I firmly believe doubles the holding power of what I have set.

My wife and I have circumnavigated New Zealand twice. We left NZ in 1998 and cruised parts of the Pacific islands and then to Australia where we sailed from Northern Queensland down the coast to Tasmania. We circumnavigated Tasmania and then sailed across the great Australian Bight to Western Australia and up that coast to Dampier. We set sail for S/E Asia and Japan spending a total of 5 years in this area. We are currently in Alaska. I only mention all this to give you the reader an idea of our experience deploying the Buddy and of the areas we have cruised.  Many, many times we have said thankyou, thankyou Mr. Buddy for holding our yacht safely in conditions that without this device we know we would not have held and would have had to move. As those of you who are out there appreciate moving anchorage is not always the safest option.

Our most recent experience with Mr Buddy was here in Alaska in a Bay we felt was well protected and we had planned to stay for a couple of days. It turned into the bay from hell as the wind started to build with the seas becoming very choppy. We started dragging and because it was near evening and we did not really want to move on we thought maybe this would pass. NOT SO!. We let out more scope, we were anchored in 8m of depth with an initial scope of 4-1 I increased this to 5-1 and deployed the anchor buddy. I had not bothered deploying the Buddy on arrival as this was a beautiful calm bay. The change in the boat was instantaneous and never fails to impress me. No more sailing around NO drag and a real sense of safety. However the wind did not abate in fact it escalated dramatically to the point we felt no longer safe here.

MP still held fast but definitely time to move. Crawling forward almost on hands and knees as the wind was so strong I proceeded to retrieve Mr Buddy which thank goodness is very quick and easy to do despite its weight. With the Buddy back on board the anchor immediately started to drag with the extreme wind conditions and always the most destructive failure to anchor dragging is the wave motion which when building, lifts the chain from the seabed closer to the anchor and has the affect of less scope ratio and plucks the anchor from the sea bed. The buddy I am certain helps to maintains a true and reliably scope ratio in these adverse conditions. We finally weighed anchor and sailed through the night to another Island in the Aleutian chain. We discovered when leaving this bay that the wind funneled down this bay and once out to sea conditions were calm in comparison. A lesson learned regarding local geography and wind effects in bays here in the high latitudes of Alaska.

I am always amused when reading reports like (we have removed any negative comments!)... about a computer simulation of a device that to me reads they have actually never been out there in the real world and experienced what this device "Anchor Buddy" can do. To me, theorizing about the merits of any device compared to actually getting out there and experiencing the practical use of a device of any nature is totally unfair comment. We have been continuously cruising for 12 years now and rank the Anchor Buddy as safety equipment aboard our cruising yacht in parallel with our - liferaft, Flares, Sea Anchor etc and when all else fails a bottle of whisky to end on a high note!

We have a 65lb Delta, and a second Delta of 45lbs and also a 65lb Swabric fisherman style anchor for weed/kelp bottoms. I am not interested in the discussion/merits on the best anchors out there in the market in this forum. The anchors I have together with Mr Buddy are more than enough for our peace of mind. The only comment I will make here regarding anchors is that in our experience over the last 10-12 years we have seen all types of anchors with the owners readily admitting to anchor failure at one time or another. To start spouting about my/your anchor being the best on the market – forget that rubbish, find an anchor that works for you with minimal failure and I would suggest you have just about got it right. I say this as our experiences have led us to believe there IS NO bullet proof anchor out there.

No matter what anchor you deploy we believe the use of an Anchor Buddy will double the holding power. That to us is a great peace of mind and can only be good for any cruiser out there.

Anyone wanting further discussion with me regarding the merits of an Anchor Buddy feel free to contact me through Anchor Buddy NZ ..(Sorry, we have had to disable Merv's email link as he is now cruising with no internet access. Send any comments to us and we will make sure he gets them - webmaster)

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