I asked Maxwell that question and they said there is no chain wheel bigger than 1/4" for the 500. I put in a 1000, it is a pretty simple upgrade on the early Mk II, you just need to cut the hole for the windlass slightly bigger. Have been using the OEM wiring and it works just fine.

In terms of shackles, I use Crosby galvanized industrial shackles. They are far stronger than marine shackles.

Robert,
How about using two shackles? Both 5/16 and 1/4? 5/16 on the anchor, 1/4 on the chain???

Crosby shackles are available from industrial riggers. Google is your friend, it will give you links to Crosby's site, their catalogs and dealer list. Their catalogs will show you dimensional drawings of their shackles, you can use that to find and determine if a particular shackle will fit your chain and anchor. You can also pair two different sized shackles if there is a big size difference between the anchor and the chain.

IMHO, your plow ground tackle is lighter than I would be comfy with regardless of location. I wish I had bought more chain mostly because 100' is often not enough in some of the deep anchorages (30-35 feet) we frequent. Your fortress might be OK, as long as it's known to work well in your area, but you didn't mention the size of it. I would prefer to be oversized when talking ground tackle. If you don't anchor out much, or if you're in really well protected anchorages you might be OK, but we pretty much live on the anchor in summer in some pretty open anchorages so it's heavier than some would consider necessary.

Is your rope rode double braid or 3 strand? If it's not double braid then I personally think it's too small. We have 5/8" double braid, if it was 3 strand I'd go 3/4", our snubbers are 3/4" 3 strand because I can splice that myself. I also use Crosby hooks on our snubbers, I am trying to avoid a weak link anywhere in the anchor system.

I'm not familiar with anchoring in the Chesapeake so maybe someone from that area can weigh in. The reading I did when we were planning on going south I seem to recall indicated it was a lot of soupy mud which I would think would favour a danforth type anchor over a plow?

I consider the amount money I spent on ground tackle to be among the best money I have ever spent. It's not a place to cut corners, IMHO.

[QUOTE=rtrinkle;17155]Our current configuration is a plow CQR anchor (not sure of the weight, but looks to be about the same as the Suncor Plowmaster 25 lb, however, ours is galvanized) with 20' of 5/8" chain and 250' of 5/16" rode. [/QUOTE]

I am not sure this is helpful, but I can't believe you had 5/8" chain and 5/16" rode. Are you sure you don't have 5/16 chain and 5/8 nylon rode?

Robert,
I think I agree with Bud. 1/4" chain and either 5/8 or 3/4 three-strand seem OK. The weak link, IMHO, is the 25# anchor. I would go up at least one size on that. I also think that 30' of chain is less than what you need. I think you would have better holding power with 2X or 3X the chain you currently have. Your boat, your choices.

The shackles I have are rated at 2T WLL. They might be 3/8", they fit our 5/16" HT chain and both anchors.

Here's my view on production boats. Boat builders shoot them out the door with the minimum equipment they think people want. That minimum may be just ducky for someone primarily day sailing or weekending, but when you start living on the boat it falls through. The windlass is a good example, fine for limited use, but not up to the job for long term use with upgraded ground tackle. The 4D batteries are another example, as is the the low output alternator, the limited electronics, small holding tank, etc. etc. Catalina did not skimp on the bones of the boat though, unlike some other builders.

If you're cool with the CQR plow of about 25 lbs go for it, personally I think it's two sizes too small . And any recent anchor test I've seen says they're not great, in fact they generally do pretty poorly. I've had personal experience watching boats with CQRs drag all over the place in a squall while boats with Bruces and newer anchors likes Rocnas and Mansons stayed put.

MaineSail has some interesting videos on anchors and how they set (or don't), might be instructive to see them.

What works for me in my area on my boat is not necessarily right for someone else, I'm just passing on what I did and for us it works.

Robert, my boat has had a 25 lb Suncor for ten years and only in the past two weeks did I finally get around to changing it...for a 20kg (44 lb) Rocna. The Suncor, while light, has been a good anchor for the conditions we've used it in, but we're contemplating an Inside Passage trip to Alaska in a year or two and I wanted to beef it up. Our toughest anchoring conditions seem to be the San Juan Islands, with kelp, rocks, and a 3 to 1 scope because so many neighbors nearby, but we've never drug (once it's been properly set), and only twice have I had to re-set during initial anchoring due to (probably) kelp.

The Suncor runs a thousand bucks, Defender price! (Anybody know a Catalina 30 or 320 owner who'd like to buy a great anchor for that boat?)

Don't know about the 1/4" chain to 5/8" rode splice... and if the 5/8 three-strand is recommended for the 500 windlass (to avoid chafe).

I have a Maxwell 800 - my manual recommends 5/16 chain and 5/8" three-strand for that windlass.

Even if you can do a decent splice with the 1/4" chain; the 5/8" three-strand might not feed properly through the gypsy.... just thinkin'.... :confused:

North of Desolation Sd. here in the PNW it's not uncommon to have to anchor in 60 ft. I have 180' chain and 175' of 5/8" rode...