[C320-list] Anchors redux

[nibj]

I have been reading the posts about anchors for the 320 but would appreciate the latest advice.

We have an early model 320 with the very short anchor roller.  We cruise the upper Chesapeake and need an anchor for overnight stops. So far we have only encountered a muddy bottom. We won’t be out in a hurricane, but, for example, the gusts tomorrow night are forecast to 30mph which would likely be the upper end of our comfort level.

We have some sort of heavy Danforth anchor in the chain locker, but it cannot possibly fit on the roller.  So I have to manhandle it over the side when we anchor (which isn’t hard) and wrestle it up and wash the vile mud off it, all without the windlass, when we leave the anchorage.  

So the obvious question is what anchor should I buy that can live one the roller without damaging the hull (I don’t want to replace the bow roller because it looks like an enormous job)? I have seen several people say the following are OK:

1) Rocna-15:  Seems popular.  Perhaps it is a bit over sized and the template suggests a very tight fit. Some people say it doesn’t fit.  

2) Mantus-25:  this may be a little on the small side.  The template suggest it will fit although the fluke seems to be longer than that of the Rocna.  

3) Has anyone used a Mantus Anchor mate successfully?  

Can anyone comment about these anchors?  

Thanks in advance for your help.

Peter
Tangled #226