Anchor/windlass operation

[Pacificcoast101]

[Sea Wolf]

[Foggy]

My thoughts:

For 3. and 4. above, why not less chain and more nylon rode (you choose the length of each). The rode acts as a shock absorber without going outside. When conditions permit, add a bridle snubber (or double bridle) to the anchor rode with a rolling hitch to take stresses off the windlass.

With less chain (instead of 80' or more, why not 2 boat lengths?), get a heavier anchor. This could save weight (increase anchor weight by 10 lbs, lose 25' of chain equates to about 180 lbs less weight) and increase holding.

Aye.

[thataway]

Cantenary effect of chain, does help with some shock absorption up to about 30 knots to 40 knots of wind (depends on weight of chain). There still have to be shock absorption, more than what is present in heavy nylon lines. In reality we don't use heavy chains on the C Dory, nor do we anchor in bad conditions--we tend to move to a place more comfortable. Once the wind is up to 60 knots the chain is going to be close to bar tight.

One advantage of longer chain, is in deeper water, you may get away with less scope. (100 feet depth, plus 3 feet of the bow height), one may use 300 to 400 feet rode, with 100 feet of chain. Instead of 25 feet of chain, and 700 feet of rope rode. Disregard unless you routinely go to AK…where you might anchor in very deep anchorages.

As for chain stoppers (rode stoppers)--they are used on large ships/yachts with springs. Not practical for C Dory because of size of fore deck. A spring loaded reversing pulley? OK--but just not enough room, and you still put load on the windlass.

If there is likely to be chafe, or some shock load on the rode, I will use lighter lines with rolling hitch on the main rode. For example I might use 3/8" snubber. For larger boats, with 5/8 to 3/4" primary rode or 3/8 HT chain (1/2" chain for storm anchors) we used 1/2? as primary snubber, as it came close to full elasticity, the load would be taken up by the second snubber which was 5/8" For the C Dory 22 or 25 I would be using 3/8" 3 strange at least 25 feet long as a snubber, and a second snubber of 1/2" as a "safety" if you have to anchor in really heavy weather. A dock line can do dual purpose.

One disadvantage of rolling hitches, is that they have to be removed when you are bringing the line in--especially thru a windlass. If by hand, they can just be lead below with the rest of the rode.

[Pacificcoast101]

Here's Merry admiring the great visibility just below the fifty feet marks on our rode.

[journey on]

I don't know that snubbing the anchor rode leads to winch failure. I think that a vertical winch, where the sand, muck and crud fall down into the gearbox and motor, as shown below. That winch was ground to death. Supposedly, the new ones are better.



Still, I'd get a horizontal winch, such as: Lewmar Horizontal Winch.

Boris

[tsturm]

[Hunkydory]

The chain has red marker paint 10 feet from the 15 lb. Manson Supreme anchor. 50 feet is end of chain. Green paint marks 100 feet of the 1/2 inch Yale 8 brait. 150 feet is marked with one stripe of yellow. 200 feet is two of yellow. 250 is red & then several feet of red at 290 indicating the end of the rode coming up at 300 feet. The end of the rode has an eye where another section I carry of 200 feet can be attached of 3/8 three strand. I also now carry on a extended cruise a spare 22 lb. claw anchor & another 200 feet of 3/8 three strand with 30 feet of chain & a 4 lb. Fortress anchor.

Last year I added a Lewmar H700 windless with the addition of a remote wireless control to go with the new anchor & Yale 8 brait rode. I'm very pleased with the overall combination, but if to do over would have gone with the Manson Boss anchor over the Supreme.

Jay

[Foggy]

Back to anchor locking, anchoring, use of snubbers and pushing a button from the helm to lower/retrieve anchor, chain and rode as it relates to avoiding personnel on the foredeck in foul weather.

FROM LEWMAR
.....
"Lewmar requires that a vessel at anchor must have its chain/rode held by a chain stopper or equivalent strong point at all times!
At all times it is the responsibility of the boat user to ensure that the anchor and rode are properly stowed for the prevailing sea conditions. This is particularly important with high-speed powerboats, because an anchor accidentally deploying while under way can cause considerable damage.
.....
• When the Windlass is not in use the anchor must be tied off onto a cleat or equivalent strong point to prevent damage to the boat.
• Windlass must not be used as the sole means of securing the anchor to the bow fitting especially under storm conditions. Anchors should be independently secured to prevent accidental release.
• Classification Societies require that a vessel lying at anchor must have its anchor rope/chain secured to a suitable independent strong point."

From the above, I read anchor locks while underway and snubbers, or equivalent, used at anchor are both recommended by the windlass manufacturer. Between the lines, I also read this requires someone going to the foredeck to release the anchor lock and set the snubber line(s).

Simply pushing a button from the helm to set and retrieve your ground tackle seems like advice from an armchair boater.

Think about it.

Aye.

[NewMoon]

In 15 summers of cruising and many hundreds of anchorings with our Simpson/Lawrence 600GD windlass, we have never secured the anchor underway other than by the windlass itself. The anchor has never come loose, nor has it caused a problem with the windlass. I don't cleat off when trailering either. And we usually set our anchor without cleating off first. Happily, with the Rocna, we can drop anchor (and then do the initial set) by pushing the down button from the helm - unlike our older Bruce, which would not self-launch, thanks to its straight shank.

One reason this has been OK might be that I don't tighten the gypsy clutch 100% - always allowing for a small bit of slip rather than a hard stop, to cushion the impact of any strong jerk. And I clean and re-grease the clutch every year.

If we feel the need to pull harder than usual to test the set, we do that only after cleating off. One advantage of being on the foredeck (where we also have foot switches) is that it's so easy to feel the rode under tension and be sure whether or not the set is good. We always cleat off when anchoring for the night. Might be OK not to in super calm and protected conditions, but certainly not if we expect any significant wind, with bouncing and jerking on the rode. A cruising buddy with the same windlass had its anti-reversing bearings destroyed after only 2-3 summers, apparently by not being as careful.

With 46' of chain, we are never using only chain - usually at least 50' of rope - so we rely on the stretch of the main rode's nylon for shock absorbing rather than snubbers.

[Pacificcoast101]

I lost my last boat because I didn't tie the chain off to a cleat while underway. I had a latch that held the chain break during rough seas and the anchor and forty feet of chain were swept under the boat and into my Duoprop outdrive. It stripped all the gears and cracked the aluminum hull. Vessel Assist towed me back in but the boat was totaled.
I used the insurance check to pay off a credit card I had used for boat repairs. I now use the locking pin through the anchor and tie a line from the other end of the anchor to a cleat.

[journey on]

I'll vote for PacificCoast101 on this. I'm happy that NewMoon has a good track record on hanging off the winch.

However, I've been using a windlass for 25 years (first one came with the boat,) and I've always cleated the anchor rode off. Used a rolling hitch with chain and yes, always had to go up on the foredeck. That's the price of anchoring.

When you don't tighten down the windlass clutch, the gipsy slips, right?
So how much holding power does that anchor and line give? We've been in anchorages where the wind was 30 knts and the cleated line held. A couple of times it dragged, teaching me that having an anchor hold is a pearl beyond price. And the best I can do is make sure it's set and cleat it off. And then deal with whatever happens.

Also, the Bruce we use on the front of Journey On falls right off the bow roller. Not 100%, but then Judy opens the front window and gives it a push with the boathook. Thjat's more due to the roller as near as I can figure. Once it's down,one of us goes up. Same on retrieval, one is up on the foredeck to clean off the rode (seaweed, mud, you name it,) we go up front. Anchor security is important to us. I don't want to have a PacificCoast101 happen to us.

And our Manson and Danforth also easily slide off the bow roller. Each anchor has it's place in life.

Boris

[colobear]

We generally cleat the line off to the forward cleat after setting the anchor. If the boat is moving a lot I'll open the vee berth hatch and can reach the rode and cleat without going forward. we use the colored plastic strips to mark the length of rode out. They go to 200 ft and after that I just estimate.

[colobear]

We generally cleat the line off to the forward cleat after setting the anchor. If the boat is moving a lot I'll open the vee berth hatch and can reach the rode and cleat without going forward. we use the colored plastic strips to mark the length of rode out. They go to 200 ft and after that I just estimate.

[thataway]

We also have always had a secondary tie on the anchor--windlass or not. For example even on the fishing boat, we have a short line to the anchor, and a turn of the line or chain around a cleat.

All it takes is once for that anchor to fall off, and all sorts of bad things happen--as noted by PacifcCoast 101. I have seen boats loose their entire primary anchor due to a chain/rode running out in rough weather. --also damage to boats due to this.

Also for us the "art of anchoring" is feeling how the anchor rode is setting as the anchor catches on the sea bed, and is paid out, by hand--windlass or not.