Choice of anchor

[Doryman]

Bob, color me slow, but I am having trouble visualizing how this setup works for you. I thought the objective was to avoid strain on the bow roller. It seems to me that the anchor rode is still going through the roller, no? Or do you go down into the chain locker and untie the rode and take the anchor out of the bow roller altogether? A picture (from the next time you go out) would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Warren

[Not For Hire]

Skene chocks are one type of fairlead. A fairlead is device to pass a line through to guide it around an obstruction or whatever. Skene chocks are typically located on gunwale to guide anchor or dock lines, etc. They have positive and negative aspects. Great to move line off center, to guide it away from windlass or bow roller or other lines, long term will cause chafing although less than a naked gunwale. They have angled slots so the line doesn't pop out and look like this:





Warren:

I will take a shot - Because the bow eye is not that easy to get to in a pitching sea (why the CG Aux carries specialized hooks to access bow eye from a different boat) I hadn't considered it as an alternate place to secure an anchor line. I don't like the strength or location of the spring cleats as an alternate place to secure an anchor line. So I was thinking of installing a pair of skene chocks (still a good idea as it would be quick and handy for pulling anchor, guiding, etc.) to get some of the pressure off the bow roller. My thought was to run the rode through the chock then tie off to the main bow cleat. The line through the bow roller would then be slack. This would be a good idea if it isn't real rough. What Bob suggests is to attach a line to the bow eye with a shackle. Presumably you would do this at the dock or in calm seas. The line could be 10 or more feet long. This line would be secured some way so it was out of the way, fed down deck pipe, tied off to cleat or whatever. Then when anchoring you would deploy anchor in normal fashion. Next you would take the line that was secured to the bow eye with a shackle, and tie the bitter end to the anchor rode with a rolling hitch. Then you would pay out a bit more of the anchor rode until the anchor rode was slack and the the line to the bow eye was taut. Now all the strain is on the bow eye which is quite strong. It is low to the water and the line is not rubbing on the gunwale or interferring with the windlass or bow roller. You would tie off the anchor rode to the main bow cleat with just a bit of slack in that line. It would act as a backup in case your rolling hitch gave way or something. Because the line to the bow eye is attached with a shackle (ideally with an eye splice and thimble as Bob describes) there is minimal chafing at that point, etc. If you wanted to try and move the bow off center you could still do it with a second (recommend lighter) line, hitched to the bow eye line and run to a spring cleat or maybe run through your shiny new skene chock and then to the bow cleat

Thanks guys,

Mark

[Doryman]

O-Kay! I get it now. Seems to me that Mark's suggestion would be easier to deal with in that it would require less exposure on the foredeck -- which might be a factor if you had to re-anchor in a blow, for instance?

Thanks for the great explanation!

Warren

[Chester]

[Not For Hire]

Warren,

I am going to do the tie to bow eye for overnights and rough weather anchoring. I will install the skene chocks for light anchoring, for moving the line off-center, for pulling the line when it is fouled. I think this approach will have me covered. Provided I choose the right anchor and rode. Now what was the title of this thread?

Mark

[thataway]

Warren,
Sorry it was not clearer--Thanks to Mark for explaining what I do.

Yes, I have a 15 foot 7 / 16" line with the eye splice around a thimble on one end. I shackle this line thru the bow eye and a back splice on the other end.--either after I have anchored or before. It is only 18" on my Tom Cat from the deck to the bow eye. I can reach this fairly easily lying on the foredeck. I take the line to the cleat around the railing and back to the cleat to secure it when under way.

I anchor with the anchor rode thru the roller. Power back to be sure that anchor is set. After the anchor is set, bring the line attatched to the bow eye, to the anchor rode, in front of the roller and tie the rolling hitch (again can be done lying down if necessary, or if the anchor rode is under tension.) I then slowly let the anchor rode out thru the roller, untill the entire strain is on the bow eye and there is plenty of slack in the anchor rode. I then cleat the anchor rode to the fore deck cleat, behind the windlass--although the anchor rode still goes thru the roller, there is no strain on it--so there is no chafe, or fear of the roller failing.

The bitter end of the anchor rode is attatched inside of the anchor locker with multiple passes of 1/4" line--so that it can be pulled up thru the windlass and then untied either from the deck or the inside of the locker. I don't detatach it.

There is another way to use the bow eye--and we used this on the boat we took to Europe. When we were anchoring daily, I had a snatch block shackled to a "bob stay fitting"--this is a plate molded into the hull, which keeps the bow sprit down--and indirectly keeps the forestay tight and the mast up. So it was very strong. A 1/2" line was run thru this block, one end to a chain hook (we used all chain rode), the other end thru a fairlead (or in this case a hause pipe) to a sampson post. These lines were 25 feet in length--and got the pull at the waterline, the anchor rode free of all sorts of "stuff" on the bow sprit (including 3 anchors, a dolphin striker, roller forling etc). We have not found it necessary to use a block on the C Dory type of boats, but we have on some other sailboats--even going to the point of putting in a U bolt near the waterline to avoid chafe.

[SeaSpray]

Thanks for the info Mike.

I am familiar with fairleads and chocks. I just had never heard the term Skene chocks.

I like the idea of a line from the bow eye to the anchor rode for reducing chafe. This seems like it would also work well for the string line at Catalina. I saw some taking their anchor out of the roller so they could bring the mooring line in through the roller. It seems like it would be easy and cleaner to tie a bow-eye line like this to the mooring line and not have to have it on deck.

Can the rolling hitch come loose if there is not constant load?

Another question I have is if it is very rough while using this bow eye line to anchor rode and you have a problem. If you start dragging and need to pull and re-set now you have to also pull in the rode to reach and untie the rolling hitch before you can get the anchor up. Would this be an added complication in a stressful situation?

I personally have never been in a situation where it was rough enough that I felt chafe was a serious problem. I have seen boats on mooring bouys at Sucia Island being pounded by 3ft+ waves constantly for more than 12 hrs. We were on the sheltered side. It was too rough for the boats to leave and too dangerous for people to try to get to shore. I think chafe could be a problem in that case.

Thanks,
Steve

[thataway]

Steve-Catalina was my back yard for many years--We rarely brought the mooring pennant or string line pennent aboard. A loop of line from the cleat to the loop of the mooring line was much safer, and easy to slip.

If things really go South--and that has only happend to us once, you always have that sharp knife at your side and cut the lines...However in most cases, you can just bring the line in by hand, cleat it and then untie the rolling hitch. In hundreds of nights--probably thousnads--we have never had a rolling hitch fail it tied properly and with the back splice in the bitter end.

One of the most important things is to avoid panic if things start to go wrong. Take steps logically. After 30 years sailing together Marie and I are often thinking the same thing and we act independantly to resolve the issues. For instance when a storm staysail halyard broke off El Salvador, we each ran down the side of the boat gathering in sail as we went--nothing spoken until we had it under control A monkey fist at the Panama Canal was thrown inbetween the lower spreader and shroud--Marie automatically ran to the foredeck to get a halyard to take me aloft while I was getting the Boson's chair to go aloft and resolve the problem--again no communication--we saw a problem and acted independantly to resolve it. By talking over and drilling on potential problems any boating couple can achieve this same goal--resolving the problem with out panic or making it worse.