I am so pleased you find my experiences useful.
As you run the chain run out on the ground to measure it spray some links with
white paint. Spray about a foot of chain for each mark. I often anchor in
water barely deep enough to float me, which as you know is eight feet so sixty
feet would be about 6:1 scope (of chain actually in the water) which with
all-chain is usually safe, so I put the first white mark there. 120 feet has
two one-foot paint marks about a foot apart for when the weather is "iffy", and
so fourth. Perhaps you could do this marking as you draw the chain out of the
boat, say take out 50 feet, then spray the chain while the 50 foot mark is
hanging from the bow, then when it is dry, proceed with the next one. Put a
placard somewhere describing your marking intervals and the total length and
the jettisoning procedure for the chain where guests can see it.
When you stow it, I would spray it with LPS=3. It doesn't work for me but I
have almost constant anchor use. But for occasional use by a weekender it
might help preserve the chain a bit, (and help it slide down the deck pipe).
I have attached the end of my chain rode to the boat using a short length of
rope through the steel part of the anchor locker itself which is stoutly bolted
to the collision bulkhead. The chain is contained in the bottom part of my
fore peak by a galvanized steel cage with useful removable strips of 1x3 wood
slats providing access. If the boat rolls over the chain will stay corralled.
The short rope has an eye and thimble in each end which two eyes are connected
to the end of the chain with a galvanized thimble. The clevis pin is well
greased and finger tight. It can be removed easily with the fingers to release
the chain if one must "slip the cable" and beat a hasty retreat from a anchor.
Buoy the anchor rode before you unship it with a big fender. if the clevis
jams you can cut the line with a knife.
Under extreme conditions 200 or 300 feet of rode can drag if you are unlucky.
Afternoon thunderstorms can make winds over 60 kts. I experienced a 83mph
microburst in St Augustine that did a lot of damage.
But we are on the boat most of the time when we are traveling to let out more
rode, fend off, or start the engine to ease the strain on the anchor. We've
been mostly lucky.
I have never used foot switches. I am afraid of inadvertently stepping on a
deck switch and moving the windlass when I don't want it to move. They also
nail your foot to the switch and you are stuck in one place while you run the
motor. I use a home-made pendant switch with a booted toggle switch on it and
some SO cord to the relays. I do have to use a hand to operate it but my
hands should generally be out of the way of the machinery when the motor is
hauling. The advantage of mobility more than makes up for it.
A wash down pump is a must. The chain and anchor almost always comes up with
gobs of black, sticky mud everywhere. A good seawater washdown pump is worth
its weight in gold. Ask any windlass wench.
Good lighting at night a big plus. Dimable spotlights on the pulpit shining on
the fore deck would be heaven. And a no-hands comm to the bridge, perhaps as
simple as a BlueTooth cell phone ear piece.
We use arm signals developed in 30K miles of cruising.
Arm or hand inviting the bridge to "come hear" is dead slow ahead.
Arm or hand "go away, get away" is dead slow astern.
Repeats of the same signal is for increased RPM in 100 rpm increments
Arm waving up and down=put in neutral.
Arm pointing to right, one-half wheel turn right.
Arm pointing to left, one-half wheel turn right.
Hand waving around in circles overhead, "you are underway; drive the boat while
I stow the anchor".
While normally I handle the wheelhouse and Jan does the anchor work, we
sometimes switch places, especially with the weather is up. Whenever she has
anything happen up there that is not purely routine, I immedately stop the
propeller and go forward to check it out. Sometimes it is a simple thing,
sometimes it is not (like picking up a submarine cable fifty feet down).
Windlass work involves forces that can do significant damage to the human body,
especially the hands and feet, BEWARE, and have great respect for anchor
gear.
Don't forget a daytime anchored shape (required by law for many vessels) so
approaching vessels know you can't get out of their way.
The only pleasure boat "designated anchorage" I am aware of is at Mile Zero on
the ICW in Norfolk. Everywhere else that is not a "designated anchorage" and
marked so on the chart, no matter how many other boats are anchored there.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Julington Creek
30 07.695N 081 38.484W
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Weinstein
To: [email protected]
Sent: 5/12/2009 2:04:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] all chain rode with a windless
Thanks, Norm.
As usual you come through with a thorough and concise answer!!
I haven't looked at the anchor set up since I brought the boat down from
Marblehead last October and stayed at marina's for the evenings so I've never
anchored out yet.
Honestly, I'm not even sure how much chain I've got, nor what type or size. I
hope to get out to Oyster Bay this weekend and finish (actually start!)
cleaning up everything so we're ready to rock & roll over Memorial Day weekend.
I had half the boat torn apart over the winter (on the hard) to install new
engine mounts, muffler hose, steering cables and autopilot arm, and of course,
the new radar and chartplotter. All the cabinetry and access panels are now
back in place, the hull is compounded and waxed, and now comes the elbow grease
down below....
If I get out to OB, one of the things at the very top of the to-do list is to
(assuming zero wind at the mooring) activate the windless (it worked fine at
the survey last September) and let out the entire rode to measure it and then
put markers on the chain to tell me how much I've got out at any given time. I
figure I can just let it out slowly and have it pile up on the bottom mud below
the boat and measure off 10 or 20 foot increments to mark as it goes out. Once
I'm at the end then I should be able to retrieve it without hassles (the boat
came with a washdown pump and hose in the anchor locker) and insure it runs
smoothly down the pipe into the chain locker.
Friends of mine with the identical boat (and I've heard this from others) have
had issues with the chain falling freely through the pipe into the locker. A
design flaw on some model years of this model. The more recent boats in the
production run solved the issue so I've got to go through the procedure to see
whether mine is one of them. Otherwise I've got a wealth of articles and emails
explaining how various owners solved the problem.
Steve Weinstein
S/V CAPTIVA
1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376
Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY
All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V
----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] all chain rode with a windless
Steve,
In calm, stable, conditions we drop the anchor while backing dead slow. When
there is enough chain down we stop the chain with the clutch, quickly engage
the pawl, then release the clutch again so all the strain is on the pawl. When
we expect more than mild pulls on the anchor we use a chain "grab" hook to
attach a nylon pendant to the chain. We have a short pendant, about six feet
long to take ordinary stress off the windlass, that we use most of the time.
It goes from a eye splice around a bow cleat, then through the bow fairllead
with hose chafing gear where it goes through the fairlead. Since it is above
the waterline and is moved often we went with a stainless hook, shackle and
thimble on the anchor chain end. Do NOT mix stainless and galvanized ground
tackle gear underwater!
Bottoms where there is little current are usually "tender" mud bottoms (Fells
Point (Baltimore), Gloucester, Oyster Bay) and we have to "work" the anchor in
slowly. We we set the anchor very gently at first, just backing enough to lift
the chain but not actually pulling at first. Over several pulls I increase the
pulling force but almost never use full power which usually rips out the
anchor. Sand bottoms and hard bottoms kept scrubbed by strong currents
(Hudson River) don't require this technique but hook firmly right away.
After we are satisfied that the anchor is set we hook the stainless fast-hook
to the anchor chain then pull more chain out of the locker until the stainless
hook takes all the strain and there is a loop of anchor chain hanging down
about two feet below the stainless hook. If we don't do this then the boat
could swing and twist enough to pull on the anchor chain and drop the stainless
hook off the chain. I loosen the anchor clutch in this operation and leave the
wildcat on its pawl when done. Some would tighten the clutch to have it ready
for instant use if the anchor needs to be hauled quickly, but I would rather
have the pawl, rather than the hoisting mechanism, take the strain if the
pendant should part because it is easier to repair. I can tighten the clutch
in seconds.
We also have a long pendant, about 15 ft for backup and heavier loads. Since
its length puts the hook below water we used a galvanized hook, shackle and
thimble. This has rusted heavily and makes a mess on deck. We probably
should have gone with a just a length of nylon and a rolling hitch for this one.
Although I have a swivel on my anchor, the Conventional Wisdom is that it is a
weak point and should not be used.
We have a tool consisting of a wood stick about four feet long with prongs we
use to rotate the anchor when it is at the anchor chute so that it goes into
the chute properly. Perhaps when we take the swivel off we won't need it for
that but still it is handy for getting weed off the anchor that will not wash
off.
We have a Johnson brand seawater washdown pump and hose to wash off the chain
and anchor. This a real necessity because the chain usually picks up a lot of
mud. It should be the type of pump with a pressure switch so the pump stops
when you release the hose nozzle and stop the flow.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Julington Creek
30 07.695N 081 38.484W
Okay, the season 'tis about to start and I'll probably be doing a bunch of
anchoring with the new boat.
This time around I'm blessed with a great electric windless and an all chain
rode. This is a new set-up for me and I've got a concern about what to do once
I get a good set on the hook.
Every other boat I've had was a normal rope rode with about 8' of chain which
was simply a question of tying off the line to a bow cleat once the hook was
set. With this new-to-me setup I recognize that 1) I obviously can't tie off
the chain around a cleat, and 2) I've read plenty of horror stories of
windlasses being torn off their mounting if the chain stays on the windless.
So what's the procedure to "tie off" a chain rode?
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Steve
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