T&T: Anchor rode snubber line size

[Bob McLeran]

We took delivery of our new-to-us Defever 41 on Monday afternoon, and 
brought her from Palm Beach to Merritt Island (Florida) on Tuesday and 
Wednesday. Am really pleased with everything about her, although there 
were a few little things that didn't work the way they were supposed to, 
or that had quit working between the date of the survey and delivery 
(nothing I was concerned enough about to delay the sale). I'm 
undoubtedly going to be posting a few other questions for the list once 
I've done some trouble-shooting of those items on the punch list, but 
for now . . . .

When we were checking out the anchor setup on Tuesday during the day 
with the wind blowing 15-20 knots (and constantly all night long -  it's 
still blowing for that matter), I discovered that the PO had used 
braided nylon for the anchor chain snubber. I found a length of 3/4" 
twisted nylon and made that into a bridle with a chain hook in the 
middle, and it worked just fine for the night (as it turned out) but I 
need to replace it with something that really does have some elasticity 
left in the line. The old 3/4" worked fine that night, but the wind was 
constant and there wasn't really any "jerking" of the chain. We were 
more concerned with whether the anchor would hold; it did - per the GPS 
we moved a total of 0.001 SM during the night!

The line from the cleats to the centered chain hook will probably be 
around 10-12 feet in length max (with a few extra feet for the cleat), 
adjustable to something shorter for calmer conditions. I'm thinking 5/8" 
3-part twisted nylon would probably be better for absorbing shock than 
3/4" since it is going to be doubled into a bridle that is lead into 
both haws-pipes on either side of the bow to keep the bow centered, more 
or less.

Opinions/recommendations/WAGS?

-- 
<><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                  Manatee Cove Marina
M/V Walkabout (soon to be "Sanderling")  Patrick Air Force Base
Defever 41 Trawler                           Melbourne, Florida