T&T: Anchor kellets

[Milt Baker]

Lotsa ways to skin a cat!

Something that's worked well for me on two boats, including the present one:
run a long snubber line from the deck down through a towing eye at the
waterline, and then back up to the deck.  Once we set the anchor on its
all-chain rode (typically 3-4:1 scope to start) and are satisfied with the
holding, I attach the chain hook at one end of the subbber to the chain, then
keep a little tension on the snubber as I pay out more chain until we have
about 8 to 12 feet of snubber line in the water, at which point I make the
deck end fast to a cleat.  This means the pull of the chain, via the snubber,
is to the towing eye rather than to the anchor roller six feet above.  This
effectively means more scope for a given amount of anchor chain out and
seriously reduces seeking at anchor.  Although we've never had to dump the
chain in an emergency, if that becomes necessary we can simply cast off the
bitter (deck) end of the snubber then allow the balance of the chain to
freefall. (Doing that means kissing the snubber goodbye, but, hey, that's OK
in an emergency!)

To get more stretch I use light three-strand black nylon for the snubber and
usually have one snubber rigged and a second ready to to rigged, though I've
use the original for about 125 nights at anchor, once or twice in winds
gusting over 50 knots, since this boat was delivered to me in Sept. 2005 and
the snubber shows little wear.  My present snubbers are 9/16", with a breaking
strength of 8,500 lbs., with, according to the West Marine catalog, stretch of
10% at 15% of breaking strength or 1,275 lbs.  Experience shows this is plenty
strong for my 90,000 lb. boat.  The black color means it looks good, no matter
how dirty the water is.

This isn't a perfect solution because sometimes, especially in light air when
there's little tension on the chain and snubber, the chain hook comes loose
and has to be re-attached.  However, in most cases it works great with no
perceptible chafing on the snubber line where it passes through the polished
stainless steel towing eye.

--Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, Barcelona


Robert Kassal wrote:
This is what we do. The Hat 48MY has 7' freeboard at the bow. The lines on
the
chain plate are fairly long, probably 15' each. I typically run out an extra
20' or so of the 3/8" 4G chain over the chain plate and this has the dual
benefit of keeping the chain plate below the surface in all conditions we
have
anchored in as well as keeping the chain on the plate. In all but the most
crowded anchorages I continue to use a generous scope ratio, 5/1 to 7/1. In
really snotty conditions I have used 10/1. No problems so far. I should add
that we are on the east coast where waters are shallow compared to the PNW.