T&T: Anchor

[JHWardJr at aol.com]

With all this talk of catenaries, I am surprised no one has mentioned  
kellets.  They are a little difficult to manage if heavy enough to be  
effective, but they really do have an impact on the pull angle at the anchor  head.  
I have all chain, so feel less inclined to drag one out, but I think  they 
are a smart way to effectively increase scope.
 
I love my chain because it feeds/retrieves on my windlass and allows for a  
one man job (my crew is often not trained).  The POs did it, and I thank  
them.  But the very time you need it (chain) to do it's job (when the  
wind/waves pick up at night), it could be stretched out taught, no catenary, no  
shock absorption.  Not counting the stress on boat hardware, I suspect (no  
hard evidence) that the hard 'snatch' when a chain goes taught (versus a 
strong  pull if you have some stretch) has a lot to do with an anchor's first 
stages of  drag.  Add the resultant pull angle increase from disappeared 
catenary and  the poor little Delta is doomed.  That's when I need to remind 
myself  - "Don't be stingy with scope and snubber!".
 
I do not do this, but want to try sometime:  use a second anchor  attached 
to the rode as a caternary/inline anchor.   Have been told it  works well.  
Might be hard to attache on rope, but with chain a shackle  should work 
(albeit a smaller one).  I need a locking grab hook, but I  cannot find one.
 
Still planning the anchor tests - weather getting nicer - so I'll do it  
soon.  Jim  
 
 
In a message dated 4/25/2009 12:00:55 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
trawlers-and-trawlering-request at lists.samurai.com writes:

The  importance of this disappearing catenary goes to the rode-to-bottom  
angle.
With a catenary, the rode is laying on or close to parallel to the  bottom,
giving a low rode-to-bottom angle. Anchors do well with this low  angle.


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