CHAIN STOPPER vs. ANCHORING BRIDLE

[hollywood8118]

Thanks for sharing that

Can I ask a question though? Why didn't you deploy the bridle legs through the hawse holes?

To my (bottom of the learning curve) mind it reduced the amount of available stretch in the legs by introducing hard edges over which they had to go over, as well as generated heat (even through the chafe guards) in a defined spot which would reduce the bridles strength over time.

We rode out a similar wind for the first time last weekend bouncing around on a nylon rode, so your set up is definitely better than ours.

not to mention wearing down the cap rail..
HOLLYWOOD

 

[caltexflanc]

That is the biggest wind we have retrieved anchor in, sure glad the Maxwell and its mounting are stout as during retrieval lots of loading occurred.

I'm not sure what difference that should make. Are you using the windlass to pull the boat to the anchor, and/or break it out?

 

[sunchaser]

I'm not sure what difference that should make. Are you using the windlass to pull the boat to the anchor, and/or break it out?

Ahh, now I get it. Beat up on the wife for not keeping the pointy end of the boat perfectly under power over the anchor rode as I'm on the foredeck manning the windlass - in near gale force winds and driving rain.

But lest I digress, my point was you better have a stout windlass and solid deck mounting to insure safety when the snubber comes off and your retrieving the rode in tough conditions.

 

[Jeffrey S]

not to mention wearing down the cap rail..
HOLLYWOOD

Not to also mention the possibility of losing a rail.

It's not right to put the snubber over the top - put it out the hawse hole directly. Use the chafing protection to guard against rubbing out the hawse hole. Putting it on top is generating a lot more friction. The line won't break because it snaps in the middle. It'll break because of friction at a rubbing spot creating heat.

We've all been there - there's no manual for this stuff. And in the spirit of being constructive, the cleat hitch that I saw wasn't tied correctly too. More is not better. Sadly, even some instructions and videos show it wrong. Here's a pretty short video I found that shows how to do it correctly:
https://youtu.be/VMwXjckgiOs

The day might come where you need to untie the line on the cleat quickly. Having a jumbled mess there with incorrect line holding can easily create a situation where large stress on the line stops it from being untied. Using a cleat hitch tied correctly can always be undone in any situation.

I do like that you don't put the anchor hook down below the water line. I'll never understand why the majority of boaters do that.

 

[FF]

The few times we have had to anchor our 90/90 for a hurricane in the works , we use the usual, very heavy chain a 20 feet 5/8HT and one inch line .

The anchor line goes overboard thru a Hawse Hole , and to prevent line chafe that few ft is also chain.

Eating away the hawse hole being preferred to parting the line,

This works for a bow chock too.

For overnight a cleat right next to the bronze hawse hole is used , with the very short distance of the line aboard there is no stretch , so no chafe

 

[Capt.Bill11]

We rode out a similar wind for the first time last weekend bouncing around on a nylon rode, so your set up is definitely better than ours.

A snubber is not necessarily better than nylon rode. In fact nylon rode can give you far more shock absorption than just a snubber. Especially if the snubber is to short, made out of to heavy of line or both.

 

[caltexflanc]

Ahh, now I get it. Beat up on the wife for not keeping the pointy end of the boat perfectly under power over the anchor rode as I'm on the foredeck manning the windlass - in near gale force winds and driving rain.

But lest I digress, my point was you better have a stout windlass and solid deck mounting to insure safety when the snubber comes off and your retrieving the rode in tough conditions.

Having been that guy out on the bow manning the windlass a few dozen times in bad conditions (and on a very high windage boat with relatively low speed windlass at that), I'd blame that guy. He's the one in command and can easily give hand signals to the person at the helm to bump the boat. We are not the most adept people on the water by a long shot, but never had an issue in this regard. Bring the boat well forward when popping the chain hook off, which should only take a second or two. Having a windlass switch at the helm is a plus, but not necessary.

 

[MurrayM]

A snubber is not necessarily better than nylon rode. In fact nylon rode can give you far more shock absorption than just a snubber. Especially if the snubber is to short, made out of to heavy of line or both.

That shock absorption of nylon can create problems, and might even be harder on both the rode and anchor.

Even under modest winds our boat tends to yo-yo towards and away from the anchor as it gets pulled upwind towards the anchor, then going somewhat abeam to the wind as it starts drifting downwind, then puts a heavy jerk on the system at an angle off of where the anchor was set before being dragged upwind to do it all over again, repeatedly.

Badger has a boom which almost reaches the stern so I rigged up a riding sail out of a tarp last weekend, and it helped keep the bow into the 30 knot gusts which helped greatly.

I'm pretty sure repeated shock loading of nylon, which gets weaker when wet or when heat is generated by friction and/or elongation, is a nylon rodes Achilles heal.

Still pondering our winter storm anchor set-up, and am leaning towards 100' of chain and 600' of nylon 8 strand Brait so we can anchor in deeper water, as the smaller bays will be frozen over and storms can reach 60 knots. (May go half & half, or 200' chain 500' Brait...time will tell).

 

[Cheechako]

Thanks for sharing that

Can I ask a question though? Why didn't you deploy the bridle legs through the hawse holes?

Thanks for the suggestion. It sounds like a better way to run the lines, less chafing. I tried it (see next post), and it was a bit harder for me to rig it up when running through the hawse hole. However, probably safer in the end, as there is no pressure on the stanchions either.

 

[Cheechako]

Another use for Anchor Bridle

As in my prior post, we waited out the winds, securely anchored and with my anchor bridle protecting the windslet. Little did I know that in the morning, I would be greeted with another challenge. When I removed the bridle and pulled up my anchor, it was stuck. A testament to the holding power of the Ultra anchor, but now a big problem. After being buffeted by winds up to 30 mph for 2 days, I surmised the anchor was probably driven deep into the bottom.

I tried to drive over the anchor to reverse the direction of pull and flip the anchor tip up out of the bottom. This has always worked for me with this anchor design. However, when I put the boat in forward with the chain taut on the gypsy, the bow pulpit was under tremendous strain, making a groaning noise I did not want to hear. So I put the gears into neutral and came up with another plan.

I went back to my equipment locker, retrieved the anchor bridle, and rigged it up so that all the stress on the chain was directed back to the bow cleats again, avoiding any pull on the bow pulpit or winslet. Then I gently motored forward over the anchor, and it popped loose. As suspected, the spade was full of thick bottom mud (see photo).

So thanks to everyone on this thread for teaching me about anchor bridles. In my first usage, I found another great use of anchor bridles....freeing up your stuck anchor without tearing off your bow pulpit or winslet. Saved my bacon yesterday (and my boat).

 

[Fletcher500]

Good discussion.

The op appears to have his question answered, so I will toss in.

I have a heavy duty chain lock just forward of the windlass that is bolted into some substrate, but it still gets loaded up as others have noted. Plus the chain noise at night is bothersome.

Do you find these chain grab devices actually go through the roller as advertised and don't get bound up? Do they releases easily?

For example, I have an Ultra anchor and love it. They make a small chain grab and if I understand it correctly, it will go through the roller.

 

[78puget-trawler]

What is a winslet?

 

[FF]

"Plus the chain noise at night is bothersome."

I'll say , it might be the sound of the chain dragging along the bottom if the anchor became unstuck.

 

[Peter B]

What is a winslet?

Yeah...glad you asked that...the only one I know is female and does movies...she was in Titanic...was that the nautical connection?

 

[Cheechako]

This is the chain grabber used in my video a few posts back. The literature does say that you can use this through the bow roller if you have single line on the grabber (which then ties to a cleat behind the winslet. The way I have my bow roller rigged, there is a bar to keep the chain from skipping off the roller. The Ultra chain grabber will go down through this bar, but then my the lines get tangled. So, I rig the grabber beyond the roller and bar (as in the video). I can confirm that the Quicklime chain grabber releases from the chain as soon as you pull the chain back on the boat....it just drops off. Nice feature.

 

[caltexflanc]

I've made the point about using the bridle to break out the anchor here on several occasions; many here poo-pooed the idea that the pulpit was under any stress, let alone the windlass, demanding proof of a pulpit fracturing as a direct result. No concept of on going wear and tear, leading to leaks and rotted deck core, stuff like that.

One wants to avoid having the snubber line go out through the chute with the chain if at all practical; introduces chafe and some stress on the pulpit (believe it or not!). Yes, I have done it back in the day when I just used a rolling hitch and was too lazy to do a reach around.

 

[dwhatty]

I/We still want to know what a winslet is. Drawing a blank on this one and, even at my age, I still have a wish to learn.

 

[sunchaser]

I/We still want to know what a winslet is. Drawing a blank on this one and, even at my age, I still have a wish to learn.

A wins let is what an auto correct does to a win less. Yes we are in an age of smart devices, so I've been told by the marketeers.

 

[dwhatty]

A wins let is what an auto correct does to a win less. Yes we are in an age of smart devices, so I've been told by the marketeers.

Still confusled. Does "Winslet" = "Winless" = "Windlass"? If so, what a long way around the bush. Whew!

 

[78puget-trawler]

When I type windlass, it comes out as well, windlass. Now Kate Winslet,, that's another story!

 

[WD40]

Ah yes, she's quite the "Lass".