48 CPMY Simplifying Anchor Arrangement

[triatica]

Our 1989 48CPMY jams the anchor chain often when hauling up the anchor because it has to go through a kink halfway down the hawsepipe.

This hawsepipe arrangement therefore means we need someone below the forward cabin floor to flake incoming chain... as well as someone on deck washing incoming chain... and again someone on the bridge maneuvering the vessel.

I'm considering modifying this arrangement so just the admiral and I can handle this as a two person job. This means we'll basically remove a hawsepipe section from below the deck to where it goes through the bulkhead below the berth... a length of about 3 feet.

My reasoning is to then glass in the lower hawsepipe opening and then keep about 150ft in the upper section for most anchoring situations.

We'd then draw on the "reserve" 150ft under the berth for really deep anchoring like we experience here in Desolation Sound in the PNW. We have a total of about 300ft chain.

Has anyone tried this, or come up with other ways to limit jams when hauling in the anchor?

 

[FlyWright]

I'd make sure I have enough drop for the rode so it lays as flat as possible when it loads. Sometimes I have to knock down the chain pile after 60-90 ft.

 

[O C Diver]

I'm having a hard time understanding why it hangs up. Is the chain twisted? Have you run it all the way out and reloaded making sure there are no twists?

If you still have the issue, I would probably try replacing the hawse pipe with a larger diameter and try to remove the kink.

I would want all the chain available in a pinch, and want it stored as low in the boat as possible.

My chain drops about 4 to 5'. I have 350' but rarely use more than 150'. So the first 200' are carefully packed in the bottom and the last 150' spread enough that its never jammed.

Ted

 

[triatica]

Yep - thanks folks for the comments. I'd be interested if others with 48CPMYs (there's quite a few on this forum) have the same kink in their hawsepipe.. for us it is quite pronounced.

It has to go down, at about 80degrees (i.e. off vertical) and then slide under the forward berth to the foot of the island berth. That second angle is about 45 degrees off horizontal which is where the problem occurs.

Now for some of the time, early in the retrieval process it can draw down on its own.. which suggests that is how others experience their system.

I did not anticipate the risk of a twist in the chain (thanks for the idea) and will try clear it all out for a clean load to see if that helps.... we're out on her for two weeks in the San Juans from 8/27 where I will give that a whirl.

 

[Capt. Jon]

Yep, I knew the problem well. Finally hired a glass guy to redo the whole thing. He straightened the pipe so the chain fell at an angle with no kink in the end. Also had the board that the chain landed on in the bottom of the locker changed to increase the angle. That way the chain landed and slid down into the bottom of the locker. Only time after that we might have an issue was if we had a lot of scope to retrieve. If so someone might have to go down and smooth out the chain pile.