Anchor locker revelation

[aboatman]

I have 550 feet of all chain, yet the designer of my yacht decided to give me a shallow chain locker, so like you every 40 feet or so, I have to run down from the bow , down through the salon, down through the galley and climb up on the bed and knock over the pile. ............

I'm guessing the designer of the boat didn't intend it to be used with that much chain. And every boat is a compromise so perhaps a larger chain locker would mean a smaller bow thruster of loss of some other feature.

A friend of mine had a 29' sport cruiser and decided to switch from a chain/rope rode to all chain. The first time he tried to retrieve the anchor the chain piled up as you describe and he had to knock the pile over. His solution - he installed a windshield wiper and arm along with a switch. Whenever the chain started to pile up he would operate the switch and the wiper arm would knock the pile over.

He sold the boat not long after this so I don't know how it worked out over time.

 

[Steve]

I have read about the traffic cone in the anchor locker (post 16) for years, never tried it. Please let us now if it helps.
Same for anyone is using one now or has tried it in the past
Thanks!

 

[fryedaze]

I have read about the traffic cone in the anchor locker (post 16) for years, never tried it. Please let us now if it helps.
Same for anyone is using one now or has tried it in the past
Thanks!

I modified my chain drop with 4" schedule 40 PVC, 60 degree elbows and placed an 18" cone in the bottom of the locker. Just finished the project today. looks like it will work. I had added an extra 100 ft of chain and the pile kept falling on itself binding the winch. Time will tell if it works. Wont anchor until May. I will post how it works.

 

[boathealer]

I modified my chain drop with 4" schedule 40 PVC, 60 degree elbows and placed an 18" cone in the bottom of the locker. Just finished the project today. looks like it will work. I had added an extra 100 ft of chain and the pile kept falling on itself binding the winch. Time will tell if it works. Wont anchor until May. I will post how it works.

Looks good!

The only thing I'd worry about is a kink or something getting hung up on your PVC on the way out. Looks like the PVC could break without additional support (that's a big lever arm). Could be a concern if happened in an emergency situation.

 

[fryedaze]

Looks good!

The only thing I'd worry about is a kink or something getting hung up on your PVC on the way out. Looks like the PVC could break without additional support (that's a big lever arm). Could be a concern if happened in an emergency situation.

Yes I considered the "what if it breaks scenario. The piece of pipe is on 12" long so its only carrying the weight of about 18" of chain. I did a good job of gluing it all together. I will let you know if she fails.

 

[AKDoug]

Prince William Sound has a lot of deep anchorages, 200' isn't nearly enough and 400' is pretty much of a minimum. You will be working hard looking for your next anchorage shallow enough to anchor with only 200' of rode.

The good news is the anchorages are well protected for the most part so you won't need a lot of scope, but there are very few anchorages less than 50-75' deep, and it's common to anchor in 150' of water in many parts of the Sound.

Just giving you a heads up on that! I had 400' of 5/8" on board and decided it wasn't enough, now have 600' (and 45' 5/16" chain) and the 400' as a backup in a locker with the spare anchor. I would say I usually use 300-400' daily.

If you see my little ship in the Sound, give me a holler I am there mid June to Mid August, usually in the West side.

 

[fryedaze]

I made a video at 8X speed of the chain laying in, but I cant figure how to post.

 

[fryedaze]

Prince William Sound has a lot of deep anchorages, 200' isn't nearly enough and 400' is pretty much of a minimum. You will be working hard looking for your next anchorage shallow enough to anchor with only 200' of rode.

The good news is the anchorages are well protected for the most part so you won't need a lot of scope, but there are very few anchorages less than 50-75' deep, and it's common to anchor in 150' of water in many parts of the Sound.

Just giving you a heads up on that! I had 400' of 5/8" on board and decided it wasn't enough, now have 600' (and 45' 5/16" chain) and the 400' as a backup in a locker with the spare anchor. I would say I usually use 300-400' daily.

If you see my little ship in the Sound, give me a holler I am there mid June to Mid August, usually in the West side.

Not a problem on the east coast, Great Loop, etc

 

[AKDoug]

My bad, after reading through all of the posts I had thought the OP was making a trip into the Sound this summer, it must have been another commenter making that statement...

 

[FlyWright]

I made a video at 8X speed of the chain laying in, but I cant figure how to post.

I find it easiest to post it to YouTube, then post the YT link here.

 

[AlaskaProf]

My bad, after reading through all of the posts I had thought the OP was making a trip into the Sound this summer, it must have been another commenter making that statement...

Nope. You had it right the first time. I'm the OP (went back and checked). Seeadler and I will be in PWS much of July with a time-out in Seward/Anchorage around the 9th.

Current anchoring plan is to use the existing 210 feet of chain and carry two 200' shots of suitable rope (not in the locker) to shackle on when needed.

Ill be watching for you on the AIS.

'Prof

 

[fryedaze]

The video is at 8X speed. The stops are due to paying the chain in on the deck. 190'

 

[dhays]

Nope. You had it right the first time. I'm the OP (went back and checked). Seeadler and I will be in PWS much of July with a time-out in Seward/Anchorage around the 9th.



Current anchoring plan is to use the existing 210 feet of chain and carry two 200' shots of suitable rope (not in the locker) to shackle on when needed.



Ill be watching for you on the AIS.



'Prof

Any reason to not go ahead and attach one of those 200’ of line to the chain now? I have only been in BC twice for a total of about 3 weeks with my boat and it has 300’ of chain. I used over 200’ a number of times and a couple times had all 300’ out and could have used a bit more.

If the line is attached (just splice it to the chain) then it is ready to use.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Any reason to not go ahead ...
If the line is attached (just splice it to the chain) then it is ready to use.

If you go back to the original post you'll find that my "revelation" is that the rope that is spliced to my 210' of chain is what keeps the chain from feeding properly into the "chain locker". A source of frustration, physical labor and bad language every time I recover the anchor.

Keeping the rope in a readily accesible tote, or, shall we say, ...I dunno..."rope locker?" may not be the answer, but it is going to be the next evolution.

 

[dhays]

If you go back to the original post you'll find that my "revelation" is that the rope that is spliced to my 210' of chain is what keeps the chain from feeding properly into the "chain locker". A source of frustration, physical labor and bad language every time I recover the anchor.



Keeping the rope in a readily accesible tote, or, shall we say, ...I dunno..."rope locker?" may not be the answer, but it is going to be the next evolution.

Oops, sorry. I forgot.

So I did go back just to remind myself and you mentioned that you were going to deal with the chain bitter end, but I wasn’t clear how you were going to do that?

 

[AlaskaProf]

Oops, sorry. I forgot
you mentioned that you were going to deal with the chain bitter end, but I wasn’t clear how you were going to do that?

Someone suggested a short bar that would jam across the small aperture, but can be "toggled" to the vertical to extract. I'll probably secure it to a shackle in such a manner that it can be quickly swapped for the rope.

Boat is going to be hauled shortly which will make it easier to dump all this on the ground; probably do some painting and marking too.

 

[dhays]

Got it. That should work well.

 

[Arafura II]

I'm in the process of fitting a new windlass, a Muir 3500. It has an integrated hawse hole to feed into the locker. Also changing from 300' of 5/16 BBB to 360' of 3/8 chain. I secure the bitter end by 3 strand rope, but not enough length to come through the gypsy. If I need to cut it I'll do it from within the anchor locker.

I have the same winch brand new its sitting under the V birth at the moment and after the quote I received to fit it it will be staying there for a while.

 

[VicTrawler]

Please Let me know if it works.......

The chain ended up just crushing the cone and there was no improvement. To be fair, I didn't build any special platform for the cone, it was just sitting at the bottom of the locker as close as possible to the centre of the hawsepipe. I don't think I have enough space in my locker to allow for a cone - I need that precious space for my 200 feet of chain.

 

[FlyWright]

II added a 'skid ramp' in my anchor locker made up of 1 sq ft interlocking plastic tiles. The rode slides more easily down the ramp preventing the normal chain buildup near the pipe. Doesn't take up precious real estate, either.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Thanks Vic. My chain locker is also small....

 

[AlaskaProf]

Someone suggested a short bar that would jam across the small aperture, but can be "toggled" to the vertical to extract. I'll probably secure it to a shackle in such a manner that it can be quickly swapped for the rope.

So:

 

[rjwilliams11741]

I know this was mentioned in a earlier post but putting a small traffic cone in the anchor locker helped.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

My PO had about 350 feet of chain and 165 feet of rode. I had to go repeatedly to the chain locker and push over the pile. I did several things to change that. At first, I put everything out and then carefully put the rode off to the side as I brought in the line. I did the same with the chain, as much as possible. As long as I didn't use over about 150 feet, the chain came back in okay. If I used more I was back to visiting the chain locker during an anchor retrieval.

So I cut the chain down to 100' and changed the rode to 8 brait. That probably solved my problem, but I also soaked the chain in muriatic acid (mixed with water). I put as much as would fit in a 5 gallon bucket (about 50 feet), added probably two cups of acid, filled with water and let sit for several hours. All of the crusty white stuff came off of the old chain and it didn't stack in such a steep pile.

I also now fresh water rinse once in awhile and, when I remember, go down to the locker to spray the pile with Salt Away. This seems to keep the chain less crusty/more slippery.

As a bonus, my bow now rides an inch higher. And I have 250 feet of chain at home.

 

[Osprey69]

So...here is my plan for my anchoring tackle for the east cost/loop/Bahamas etc. I think I am good but welcome thoughts.

150' of 3/8 chain with 200' 3/4" of 8 plait. My theory is most anchorage scenarios around here will be covered by chain with a reasonable scope and easy out/easy in. Should be no pile ups. 200' of the 3/4" 8 plait for when the poop hits the fan. Allows more scope without all that weight and most importantly will provide the stretch needed to handle those shock loads in big wind.

49' Gulfstar with 42,000 displ.

Others who did the same and succeeded? Failed?