Extending your anchor rode while anchored

[AquilaCat]

Two bowlines is not safe

 

[rgano]

Seems like anchor testing, knot testing is all over the map.


Three strand knots and bends act much differently than braided, jacketed lines.


Seems spliced loops still win, so I agree with the lines with end thimbles, shackled together as strongest....whether best.... has to work for you.


On my one sailboat...I did do all my lines with end thimbles....anchor, dock, misc..... did give lots of flexibility with a bucket of shackles.

I placed SS thimbles in the ends of my fiber rodes to be ready to shackle them together, especially after finding a galvanised shackle that had been installed on a stored line some years earlier rotted away.

 

[phillippeterson]

can you tie a bowline over there from over here?

 

[captnhunt]

The easy and secure way to tie two lines together, even if different sizes is a double sheet bend. Easy, secure, easy to untie. I have been using this to connect two lines for almost fifty years and never had one fail.

 

[DDW]

I think the relative strength of bowlines or carrick bends may depend a lot on the type and even manufacture of the line. A plain bowline can come loose if the tension is cycled and it is not safetied somehow, again worse with some lines than others. If it is shaken or flogged it will come apart even if finished with the end doubled back or half hitched. I think both a carrick bend or a Zeppelin bend is more secure in that respect. Also only one bend rather than two knots (a bowline is technically a knot not a bend). If they have equal chance of coming undone two back to back bowlines are twice as likely.

For strength eye splices will be much better than any knot of bend. Or a long splice but you probably aren't going to do that in the rain, at night, in the heat of the moment.

 

[Peasegrn]

Extend Anchor Rode

Isn't the Sheet Bend designed for this purpose? It's what I was taught to use for this. Because of the greater contact area between the two lines it's less prone to failure, no?

 

[psneeld]

Two bowlines is not safe

I don't think I would say two bowling are unsafe..... but I would agree long term use is not recommended.

For very long use in anchoring situations where the lines may be subject to sand in the knots or bends, I go back to thimbles ends, shackled together for all but permanent use.

If longer term or worried about abrasion/sawing....nothing like all chain and at worst...adding line to existing chain.

 

[rslifkin]

Personally, I'd prefer to plan ahead to avoid this situation. Given an adequately sized anchor locker, plan out however much chain (and rope if desired or needed) you'd want or need. Then just add rope to the end of that until you either have a bunch of extra or are approaching the practical capacity of the locker (where chain will still fall in correctly on top of the rope pile).

 

[psneeld]

Isn't the Sheet Bend designed for this purpose? It's what I was taught to use for this. Because of the greater contact area between the two lines it's less prone to failure, no?

I was always taught it was for lines of different diameters.

 

[Jeff F]

I was always taught it was for lines of different diameters.

Me too. But it's a great knot regardless. It's exactly the same knot as a bowline.

 

[LovetoBoat]

I was always taught it was for lines of different diameters.

It is...

 

[backinblue]

Not sure if it's accurate, but when I learned knots in scouting, the sheet bend was said to be the best knot for joining any 2 ropes. Certainly for different diameters, but even if they are the same.

 

[psneeld]

Not sure if it's accurate, but when I learned knots in scouting, the sheet bend was said to be the best knot for joining any 2 ropes. Certainly for different diameters, but even if they are the same.

The sheet bend is a bend. It is practical for joining lines of different diameter or rigidity. It is quick and easy to tie, and is considered so essential it is the first knot given in the Ashley Book of Knots. Wikipedia

Sure it might work fine but it is based on 2 sized diameter line where other bends may work better on lines of equal size but not on different sizes.

 

[RickyD]

The sheet bend is a bend. It is practical for joining lines of different diameter or rigidity. It is quick and easy to tie, and is considered so essential it is the first knot given in the Ashley Book of Knots. Wikipedia

Sure it might work fine but it is based on 2 sized diameter line where other bends may work better on lines of equal size but not on different sizes.

I do regularly use the sheet bend for simple work but for adding to an anchor line or for towing another boat, I would use the carrick bend or the zeppelin which I just learned.

 

[psneeld]

I agree there are better choices for 2 similar diameter lines, can't say they are better for greatly dissimilar line...but depending, I would guess there are better ones than a simple sheet bend...but I have no great experience to say that.

 

[Hi Ho]

I spliced a short piece of chain on my bitter end which then has a line threaded through it tied to a block of wood in my chain locker, this secures it but can still be untied above decks. I carry a spare two spare anchor rodes, one in the lazarette and another in the chain locker for a separate anchor both have a thimbles and shackles . I can simply shackle either one to the chain on the bitter end of my primary anchor rode.

 

[Shrew]

Double-Fisherman's knot. If this is a plan to do periodically, then I would increase the amount of rode to account for such periodic conditions.

 

[jclays]

Thanks I will be using back to back bowline knots with the tag ends woven back into the strands.

 

[SteveK]

Is this how the two bowlines connect?