What is an Anchor Elbow?

We are trying to finalize correcting all the survey findings (Hey it has only been six months!) and one of them was "clean and polish anchor elbow."* The surveyor indicated this is inside the anchor locker.* We don't see anything in there that looks like it needs to be cleaned and polished.* Anyone know what this is?* I googled it and the results all look like something to do with lifelines or plumbing and not anchors???

thanks!

In 20 + years of boating I have never heard that term.

Call the surveyor and ask him, but I have to wonder what would need polishing in the anchor locker?* Seems a little anal to me.....................Arctic Traveller

Arctic Traveller wrote:

Call the surveyor and ask him...

*

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We had called a surveyor we had used before and liked.* He showed up with a sidekick, who is the one that came up with this item.* Apparently the one we WANTED is retiring and is turning over his business to the sidekick.**The*sidekick was SUCH a cheeseball.* If nobody knows*what this is I am not going to worry about it!*

well EVERYONE knows the anchor elbow is connected to the shoulder.....

What could possibly need polishing in an anchor locker?

The only "elbow" I can conceive of in an anchor locker would be a guide of some sort leading the rode from the windlass down through the deck to drop in specific place in the locker. I've seen metal tubes that angled down into the locker and then had an elbow or bend to feed the rode straight down. If this is even close to the correct definition I cannot conceive why it would need to be "polished" unless the inside of the tube is so gunked up it could interfere with the passage of the rode through it. But if that was the case, "cleaned out" would be the expected term.

You sure the surveyor wasn't making a joke?

Marin wrote:

You sure the surveyor wasn't making a joke?

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I think more likely he is an idiot and didn't know what he was talking about.* There were a few things he said we didn't have that we do (like a high water alarm) and there were a few fairly obvious things he missed (like soft wood under one of the windows).* I was VERY disappointed with the survey.

Maybe I'll post a photo of the inside of my anchor locker and see if any of you see anything I need to clean or polish!!

"I think more likely he is an idiot and didn't know what he was talking about."

That is a fairly common affliction among yacht surveyors. They are a lot like politicians, after a while they begn to believe themselves.

Hey- I had the surveyor that was representing the buyer who bought my previous boat take a look around for a bit and after staring at the magma kettle grill we had mounted to a rail and covered with the typical canvas cover....well- after looking at it for a bit he actually asked me if it was an extra spotlight!! I kid you not! As well, after about 30 minutes of him crawling around the engine room, sitting smack dab in between the 2 engines and after going up to the bridge and seeing the 4 inboard controls he asked to confirm that it was in fact a twin screw boat! I was speechless.

Old Stone wrote:

Sooooooooooooo......................Was it a twin screw???????????????

Unfortunately , there are just as many home inspectors that are just a unqualified. In both cases, you note that the first thing in the reports states that they are not responsible for the contents of the report!

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Carl, no it was a single screw and the grill WAS in fact a spotlight- I just never realized it all those years!! *

Woodsong wrote:

Hey- I had the surveyor that was representing the buyer who bought my previous boat take a look around for a bit and after staring at the magma kettle grill we had mounted to a rail and covered with the typical canvas cover....well- after looking at it for a bit he actually asked me if it was an extra spotlight!! I kid you not! As well, after about 30 minutes of him crawling around the engine room, sitting smack dab in between the 2 engines and after going up to the bridge and seeing the 4 inboard controls he asked to confirm that it was in fact a twin screw boat! I was speechless.

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He was testing you.

*

I believe anchor elbow is what you get raising the anchor without a windlass.* Kind of like 'texting thumb'.* Very painful.

I think Marin is basically right about the elbow.

On a horizonlal windlass there's no elbow but on a vertical windlass there is a metal finger of sorts that scoops the chain out of the gypsy sprocket at which point the chain is diverted 90 degrees and then straight down into the chain locker through the chain pipe. The chain makes the turn through the elbow. It could be called the chain diverter but it looks like a pipe elbow and the guy just called it an anchor elbow. This is what I think it is IF you PG have a vertical windlass**** ...and I'm mostly certain you do.

nomadwilly wrote:

I think Marin is basically right about the elbow.

On a horizonlal windlass there's no elbow but on a vertical windlass there is a metal finger of sorts that scoops the chain out of the gypsy sprocket at which point the chain is diverted 90 degrees and then straight down into the chain locker through the chain pipe. The chain makes the turn through the elbow. It could be called the chain diverter but it looks like a pipe elbow and the guy just called it an anchor elbow. This is what I think it is IF you PG have a vertical windlass**** ...and I'm mostly certain you do.

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*


Wow Eric, that is a really good explanation but I have a horizontal windlass.

I think it was the marine equivalent of the left-handed screwdriver...?

Old Stone wrote:

does that mean the more times we raise an elbow for a beer, the more "in shape" we will be for raising the anchor? Works for me !

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Yes, Carl, this is similar to the same reason why, according to Cliff Klaven, drinking beer makes you smarter.* Just as the smaller weaker caribou are killed off by predators because they aren't fast enough to get out of the way, thus making the herd healthier, so drinking a lot of beer kills off the weaker less fit brain cells making you smarter.

Thus, drinking beer can be said to both make you smarter, and more physically fit.

I'm glad I had an opportunity to clear this up.

*

Interesting surveyor story.* When we bought our boat, the surveyor we found was fully accredited by the surveyor associations, had written lots of magazine articles, had been in business for 20 years, and was highly recommended by several folks.* Long story short, he did a lousy job on our boat.* He missed several things that should have been paid for by the seller and ended up costing me a lot of money.* When I pointed this out to him after the fact, he agreed he should have seen the defects, and refunded all my money.* Fortunately though, he did point out that there were things like a piece of loose trim in the galley, and the carpet was worn in spots.*

I later met a guy on the docks with a new to him boat, and when the subject of surveyors came up, he complained bitterly about stuff his surveyor had missed. Guess what?......Same guy.

This was about six or seven years ago.* Currently, I have a contract to deliver a boat, and part of the pre-delivery process is a complete inspection of the boat to insure it's capable of making the trip.* The boat is a Defever of the type that has a large sea chest, with all through-hulls coming out of the chest.* While looking at the sea-chest I noticed that all the through-hulls were plastic, a big no-no, and a real safety issue.* Actually, one of them was already broken* and needs replacing. (the boat is out of the water at the moment)* I recommended to the owner that he replace all of them with proper bronze sea-cocks while the boat is hauled. He said that the surveyor should have mentioned this in his report, but failed to do so. Now he is stuck paying for something that the old owner may have at least split the cost of.* He mentioned several other things the surveyor missed, or was wrong about.* One was that the horn didn't work, despite the fact that it was an air horn actuated by a pull cord near the steering station.* Trouble was he didn't turn on the air compressor first.* The horn works fine.* Guess who the surveyor was?............Yup, same guy.*

So, it seems no mater how many associations he belongs to, how many accreditation's he has, how many certificates hang on his wall, how many magazine articles he's written, or how big his firm is, there is no guarantee of the quality of the survey you get.* Perhaps the best way to find* a good one is to ask everyone you can find for a recommendation and hope one name is mentioned several times.* .................Arctic Traveller

Arctic Traveller wrote:"...*the surveyor we found was fully accredited by the surveyor associations, had written lots of magazine articles ..."

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There is a famous surveyor with a large and popular website who is often referenced on this site. After reading several of his treatises on propulsion*I wouldn't let him step on my boat much less in the engine room.

*

"After reading several of his treatises on propulsion*I wouldn't let him step on my boat much less in the engine room."

I know who you mean and I agree.

RickB wrote:There is a famous surveyor with a large and popular website who is often referenced on this site. After reading several of his treatises on propulsion*I wouldn't let him step on my boat much less in the engine room.

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Since we all have much to learn (some of us more than others) I think he (the famous surveyor) has a lot to offer.* As it is with all advice given by others, it's buyer beware.* Gather as much advice as you can, then filter it through your own reasearch before coming to a conclusion.*

I'd love to have Mr famous survey my boat, but I fear if it was a pre-purchace survey I might never be able to get insurance, or financing.* On the other hand, if I was having a new boat built, his pre-acceptance survey may be worth it's weight in gold..............Arctic Traveller

*

"Thus, drinking beer can be said to both make you smarter"

Well, at least it made Bud wiser.

OK Jay. But it dosn't help some people.

PG,
Well I gave it my best shot and I'm glad you liked my throry. It was funny as I really
thought I had it nailed. Any new angle on the elbow?

OK, photos.* the only thing that looks in need of polishing IS the tube between above and below, which WOULD be an elbow if I had a vertical windlass as Eric described...* or maybe the plumbing elbow in the second photo, which is for the raw water anchor wash-down??*

Pineapple Girl wrote:

OK, photos.* the only thing that looks in need of polishing IS the tube between above and below, which WOULD be an elbow if I had a vertical windlass as Eric described...* or maybe the plumbing elbow in the second photo, which is for the raw water anchor wash-down??

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I have to wonder if he read that on a survey somewhere, and thought he would just throw it in for effect.* I think you should call him up and find out just what the heck he was thinking.* After all, you paid good money for that advice........................Arctic Traveller

In this age of texting and word processing, it is*easy to spell incorrectly. Your surveyor really intended to state "clean and polish below anchor."

I vote for the raw water elbow
Steve W

I think Tom's suggestion makes more sense than anything else. Be interesting to know, though, in case there really IS such a thing as an anchor elbow and all of us have been guilty all these years of leaving it unpolished.

PG,Well I guessed your winch type and struck out. Seems I've got another neck to stick out so I'm going to guess you've got a Danforth anchor. Neck's not out there very far now but I didn't think it was last time either. Now I'm going out there again * ...that Danforth anchor looks for all the world to me to be a stainless steel Danforth. Could that be?
I think Steve's right about the elbow. He prolly meant "the anchor locker elbow".
It IS an elbow and how could one miss all that green stuff.

nomadwilly wrote:

I think Steve's right about the elbow. He prolly meant "the anchor locker elbow".* It IS an elbow and how could one miss all that green stuff.

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If the surveyor wrote up the anchor hawse (as that's what it really is) for being green and needing to be polished, he really is a rather odd surveyor.* All the exterior hardware on our GB is bronze as is most of the interior hardware other than the cabinetry, and all of it is green or greenish or green-brown or brown.* As are all the seacocks in the boat, the rudder bars, the rudder tie-rod, etc.* None of the surveyors who have inspected our boat, from the very thorough pre-purchase survey to our latest insurance survey, said anything about how we should polish the green away.* They scratched it to make sure it wasn't pink underneath but nobody cared about the green.

When we first got our boat we shared a slip with a new Krogen.* The owner was there every weekend polishing the stainless rails and grab rails and all the other exterior hardware on the boat. (Waterspots--- it rains up here 24-7-365, remember?)* One day he looked over at us and said, "Thats the bad thing about these new boats.* Everything''s stainless and if you don't keep it polished everybody thinks you're neglecting your boat.* On boats like yours, you never have to polish anything and everyone says what a wonderful patina it all has."

*

Anchor elbow is closely related to the golden rivet.
Go find it.

Benn