rope attachment

Ever since I bought the boat (over a year now), I have been meaning to add a short length of nylon line to connect my chain rode to the hard point in the anchor locker. Up till now, the chain was attached to that hard point with a SS shackle.

The concern of course is that if we were caught in a bad situation and needed to let the anchor go, it would be difficult to go head-first into the anchor locker with the appropriate tool and undo the shackle connecting the chain to the boat.

Yesterday I was messing about trying to see if I could get my anchor to always come right side up into anchor roller and eventually let out all the chain. This gave me the opportunity to finally attach a line between chain and boat. I had a short length of 5/8" 3 strand so I spliced it to the chain on one end and then spliced an eye on the other that I put the existing shackle through. This was my first time splicing rope to chain but it was pretty simple.

What is a bit odd is that the whole thing took maybe 30 minutes to accomplish. Why did it take me over a year to get around to doing it?

dhays said:

Why did it take me over a year to get around to doing it?

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'Cause you've been messing around with engine problems?



-Chris

Thinking about things preceeds the doing of things. Always.

That short length gives you something to cut through with relative ease and solves the 'release the anchor' challenge.

If you use a 100 ft length of floating poly next time, it'll also mark your anchor's location for a subsequent diver retrieval...if your water's less than 100 ft deep. It need not be as heavy as 5/8.

That definitely sounds like a good idea.
Was a tapered splice needed for the rode to pass through the gypsy or does a regular splice roll over it ok? I don't see mentioned which windlass you have.

Greetings,
Mr. b. I think Mr. dh put the line at the bitter end of his chain and it need never pass by his windlass.

boomerang said:

That definitely sounds like a good idea.
Was a tapered splice needed for the rode to pass through the gypsy or does a regular splice roll over it ok? I don't see mentioned which windlass you have.

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RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. b. I think Mr. dh put the line at the bitter end of his chain and it need never pass by his windlass.

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RT is right. The line is only used as something to cut if the need arise.

Now, to be honest I had wanted the line to be just the right length that when the anchor rode was let out as far as possible, the line would be taught and the end of the chain would be fully engaged on the gypsy. That would leave about 3" of exposed line between the deck and the gypsy so it could be cut without having to open the chain locker and reach down inside with a knife. I only eyeballed my measurements however and so the line is a few inches too long and the splice rolls up on the gypsy.

The gypsy is a chain gypsy I believe and not a combination gypsy. So should I accidentally let too much rode out, I don't think the windlass will get a real good grip on the line to bring in the rode without a manual tug on the chain. I am not terribly worried about it. I've never unintentionally let out all the rode. If I do, there will be enough centenary to be able to give the rode a tug to help the windlass.

BTW, the idea of using 100' of poly instead is a very good one and if I had a spare 100' of floatline I would definitely do that. I didn't but I did have a spare length of 5/8" three strand.

dhays
I got a pocket full of "get around to its":lol:

ddalme said:

dhays
I got a pocket full of "get around to its":lol:

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dhays said:

RT is right. The line is only used as something to cut if the need arise.

Now, to be honest I had wanted the line to be just the right length that when the anchor rode was let out as far as possible, the line would be taught and the end of the chain would be fully engaged on the gypsy. That would leave about 3" of exposed line between the deck and the gypsy so it could be cut without having to open the chain locker and reach down inside with a knife. I only eyeballed my measurements however and so the line is a few inches too long and the splice rolls up on the gypsy.

The gypsy is a chain gypsy I believe and not a combination gypsy. So should I accidentally let too much rode out, I don't think the windlass will get a real good grip on the line to bring in the rode without a manual tug on the chain. I am not terribly worried about it. I've never unintentionally let out all the rode. If I do, there will be enough centenary to be able to give the rode a tug to help the windlass.

BTW, the idea of using 100' of poly instead is a very good one and if I had a spare 100' of floatline I would definitely do that. I didn't but I did have a spare length of 5/8" three strand.

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I painted the last 25' of the chain in flourescent orange so I know I'm running out of chain. I also have 100' of yellow 5/8" Poly on the bitter end , just in case.

I asked a very similar question a while back. I ended up doing 100' poly line attached to a small hard point in locker - so under benign conditions, it would probably keep the boat attached, but under heavy load it would break free and leave a floating rode to fetch the chain and anchor in the future.

kev_rm said:

I asked a very similar question a while back. I ended up doing 100' poly line attached to a small hard point in locker - so under benign conditions, it would probably keep the boat attached, but under heavy load it would break free and leave a floating rode to fetch the chain and anchor in the future.

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Should the need to cut the line arise, conditions would be ugly. If I was the next guy in that location and there was 20' of poly floating on the surface, I am sure I would foul it on my prop, so then I would be attached to that anchor by my stern, in ugly conditions, and not at all receptive when you come by to retrieve your anchor.
Think about it.

IF folks need the line to chain splice to travel thru a gypsy, Practical Sailor has the instructions/photos this month.

How about tying a fender or a polyball onto the chain before cutting the "Oh S#!^" line? 100' of poly sounds great, but what if you're only in 20' feet of water?

This solution would seem to potentially leave you with 80' of poly line floating around on the surface. I can respect the desire to salvage your anchor, but not at the expense of me coning along and getting potentially fouled on it in the process.

Just a thought.

If there was time then yes, trim the line to the a little more than depth and attach something visible that floats. If not then.. well there's not, and yes the poly line should be only as long as your max anchoring depth, in many cases 40 or so would be fine.

Shrew said:

How about tying a fender or a polyball onto the chain before cutting the "Oh S#!^" line? 100' of poly sounds great, but what if you're only in 20' feet of water?

This solution would seem to potentially leave you with 80' of poly line floating around on the surface. I can respect the desire to salvage your anchor, but not at the expense of me coning along and getting potentially fouled on it in the process.

Just a thought.

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Shrew said:

How about tying a fender or a polyball onto the chain before cutting the "Oh S#!^" line? 100' of poly sounds great, but what if you're only in 20' feet of water?

This solution would seem to potentially leave you with 80' of poly line floating around on the surface. I can respect the desire to salvage your anchor, but not at the expense of me coning along and getting potentially fouled on it in the process.

Just a thought.

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Anything's possible, but that's not a LIKELY scenario on my boat. If I drop the ground tackle, it'll most likely be due to a snagged anchor...i.e. a Bruce on a cable. In that case, I'm cutting the line and attaching a fender with my boat name and phone number in sharpie pen. I'll dispose of the extra line when attaching the fender/marker.

I've also seen a debris dam form on an anchor line in the river. If it threatens the vessel, you can cut away, let the debris float downstream, then return to re-anchor and finish your beer.

Of course, not everyone is in such benign conditions as I enjoy in the CA Delta, but that's how I envision it being used here.

Of course using a self tending anchor ball would allow the anchor line to be cut , no polly left to catch passing boats.

The ball and line attachment to the crown allows easy recovery.

kev_rm said:

If there was time then yes,

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In this theoretical discussion, the anchor is fouled. You're not dragging. You wouldn't have anchored in a channel, so it is doubtful that someone or something is bearing down on you.

How would time (or lack thereof) be a factor here? You're not going anywhere.

Pull in the chain to a roughly 1:1 scope (add length to account for pulpit height). Tie on a fender on the chain jut below the bow pulpit so that the fender is only supporting the weight of [length of chain = ((Depth x 2)+ pulpit height)], then release the rest of the chain and cut the line.

How long would it take to grab a fender, tie on a line. Tie that line to chain and pay it out? 5 min.? less?