Found this, seems wrong

Found this under the windlass. This seems wrong to me.

Seems to me, if the idea is to attach to mooring chain and take the strain off the windlass, then the two lines should be able to hold the boat. (40 ft.)

Perhaps two shackles, thimbles and 5/8 lines, long enough to go to bow cleats.

Or am I missing the application? Is this just to take strain off when anchor is up?

John

Can`t say, we are missing the photo of "this". A snubber of some kind judging from your post. Try reattaching the pic.

Found what? Were you going to include a photo or are you talking about a snubber ?


If a snubber then you need to size the snubber lines to the boat. If the snubber line is too heavy it will not stretch defeating the idea of the snubber.

Ok , maybe I got it on reread. Just transferring the boat load off of the windlass and to the anchor chain. Correct? Most of us do that by a snubber which means the snubber line needs to be sized so it can stretch or there could be a heavy snatch load in messy conditions.

THis has been discussed many times. However, best if two lines are used to a plate type chain grabber and to two cleats on opposite sides of the bow.

However, some folk use one line and a grab hook to do that. I'm one. Where I typically anchor seldom has any seas to worry about. WInds yes, although in the 30K range, not 60K range.

So look at where you intend to be. IN well protected from seas coves or more open areas. That will determine what you need.

Fill in some details of why the question is asked and you will likely get a more pointed answer, or a bunch of them.

View attachment snubber.bmp

Oops!

here it is.

The two 3/8 lines with no chaff protection don't seem to be designed to do much.

Chain snubber. Slides over a link and ties somewhere in line with the strain. Not sure about the line strength.

It is indeed a chain snubber. I would not trust it due to the line going through the snubber which could quickly chafe the line and cause it to part. I have a snubber just like that one, but I have the lines eye spliced in thimbles which are shackeled to the snubber. Also have a rubber surge protector in each leg to give the line more stretch.

That chain grabber is similar to the one I use. I use about 25 feet of 1/2-inch, three-strand line with shackles on each side. The bitter end of each line is fed through the “pigs nose”, on the starboard and port side of the bow and tied off on the on-board cleats. Once the lines are secured, I let out enough chain to remove the tension from the windlass. Voila’!

Hey Ray,

That's exactly what I was thinking for a setup when I found it. I just was thrown off by the light line directly spliced. Maybe a couple of surge protectors like Comodave has and I'll have quiet nights.

John

You could attach shackles to the plate and splice suitable line to them. The current method of line spliced to plate is not good, and the line looks too light. The plate looks similar to the "Sea Dog" brand plate I bought from Fisheries Supply.
You are unloading the windlass by using a snubber, windlass gears don`t react well to high loads. Even so, if your snubber fails for some reason, the load just goes back on the windlass, not ideal but still a form of backup.
Use nylon for the snubber lines, it will give some stretch capacity.

The mooring snubbers I have are Falcon brand. Defender has them as well as other places. A friend had ones from West Marine and they kept breaking. I have never had a Falcon brand break. No connection just happy customer.

3/8" is a bit light, it will be a really good excuse to learn to splice, a great skill to have in your back pocket and very useful for those long nights in front of the TV. Or just use some surplus double-braid as big as you can find that will still fit in the hole and use a bowline. That's what I did and if there was any chafe, move the knot.

Have the same style snubber plate. Lines are 1/2" with spliced eyes with thimbles and then shackled to the plate. For storm conditions I have 3/4" lines with eye splices and thimbles to replace the 1/2" lines.

Ted

PMF1984 said:

Hey Ray,

That's exactly what I was thinking for a setup when I found it. I just was thrown off by the light line directly spliced. Maybe a couple of surge protectors like Comodave has and I'll have quiet nights.

John

Click to expand...

That'll never hold your big Pilgrim 40, John. Just send that useless thing to me and I'll dispose of it for you.

Seriously, the light line will provide the stretch needed to eliminate or reduce the shock loading on the ground tackle. It's a great setup to improve the smoothness at anchor.

Not a snubber, its for attached the bitter end of the chain with a lanyard to enable losing the chain when setting the anchor, but most important to enable to cast the anchor and chain with a a sharp knife if the anchor is not recoverable and the vessel needs to depart "post haste" (lives at risk scenario).

I agree, the lines should not be spliced directly to the grabber plate. Splice an eye with a thimble in each eye and then use a shackle to join the eyes to the grabber.

I would also splice a large eye, 12 or 14", into the other end of each line so that end can be secured easily when you are adjusting the actual length used.

I also use the Falcon rubber snubbers in my setup along with triple lay line, NOT double braid. The triple lay is much stretchier than double braid for better shock absorption.

"The two 3/8 lines with no chaff protection don't seem to be designed to do much."

Most folks attempt to anchor in protected waters.

Snubber line stretch is a portion of the lines breaking strength,

using 3/8 in a protected anchorage will give the smoothest ride

When the wind gets to 20K it might be time for the 7/16 or 1/2 inch line depending if the boat is stable , or dodges about its anchor..

O C Diver said:

Have the same style snubber plate. Lines are 1/2" with spliced eyes with thimbles and then shackled to the plate. For storm conditions I have 3/4" lines with eye splices and thimbles to replace the 1/2" lines.

Ted

Click to expand...

Same here.

If you are in such a strong blow that your chain is taught, perhaps the type of line you choose for your snubber might make a minor difference to your “comfort” but under those conditions comfort is your last concern. At less than those conditions it is the suspension or lifting off the bottom of the chain that will provide the quality of your ride and your relative “comfort.” The snubber is designed to transfer the weight of the boat off of the windlass mechanism so that shock loading and the entire weight of the boat is transferred to the cleats. The cleats were designed to carry the weight, instead of a device that is not intended to carry it, just designed to retreive a passive rode and anchor. The load on a snubber varies but is never less than the weight of part of the rode, never zero so chafe is a minor concern. Whether you use double braid or three-strand or even more chain (very hard to handle) is immaterial as long as the weight is off the windlass.

Three strand is a better choice as it has more stretch. Wind isn't constant. As a result, the snubber may unload and then shock load again. My boat wonders at anchor. So the load shifts from one line to the other. While 1/2" is fine 95% of the time, having heavier lines is good insurance.

Ted

I agree with using line big enough, but no bigger to hold the boat as the tendency will be, other than in unidirectional gales, to lay to one line as the boat horses.

Here is the rig we had, that I was quite happy with, using one of those plates:

https://photos.google.com/u/0/photo/AF1QipO_NY6MbuPAhcHfMMNGulRuTCT2marWXhK-mYGq

Moderator: For some reason the usual image link function isn't working