Anchor chain jamming...

sailorgirl

sailorgirl

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Following on from Aquarella's recent post on retrieving an anchor in a gale (and her blog post on her experience), one point that hasn't been addressed in that thread is the fact that Aquarella's chain jams in the hawspipe. We have a similar problem; although our pipe is actually just a simple hole beside the windlass, the chain piles up directly below the hole so every 10-20 m or so, chain retrieval has to stop whilst the chain pile is redistributed. Fortunately we can do this by reaching in the chain locker from on deck but I recently saw a crew scuttling down below every few minutes. It makes anchor retrieval a lengthy process and kneeling on the windless to reach over into the locker is not the safest option unless the anchorage is fairly calm.

Any ideas on how to prevent the chain piling up or how to ensure it distributes itself?

S
 
There are only two solutions that I can think of.

One is to make the chain locker the correct shape (i.e. deeper) which the hull of most boats does not permit, or to use stainless steel chain which is "slippery" and slumps beautifully instead of piling up like galvy. Expensive solution though. Still, you only buy stainless chain once, if that's any consolation.
 
MASH said:
There are only two solutions that I can think of.

One is to make the chain locker the correct shape (i.e. deeper) which the hull of most boats does not permit, or to use stainless steel chain which is "slippery" and slumps beautifully instead of piling up like galvy. Expensive solution though. Still, you only buy stainless chain once, if that's any consolation.
Click to expand...

I do wish I'd spent £2k on stainless rather than £700 on ordinary when we replaced our chain a couple of years ago. Short of changing to a different boat it's hard to think of anything which would have removed so much low level hassle.

However my solution was v cheap - I screwed and bound a old double pronged door coat hook to the top of the long handled deck brush which lives in the anchor locker. When hauling in the chain I press "up" and use the brush handle and hook to keep lifting and pushing the chain aside without having to lean in. It's now just a habit.
 
Depends how much room there is in the chain locker when the anchor is in the stowed position. If the locker is full to the brim then this trick won't work, but if there is spare space... Find a (small) old road traffic cone and cut the point off, discard the base section. Place the shortened point immediately below but a few inches clear of the (spurling) chain pipe. The chain will fall on the point and tumble around it rather than build up as when allowed simply to fall in the locker in a heap. Obviously the 'point' needs fixing in the locker, I made some short cuts up the side of the cone and bent them into Tabs which I was able to screw to the wooden locker base but you may have to use adhesive if a fibre glass locker. Once you are happy the system works on your boat you can glass the cone in situ. :)
 
Downsman said:
Depends how much room there is in the chain locker when the anchor is in the stowed position. If the locker is full to the brim then this trick won't work, but if there is spare space... Find a (small) old road traffic cone and cut the point off, discard the base section. Place the shortened point immediately below but a few inches clear of the (spurling) chain pipe. The chain will fall on the point and tumble around it rather than build up as when allowed simply to fall in the locker in a heap. Obviously the 'point' needs fixing in the locker, I made some short cuts up the side of the cone and bent them into Tabs which I was able to screw to the wooden locker base but you may have to use adhesive if a fibre glass locker. Once you are happy the system works on your boat you can glass the cone in situ. :)
Click to expand...

+1; that's the fix
 
A simple solution may be what I've done. Our last few metres of chain are often obstructed. This required going below, opening a hatch between forecabin and chain locker, pushing the cone of chain over to one side, closing the hatch and returning to the foredeck. A proper nuisance.

So I took a 10mm galvanised electric fencing stake, cut off a length, bent the end to serve as a handle, tied it to a lanyard and stowed it in our windlass well which sits below the foredeck beneath a hinged cover. It makes a poker which, if the chain has built up awkwardly, is pushed through the hole beneath the windlass. A quick wiggle pushes the chain mountain over. Job done. Takes only a few seconds.

I expect the poker will one day find other uses as well.
 
The traffic cone sounds a great idea but possibly has a couple of flaws - we've a huge deep anchor locker so store a second anchor rode (the umpteen metres of rope and chain the skipper required for peace of mind in case we are ever anchored in a storm) under the main chain plus as the skipper pointed out a poor old traffic cone would be probably be crushed by the weight of the 80 or 90 metres of chain we use day to day.

Did like the metal mushroom Tranona found but wondered whether it would really work half a metre is not that high a pile of chain.

And Steve yes you are correct Temptress is a Jeanneau - anchor well is deep enough for me to stand in and not see out!

So will stick to the current arrangement; the skipper does all the pointy end bits if the anchor is coming up and I do them when it goes down - a fair division of labour me thinks.
 
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