Anchor Chain Pile-Up

[emandvee44]

Anchor chain pile up

It does not need to be a road cone which are structurally fairly weak but a stainless steel pole about 1½ inch diameter with a rounded top directly below the hole through the deck head from the gypsy will give a better effect.

The randomness of the chain going into the locker will cause the chain to fall on one side of the S/S pole. As it builds up it will fall further off the centre line until it has gone too far whence it will return and find an easier place to lay.

The Stainless steel pole with a rounded top can be welded to a base plate which is held in place by the weight of the chain in the locker.



.

Exactly what I need, and what I saw on line. I seem to recall that it was expensive (region €500), but I think I can get one made locally for much less.

View attachment 34582

And on the subject of spurling pipes, this one has two, and two hawse pipes as well (they are the pipes through the hull which the 97mm diam. anchor chains pass through on their way to the windlass [gypsies] and then through the spurling pipes into the chain lockers).

My boat has a hole in the grp deck alongside the windlass - it would be a stretch to call it a 'spurling pipe'

And yes that is a fog bank approaching three days ago off the Portuguese coast, and it is still only 200m vis. Good for the marina - it is almost full with visitors.

Cheers and thanks to all,

Michael.

 

[cryan]

Indeed - yours truly on chain-beating duty while weighing anchor off Madeira:

Pete

Be careful down there, chain lockers are amongst the biggest killers at sea. The rust on the chain removes all the oxygen from the atmosphere.

 

[prv]

Be careful down there, chain lockers are amongst the biggest killers at sea. The rust on the chain removes all the oxygen from the atmosphere.

In the picture I'm not actually in the chain locker. I'm standing next to it, swinging the chain from side to side through an access hatch in the bulkhead so that it stows evenly. The space I'm standing in is the bosun's workshop in the lower level of the focsle - it has its own ventilation (mechanical, I think) and in any case the deck hatch through which the photo is being taken is generally left open in good weather. So no worries about oxygen depletion.

Nevertheless, the rule is that there has to be someone watching the chain-stower at all times (it's probably this person who took the photo). This is just in case he somehow gets caught up in the chain; the watcher can immediately alert the officer in charge and stop the windlass.

Pete

 

[GrahamM376]

I use a wireless remote for the windlass whilst lying on the forepeak bunk, catch and spread the chain as it comes in and then go up top to haul the last 20 meters or so, which drops in OK.

 

[powbongo]

I also experience the dreaded pilling up of chain problem and like the prevous contributer I too read somewhwere that a cone underneath the drop of the chain would do the trick. I managed to obtain a cone cut it to the size that I thought would work, re-inforced it and mounted it on a piece of marine ply, fixed it strongly to the bottim of the chain locker, looked brilliant, if it worked as well as it looked, the jobs a gooden.............. guess what the chain piled up exactly the same. I must have spent three to four hours on it, total waste of time, thats not to say that it couldn't work but you would need the computing power of NASA to work out the dimensions and angles of the sides to make it effective. My next thought was to make more height available in the chain locker by carefully coiling the rode to the side of the chain locker and fixing with easily breakable ties that would snap in the event of needing to use the rode. We mainly anchor using any part of the 65 meters of chain so my thoughts were that there would not be many times when the rode would need re-coiling and fixing. However this method could possibly cause more complications when you most needed the scope so I thought I might have been solving one problem and causing another. After reading this thred I am going to try breaking the pyramid from the deck above down the hause pipe using a bar or breaking the pyramid 3/4 through the weighing proceedure from insie the forepeak.

 

[Boo2]

One option is a device I saw in an on-line chandlers which looks like a mushroom in stainless steel. Installed in the chain locker exactly beneath the fall of the chain, it should distribute the chain randomly around the locker.

Does anyone know where to get one? I have been searching on line for two days without success (Actually I am thinking of having one made locally but I would like an idea of what size to make it)

You mean the "Chain Boy" from Force 4 ?

It's on their website here : http://www.force4.co.uk/9382/Force-4--Chain-Boy-.html

Hth,

Boo2

 

[emandvee44]

Anchor Chain Pile Up

Thanks Boo - I really don't know how I missed finding it!
A bit pricey, but I think it will work. I wonder how many people have them? Any feed-back from the Forum?
Have to do something, as my wife, who was the ace anchor person is a bit nervous about weighing anchor now, and agrees with me we must do something before we travel further afield and have to anchor much more frequently than we do now.
However, I am going to make a mock up with a hard plastic fishing float (slippery surface) and try that first (should be a fun week-end)

I will report on progress later.

Cheers,

Michael.

 

[Pagetslady]

I have the same problem with mine there is a step in the aft end of the locker which is just in the right place to catch the chain, it has a sloping top but the chain still manages to build up and jam, I use the windlass handle to poke down the hawes pip and shift if which is ok but would be better if it fell into the bottom of the locker then I could lift the anchor from the cockpit as I sail mostly sail single handed, some times I have to leave a busy anchorage with the anchor still hanging from the bow roller until I am in clear water, I have tried putting a small fender laid on its side under the hawes pipe, to deflect the chain away from the ledge but that did not work possibly too big a fender.
Regards Mike

 

[NormanS]

You mean the "Chain Boy" from Force 4 ?

It's on their website here : http://www.force4.co.uk/9382/Force-4--Chain-Boy-.html

Hth,

Boo2

Looks to me like something taking up space in the chain locker, and which is guaranteed to cause s foul-up when anchoring.