Anchor snubbers

[Crinan12]

Hi folks I am just sorting out an anchor snubber for my boat
I was going to get a 10 metre bit of 3 strand rope with a chain hook but then I noticed these contraptions on the jimmy green site
They are more expensive £60ish. Do they do the same job as a length of stretchy rope ?
What should I be using ?
Thanks
P.s 28ft 4 tonne yacht

 

[Motor_Sailor]

A long length of thin-ish 3 strand rope.

Save yourself £50 and keeps the chain silent over the stemhead, something that 'thing' doesn't do.

 

[Boathook]

A long length of thin-ish 3 strand rope.

Save yourself £50 and keeps the chain silent over the stemhead, something that 'thing' doesn't do.

My thought also. The rope (even with chain hook) can be used elsewhere if more warp required.

 

[vyv_cox]

I agree with other posters. Nylon line is perfect. Stretch characteristics are 3-strand>octoplait>doublebraid. Mine is actually doublebraid but works fine and has lasted many years.

The last thing you want on a snubber is shackles like those in the photo. A confounded nuisance to set and, worse, to recover. Use a forged chain hook that always holds, until you haul in the chain when it will fall off. Ideal performance.

Chain Hook, stainless steel
I have used one like this for years. Exactly right.

 

[RJJ]

We have gone for polyester. Nylon more stretchy and higher ultimate strength. Polyester, (crucially IMHO), more durable both in terms of chafe and repeated stretching and UV-resistant. But I wouldn't say either is a "bad" choice.

If polyester then it needs to be longer than nylon to allow an equivalent length of stretch.

Consider what it's meant to do and when you'll be using it. If you want to anchor in heaps of wind and reduce snatch loads from gusts, or from the yacht "sailing" around, then you need a long snubber as described. For a couple of hours in a force 3, you just need to take the load off the windlass.

So our solution is a boat-length of polyester, and additionally a smaller carabineer with two feet of lightweight line so that even the saggy bit of chain is not wearing on the windlass or rattling in the roller.

As Vyv describes, our main snubber has a chain hook. Advantage is easy to rig (and remove). It also wears on the outside of a link of chain, rather than on the chafing on the inside of the link which is always under stress.

 

[Crinan12]

I don't actually have a windlass.
It will just be for overnight anchoring on the west coast of Scotland. I have only anchored once in my life - in pig bay just by corryvwreckan - it got really windy and I didn't sleep at all but it didn't help with the chain yanking all the time. I read about these snubber systems after that and want to give it a go this year.
Thanks

 

[RupertW]

I don't actually have a windlass.
It will just be for overnight anchoring on the west coast of Scotland. I have only anchored once in my life - in pig bay just by corryvwreckan - it got really windy and I didn't sleep at all but it didn't help with the chain yanking all the time. I read about these snubber systems after that and want to give it a go this year.
Thanks

I have a rubber dogbone snubber on a 20m nylon warp - basically so in light winds and short scope I can have some sort of snubbing without using more than a couple of metres.

But on the sleeping at anchor thing, I find a few things help, firstly knowing that this particular anchor has held this boat secure in much worse conditions and only experience brings that, secondly testing the seabed by moving slowly up to full reverse once the anchor is set, and finally (and leastly) an anchor alarm app with mini-map on your mobile so you can check it in bed if you have any doubts. And the attitude that it’s better to get up any time you feel a change in the boat’s motion to pop your head out to see the beautiful lonely surroundings looking just the same before diving back into the warm bunk.

 

[vyv_cox]

Plus a transit where convenient so you know if you have dragged back.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I use a 3 metre nylon plaited rope with a chain hook at the end; its simple, effective, low cost, durable and quick to install and most importantly it is easy to retrieve.

 

[geem]

Our current snubber is a 12m length of 16mm polyester with an oversized dogbone as well. Last night here in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, a nasty squall went through circa 50kts. Heavy rain and screaming wind. Our 13.4m ketch was laid over on her side on one tack then the other. Probably one of the worst squalls we have ever experienced at anchor! The snubber works perfectly. No snatching and still anchored in the same spot. We are in 5m of water with 35m of chain. A snubber is a must for us

 

[GHA]

Hi folks I am just sorting out an anchor snubber for my boat
I was going to get a 10 metre bit of 3 strand rope with a chain hook but then I noticed these contraptions on the jimmy green site
They are more expensive £60ish. Do they do the same job as a length of stretchy rope ?
What should I be using ?
Thanks
P.s 28ft 4 tonne yacht

Quite a few long distance cruisers go for retired climbing rope from the local climbing wall, if there is one.. Though maybe a bit on the thick side for your boat.

Some light reading >>
What size for snubber? - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
Dynamic Climbing Ropes Used on Boats ? - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

 

[Stemar]

My snubber is a spare bit of 10mm 3-strand nylon with an eye splice one end to go over the samson post, a bit of pipe to take the wear where it goes over the bow roller, then a rubber mooring snubber like this

and a smaller eye splice with a couple of chain hooks, one sized for my mooring, the other sized for the anchor chain.

Works well on my roughly 3-ton 24 footer.

 

[RupertW]

My snubber is a spare bit of 10mm 3-strand nylon with an eye splice one end to go over the samson post, a bit of pipe to take the wear where it goes over the bow roller, then a rubber mooring snubber like this

and a smaller eye splice with a couple of chain hooks, one sized for my mooring, the other sized for the anchor chain.

Works well on my roughly 3-ton 24 footer.

My only objection to an eye splice (and I’m the same for all warps too) is that I want to be able to release quickly under any load. I’ve only had to do this a couple of times with warps but both times it saved some nasty scrapes.

 

[geem]

My only objection to an eye splice (and I’m the same for all warps too) is that I want to be able to release quickly under any load. I’ve only had to do this a couple of times with warps but both times it saved some nasty scrapes.

The benefit of a spliced loop on a snubber is its totally quiet. Turns around a cleat squeak under load. I cant think of a situation in an emergency where a sharp knife is not the quickest solution. Turns on a cleat can be just as difficult to remove under huge load

 

[noelex]

As others have said, nylon or climbing rope is the best, although some mix this with short lengths of Dyneema in high chafe areas. The Dyneema (or the cheaper HMWPE variations) will not stretch, but especially when covered and reasonably thick, it reduces the problem of poor chafe resistance of nylon. This is what we use, but we anchor over 300 days a year and this level of complexity is not justified for most users.

The length of nylon depends on the thickness relative to the boat size and the boat characteristics. Around 10-15m seems best, but it worth experimenting. You can have too much stretch.

The snubber can be rigged from the bow or attached at the stern and led forward so the length of snubber over the bow only needs to be short. It can be set up as a bridle or a single line.

To connect the snubber to the chain there are many options. Personally, I prefer a soft shackle, but try the different options until you find the one you like the best.


The stretchy rubber mooring devices can be used, but they have limited stretch so you need still need some nylon unless you use a lot of them. They are expensive, heavy and don’t have a great life when used on an anchor snubber so most just use nylon. Some feel the rubber devices help quieten things down at low windspeeds better than nylon alone. The anchor holding is not a concern is not a concern with these forces, but the noise of the chain scraping along the seabed can still be an issue.

 

[Stemar]

My only objection to an eye splice (and I’m the same for all warps too) is that I want to be able to release quickly under any load. I’ve only had to do this a couple of times with warps but both times it saved some nasty scrapes.

The eye splice at one end drops over the samson post. Lifting it off would take literally a second. If it's really under too much tension to do that, a knife would be the only solution, whatever I used, and I'm probably looking at having to dump my anchor and chain.

I understand your point, though. Loads do go up very quickly as boats get bigger. If Jissel has a strop, a tug on a line will generally sort it out, my friend's 40 footer just laughs and tugs back...

 

[TJ1982]

I have one of these, exactly as depicted by OP. Can’t recall whether it was from Jimmy Green or elsewhere. In any case, it proved – as intuited by earlier posters – to be a PITA when weighing anchor, mostly involving hanging off the bow through the pulpit rail trying to avoid being boshed in the face while undoing the shackles.

I’ve since returned to a nylon snubber with rolling hitch arrangement, as learned in Day Skipper training several years back. Some good alternatives above, too.

 

[dunedin]

Like many others, we use a rope snubber with a s/s chain hook (exactly the same as Vyv Cox’ one) and a rubber dog bone added a few feet up from the hook.
But both our current and previous boats have bow mooring cleats on the toe rails (common on modern boats) - hence if lead the snubber to these the rope comes out of the bow roller at an angle and would chafe badly. Hence we have spliced into a Y shape - with a fixed loop at one end that goes on first, then after anchoring we drop the anchor locker and lead the other end of the Y to the other bow cleat and cleat this off to ensure a straight chafe free run off the chain roller. This Y snubber is ideal for us.

(Overnight we back this up with a second short rope and a closed chain shackle in case the snubber broke or somehow became unhooked - never yet happened in perhaps 200 nights but prefer belt and braces. This simpler one also used for short lunch stops - hence referred to on board as the “lunch hook”)

 

[V1701]

By all means take a transit to check your position but you've got to be awake to do it. This summer I used an app called Anchor Lite - you set the parameters, it monitors your GPS position and alarms if the boat drags or if it loses the GPS fix. I found it very reassuring once I'd satisfied myself it worked. Phone plugged in to a 12v socket...

 

[RupertW]

The benefit of a spliced loop on a snubber is its totally quiet. Turns around a cleat squeak under load. I cant think of a situation in an emergency where a sharp knife is not the quickest solution. Turns on a cleat can be just as difficult to remove under huge load

I don’t find they squeak and do know if tied correctly they can be quickly released under immense load. My cleats have rollers which might be why I find this.