Anchor snubbers

[geem]

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.

Having been hit on Christmas Day morning by a 210 tonne 108ft gin palace whilst we were tied to a mooring, i can say without question that under huge load, those lines won't come off the cleats. We could not undo our mooring lines whilst the weight of 210t boat was leaning on our bow. It simply wasnt possible without cutting the lines

 

[RupertW]

Having been hit on Christmas Day morning by a 210 tonne 108ft gin palace whilst we were tied to a mooring, i can say without question that under huge load, those lines won't come off the cleats. We could not undo our mooring lines whilst the weight of 210t boat was leaning on our bow. It simply wasnt possible without cutting the lines

Tied badly then

 

[SimonKNZ]

Slightly off-topic but I’m struggling to understand how load on a line would prevent it being undone from a cleat. Unless insufficient turns have been put on, followed by a locking hitch (which should never be used)?

My snubber is 4m of hawser-laid polyester with a SS chain hook attached with a spliced soft eye. I currently have a bowline in the other end that I put over a cleat. It does suffer slightly from chafing so I will be investigating a “Y” arrangement to spread the load over both cleats as suggested above, also the protective hose sounds like a good idea so thanks for those ideas.

 

[LittleSister]

One temporary solution, I found, to lines squeaking as they stretch through fairleads etc. is a cheap plastic bag (either a whole bag or a scrap torn from one) wrapped round the line where it passes through, or wedged between the rope and the fairlead or whatever.

 

[Neeves]

Climbing walls (or gyms) need to retire the ropes, they cannot sell them - go and get a length - it should be free but you might need, or like, to contribute to the tea fund. We now use 30m snubbers, each side (we are a cat so have a bridle). If you run from the transom (horn cleats ?) you have a deck length snubber with only a small portion beyond the bow. The longer the snubber the more it can absorb and will last longer. We have only been using 30m for 12 months but previously used 15m from the transom.

One of those rubber dogbone things has the equivalent usefulness of 2m of 12mm nylon (I know I tested them both, with a load cell ) - take your pick as to which is better value for snubber. But I would not knock them, good for mooring applications. They are quite heavy.

Here are some articles to read over a glass or two of decent malt whisky:

Anchor Snubber Tips

The art of snubbing, in the nicest possible way - MySailing.com.au

How to: Dealing with Snatch Loads in an Anchorage

You don't say, I amy have missed it, how big your yacht is - climbing gyms usually 12mm rope which would suit 35'-45', maybe bigger. You can source 8mm rope to the same construction (speak to your local rock climbing club, someone might have some 8mm they would like to retire - expect to, again, contribute). We originally sourced from a gym but have just bought 30m each side of 12mm kermewntle and with it bought 30m x 2 x 14mm kermantle for a 50' cat being built. Having used the 12mm - maybe we should have bought 10mm - it would have been slightly more effective (and cheaper!).

Be careful about abrasion - hose pipe works very well. Splicing dyneema into the line is an expensive and fiddly option - as if you run from the transom horn cleats you will need the dyneema in the 'middle' and that needs 2 splices (hose pipe is so much easier).

We use a bridle plate but a steel chain hook would suffice for a single line snubber. Again soft shackles, dyneema again, is also very fashionable - but a simple hook will work well - and if you are running from the transom need not drag on the seabed in light winds and as it will always be under tension - will not fall off. If your yacht is small and use 6mm chain - soft shackles are really a faff - the links are too small. But if you want to practice your splicing go for it!

We have been developing better ways to use a snubber or bridle, watch this space - there are other options on how you set up your snubber. Anyone who wants the details now - send me a PM.

Usually when a yacht drags it turns broadside on to the wind - we have a compass, a normal spherical type, in the ceiling (do yachts have ceilings) over the berth. We installed it so we knew when a front was passing through - its lit at night and quite comforting (as long as you have not forgotten the bearing of the yacht when you went to bed).

Not about snubbers but as you are sailing in the nether regions you might enjoy this

Know how: Expanding your Anchoring Repertoire

Jonathan

 

[Iliade]

Slightly off-topic but I’m struggling to understand how load on a line would prevent it being undone from a cleat. Unless insufficient turns have been put on, followed by a locking hitch (which should never be used)?

I have found that if the rope is a little too large for the cleat, or rather if the boat builder fitted undersized or poorly designed cleats, the rope can jam under the cleat and be impossible to remove under load.

It is only on my recently acquired 5.5 ton boat that balances on her long fin keel while leant against, or occasionally away from, a pier that this phenomenon has reared it's head. Neither of my previous boats required such large diameter mooring lines nor did they tend to impart such high loads - My mooring is broadside to the current; Against a spring ebb it is only possible to get her up against the pier by winching, springs are ineffective...

 

[doug748]

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

View attachment 83596

Those things are normally offered to take the sting out of fixed moorings. I used that arrangement on a swinging mooring and it worked ok - with a length of fire hose, over all, to protect the topsides.


Your plan for the snubber looks fine. On a small boat things should be multi purpose so put a snubber (rubber, spinster's friend, type) in there, close to one end and you have a handy springy line to run across when parked is a lumpy marina. You could also use it to attach a swinging mooring if you like.

 

[geem]

Tied badly then
[/QUOTE
So smart arse, you have experienced the load of a dragging 210t boat that had enough force to stove in a one inch thick bow section? The mooring we were on was pushed under the stern of the dragging boat and our lines were pulled to breaking point. The four or so turns we had around our cleats with a lock turn that if perfectly suitable for a mooring under normal loads, and removable under those conditions, were pulled with such force that the anchor plait slipped on the cleat and locked the locking turn rigid. This is not an everyday occurrence and I doubt many boats see this kind of load. The mooring lines stretched beyond their elastic limit so they were considerably thinner during this event. Its all very good and pleasant of you to tell me I had tied my boat up badly, thank you for that and your understanding of what was a very traumatic experience.

 

[Stemar]

I've had people take a line for me and put nothing but locking turns. I'd probably struggle to get that undone with just the tide at Hardway pushing me off, never mind "assistance" from several tonnes of GRP.

I was taught to OXXX, with the last X a locking turn, but a few years later the RYA(?) standard as taught on courses changed to OXXO with no locking, presumably because of situations like Rupert's. It's a system that's never failed me, though I have been known to add an X in a blow. As long as I can get to the cleat, I cannot imagine a situation when I wouldn't be able to undo it and, if I can't get to either end, I rather think that would be the least of my worries.

 

[zoidberg]

I'm hard-wired in favour of standing anchor watches, if conditions are gusty and there's any suggestion that the anchor might drag.
Better to be awake in case of need than be asleep WHEN needed.
The alternatives are a marina berth or a fixed mooring.

 

[GHA]

I'm hard-wired in favour of standing anchor watches, if conditions are gusty and there's any suggestion that the anchor might drag.
Better to be awake in case of need than be asleep WHEN needed.
The alternatives are a marina berth or a fixed mooring.

The alternatives are a marina berth or a fixed mooring............ or having a decent hook of a good size and good design and an anchor watch app, and make sure it's well set and won't drag with engine full wack and some momentum. If there's any suggestion that the hook will drag then you are in some rubbish holding. Or have a rubbish hook....

For many thousands of cruisers a marina or mooring isn't an option so need to and do look after themselves.

Not many would trust an unknown fixed mooring anyway, better off on your own known gear....

 

[Graham376]

I'm hard-wired in favour of standing anchor watches, if conditions are gusty and there's any suggestion that the anchor might drag.
Better to be awake in case of need than be asleep WHEN needed.
The alternatives are a marina berth or a fixed mooring.

Unless just a lunch stop, we set the gps alarm as the anchor hits the bottom. It has a 90db sounder so happy to sleep. Have only kept watch a couple of times on particularly nasty nights when sheering.

 

[NormanS]

I think that the only time that I have actually got up to "anchor watch" was in Loch Seaforth, Lewis, when the wind was averaging 65, gusting up to 74 knots. I've always had good and adequate anchors and chain. ☺

 

[Crinan12]

Thanks all. Will keep it simple then as most other folk seem to do. I've bought a 15kg Rocna to replace the CQR I had and following advice I got on here I'm replacing my old 8mm chain with 6mm. Found 8mm pretty heavy to pull in and now I've got a heavier anchor to deal with as well. Only thing is I think need to shackles to make the connection between the 6mm chain and anchor .

 

[bumblefish]

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

View attachment 83596

I used one of those on my mooring buoy, I lost the pin from one end, I will use a chain hook in future.

 

[Neeves]

Thanks all. Will keep it simple then as most other folk seem to do. I've bought a 15kg Rocna to replace the CQR I had and following advice I got on here I'm replacing my old 8mm chain with 6mm. Found 8mm pretty heavy to pull in and now I've got a heavier anchor to deal with as well. Only thing is I think need to shackles to make the connection between the 6mm chain and anchor .

You will be correct the shackle that fits the 6mm chain will be too small to fit the Rocna anchor. I think the anchor will neatly take a standard 3/8th" shackle (try to get a Van Beest Green Pin shackle rather than one from your local hardware store). The shackle should be a bow shackle, bow through the slot in the anchor. Buy 2 shackles - the first one might have a habit, only once, of being dropped overboard! To connect to the chain I would not use a small shackle but an Omega Link. I have some spare ones (which are well over strength for what you need) - send me a PM with an email address and I can the get your address for posting. You will need a chain hook, which you should be able to get from any chandler, a stainless one. If I have your email address I can send you a couple of pictures illustrating how you can make a simple gate for the hook - so contact me (if you want) before you buy anything. I might actually have spare galvanised hooks for 6mm, don't recall. All my kit is 6mm G70 for a 38' cat - so strength is not an issue. You could use soft shackles instead of a hook but I have found them too difficult to thread into a 6mm sized link (on a cold, wet, dark night).

In case you are wondering, no charge (just tell me how you get on and maybe take some pics). I'd send you some spare climbing rope - but my largesse does not extend to posting rope!

I don't know what size of yacht you have? But that 15kg anchor is the size for our cat, 38' x 22' beam and 7t (except we use alloy versions, 8kg, of 15kg steel ones (Spade, Excel and a FX16)

Finally - this is a good time to consider 6mm G40 rather than 6mm G30.

Jonathan

 

[Crinan12]

Thanks Jonathan - very generous of you
It's a 4 tonne 28ft yacht
Yes going with 6mm g40 - jimmy green sell it. I was thinking of getting about 40 metres -plus 30 metres or so of rode.

What's this 'gate' you refer to ? Not sure what it is.

 

[Neeves]

Crinan,

I know how difficult it is to get something reliable to join 6mm to - anything - I went a bit overboard with spares, I'm happy they go to good homes. it only becomes generous if you take up the offer

I don't know your cruising grounds - but 40 + 30 sounds good - but wait for more informed comment from people who know your local cruising grounds. We have a mixed rode we hand deploy (our second rode). We keep it in a milk crate (coil the rope neatly inside the perimeter and then drop (not in one lump - but in an ordered way) the chain into the resultant space in the centre. We have a shackle on the rode. Its easy to carry around.

I suspect most times you will not deploy any rope, so you will benefit from a snubber. You need to attach the snubber to chain and I suggest a hook. If you look at most hooks (or all hooks in chandlers) the chain simply 'falls' into a simple slot. Many times you anchor the wind might drop off (that's why you chose to anchor there), and your chain might hang straight down to the seabed. With a little movement (tide or wind) your yacht will move dragging the chain hook over the seabed - and the chain might (I stress the might) slip out of the hook. I made a simple gate to keep the chain in place.

If you attach your snubber at the transom you will have a deck length of snubber by the time you get to the bow (so in your case maybe 25' - if you then deploy another 5'-10' outboard you will have a decent length. You need to devise a sensible and easy way of getting the snubber 'outboard' and preferably over the bow roller (use hosepipe here to reduce abrasion) - to get the snubber aligned with the bow roller - a small block on a stop?. Our snubbers we live permanently attached, we have 'holes' in our stanchion bases which keeps it neat - maybe just lay between toe rail and stanchions??

Jonathan

 

[Uricanejack]

Experience, the good the bad and the ugly.

It’s how we learn, been there done that.

 

[NormanS]

Crinan,

I know how difficult it is to get something reliable to join 6mm to - anything - I went a bit overboard with spares, I'm happy they go to good homes. it only becomes generous if you take up the offer

I don't know your cruising grounds - but 40 + 30 sounds good - but wait for more informed comment from people who know your local cruising grounds. We have a mixed rode we hand deploy (our second rode). We keep it in a milk crate (coil the rope neatly inside the perimeter and then drop (not in one lump - but in an ordered way) the chain into the resultant space in the centre. We have a shackle on the rode. Its easy to carry around.

I suspect most times you will not deploy any rope, so you will benefit from a snubber. You need to attach the snubber to chain and I suggest a hook. If you look at most hooks (or all hooks in chandlers) the chain simply 'falls' into a simple slot. Many times you anchor the wind might drop off (that's why you chose to anchor there), and your chain might hang straight down to the seabed. With a little movement (tide or wind) your yacht will move dragging the chain hook over the seabed - and the chain might (I stress the might) slip out of the hook. I made a simple gate to keep the chain in place.

If you attach your snubber at the transom you will have a deck length of snubber by the time you get to the bow (so in your case maybe 25' - if you then deploy another 5'-10' outboard you will have a decent length. You need to devise a sensible and easy way of getting the snubber 'outboard' and preferably over the bow roller (use hosepipe here to reduce abrasion) - to get the snubber aligned with the bow roller - a small block on a stop?. Our snubbers we live permanently attached, we have 'holes' in our stanchion bases which keeps it neat - maybe just lay between toe rail and stanchions??

Jonathan

Oh, it's so easy just having (decent sized) chain, and saving myself all that fash and palavers. ?