Claud Worth Chain Pawls

[Malabar]

Hiscock recommends a chain mounted over the stemhead roller: "the equal of a windlass in a vessel of [30ft loa] (Around the World in Wanderer III), Assume a "Claud Worth pawl" is similar. Does anybody still make these?

 

[Tranona]

Chain Stoppers mounted behind the roller. Readily available for 5/16 and 3/8 chain from chandlers.

 

[Seajet]

A chain stopper could take the form of a hawse lid shaped to take a chain link and prevent it going further, or a hook onto the chain held by a separate tackle onto a cleat or sampson post, which is a lot more reliable and takes the strain; note the last bit, it will have to be strong !

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Chain Stoppers mounted behind the roller. Readily available for 5/16 and 3/8 chain from chandlers.

Would've preferred the Claude Worth pattern really but you'd have to have one made. Since you simply can't pull the anchor shank through these "chain stoppers" they have to go quite far aft of the roller. In my case I had to mount it on the sampson post, doesn't look great. Also the angle of pull would've been better IMO had I been able to mount it at the bow roller position.

 

[prv]

A chain stopper could take the form of a hawse lid shaped to take a chain link and prevent it going further, or a hook onto the chain held by a separate tackle onto a cleat or sampson post

Since the OP describes it as an alternative to a windlass, it will need to be the ratchet type rather than just for holding chain once the anchor is down. When the gear is a bit heavy for manual handling but not enough to make a windlass absolutely mandatory, a rachet pawl is a halfway house. You still need to supply all the lifting effort with your arms and back (or, with proper technique, just your thighs...) but the overall effort is a lot less when you don't need to maintain the strain between pulls.

(Personally I'd consider a pawl used this way to be an old-fashioned solution, with anyone in this position better off trawling jumbles/eBay/this forum for a second-hand manual windlass.)

Pete

 

[Poignard]

..., or a hook onto the chain held by a separate tackle onto a cleat or sampson post, which is a lot more reliable and takes the strain; note the last bit, it will have to be strong !

That's what I have used for years but it does have the slight disadvantage that you have to take one hand off the chain to engage/disengage the hook.

Somewhere in the attic I have one of these chain pawls ( http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/Anch.../Stainless-Steel-Chain-Stopper.htm?P1111-S37- ) which I intended to fit but it would have to be mounted on a post so that the chain runs in a straight line from the stem roller to my hands. I have never thought of a way of achieving this that wouldn't look horrible.

One consolation is that it has almost doubled in value since I bought it. Which is more than can be said for my Rio Tinto shares

 

[Tranona]

Somewhere in the attic I have one of these chain pawls ( http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/Anch.../Stainless-Steel-Chain-Stopper.htm?P1111-S37- ) which I intended to fit but it would have to be mounted on a post so that the chain runs in a straight line from the stem roller to my hands. I have never thought of a way of achieving this that wouldn't look horrible.

One consolation is that it has almost doubled in value since I bought it. Which is more than can be said for my Rio Tinto shares

That is the one I suggested earlier - £5 cheaper in Force 4!

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Taken from Francis B. Cooke's Singlehanded Cruising

 

[prv]

Taken from Francis B. Cooke's Singlehanded Cruising

Thanks, that's interesting.

Looking at the apparent age of the book, though, I'm betting that everyone at the time was using fisherman anchors. So they wouldn't have hauled the anchor stock through the bow-roller, but lifted it aboard by hand once it cleared the water, to fold and lash it down on deck. I'm not at all sure that that pawl would work with the modern habit of hauling the anchor over the bow roller.

Pete

 

[DownWest]

Mate with 11 ton ketch is a bit traditional. So he uses a lever with a hook combined with a pawl to heave up his anchor(s). Bit slow, but works. He was in my workshop a while back making them. CQR types out of 1/2 inch boiler plate and 50mm bar. 45kg each. But does have a lunch kedge at 20 odd kg.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Thanks, that's interesting.

Looking at the apparent age of the book, though, I'm betting that everyone at the time was using fisherman anchors. So they wouldn't have hauled the anchor stock through the bow-roller, but lifted it aboard by hand once it cleared the water, to fold and lash it down on deck. I'm not at all sure that that pawl would work with the modern habit of hauling the anchor over the bow roller.

Pete

Agree with what you're saying but no problem adapting the design to modern anchors:

In this case the pawl is removed after heaving. The anchor is then secured by replacing the bolt without pawl (requires drilling the shank).