Markhammond
Well-Known Member
Well it had to happen... A summer of fun cruising with no real incidents but then I decide to use the anchor.
The first time the chain gypsy on the windlass had worked itself loose so wasn't tight enough to pull the chain in. After 45 minutes of blood, sweat and tears I finally worked out what was wrong, improvised using some tools and managed to tighten it enough to get the damn thing in. Being the optomist I viewed this as a learning experience and I thought to myself at least I had used the anchor and windlass and now knew more about how it operated. So what could go wrong in the future?
Well.... along comes a cruise with my father. I'm keen to impress him as well as have a good bit of father son bonding. We blasted up to the Burlington Gap and all was good. It was relatively calm, the boat handled beautifully and we were both having a whale of a time. Then we decided to stop for a brew before we headed back as the weather was starting to look pretty dicey in the distance. Down goes the anchor, out comes the tea.
All good so far, but then we try to leave.
Once again the chain slipped, but this time it created a knot in the chain which snagged in the gypsy. Keeping calm I thought to myself "you've been here before - so you can sort this out" I decide to unbolt the gypsy to untangle the snag, feed through some chain, and then simply reattach the gypsy and we can be on our way.
All good so far (and no blood).
But as we try and get enough slack on the chain to feed it through the gypsy again the weather starts to turn rough.
So I'm knee deep in the chain locker, my dad's at the helm. I shout over "Can you reverse the boat a bit to create some slack?". "No problem" comes his response. Back we go so I shout "Cheers, can you throw it into neutral now?" "All done" come's his reply. At least thats what I thought had happened, but he'd actually put into forward albeit slowly. So I'm head down in the anchor locker trying to re-feed the chain over the gypsy and through the windlass when I feel the strain on the chain increase. "Are you sure its in neutral?" I shout. "Yep" comes the reply. This continues for a couple of minutes and I struggle to hold onto the slack on the chain.
Then there's a bang - the chain snags again but this time snaps off the feeder loop on the windlass. I just had time to release the chain and then it is flying in between my legs before playing itself out and jerking the boat to one side. I shout to my dad "are you sure its in neutral?". And again "yep' is the reply.
The chain is still straining so I stop trying to pull it in to get some slack and decide to go and have a look for myself when - snap - the nylon cord/strap securing the chain to the hull snaps. At this point any future plans of increasing my family flash before my eyes as the nylon cord and the remaining chain whip around the anchor locker, fly between my legs before heading along with the anchor to the bottom of the channel!
So one minute I appear to be an able seaman, the next a complete novice who nearly became a eunuch who now needs to try replace what I've lost - (anchor, chain and my dignity!).
So any help would be welcome. I'm looking for a Lewmar delta anchor (I think 10kg as my boat is just under 30 foot), some chain probably 30-40 meters (does that sound enough?), and replacement nylon cord/strap to secure this all back to the hull of my boat (which I've looked for on the web but I can't seem to find anything like it). Is there anything else I need, are there particular bolts I need to fasten the anchor to the chain et.
Obviously, replacing my dignity is beyond anyone's help.....
The first time the chain gypsy on the windlass had worked itself loose so wasn't tight enough to pull the chain in. After 45 minutes of blood, sweat and tears I finally worked out what was wrong, improvised using some tools and managed to tighten it enough to get the damn thing in. Being the optomist I viewed this as a learning experience and I thought to myself at least I had used the anchor and windlass and now knew more about how it operated. So what could go wrong in the future?
Well.... along comes a cruise with my father. I'm keen to impress him as well as have a good bit of father son bonding. We blasted up to the Burlington Gap and all was good. It was relatively calm, the boat handled beautifully and we were both having a whale of a time. Then we decided to stop for a brew before we headed back as the weather was starting to look pretty dicey in the distance. Down goes the anchor, out comes the tea.
All good so far, but then we try to leave.
Once again the chain slipped, but this time it created a knot in the chain which snagged in the gypsy. Keeping calm I thought to myself "you've been here before - so you can sort this out" I decide to unbolt the gypsy to untangle the snag, feed through some chain, and then simply reattach the gypsy and we can be on our way.
All good so far (and no blood).
But as we try and get enough slack on the chain to feed it through the gypsy again the weather starts to turn rough.
So I'm knee deep in the chain locker, my dad's at the helm. I shout over "Can you reverse the boat a bit to create some slack?". "No problem" comes his response. Back we go so I shout "Cheers, can you throw it into neutral now?" "All done" come's his reply. At least thats what I thought had happened, but he'd actually put into forward albeit slowly. So I'm head down in the anchor locker trying to re-feed the chain over the gypsy and through the windlass when I feel the strain on the chain increase. "Are you sure its in neutral?" I shout. "Yep" comes the reply. This continues for a couple of minutes and I struggle to hold onto the slack on the chain.
Then there's a bang - the chain snags again but this time snaps off the feeder loop on the windlass. I just had time to release the chain and then it is flying in between my legs before playing itself out and jerking the boat to one side. I shout to my dad "are you sure its in neutral?". And again "yep' is the reply.
The chain is still straining so I stop trying to pull it in to get some slack and decide to go and have a look for myself when - snap - the nylon cord/strap securing the chain to the hull snaps. At this point any future plans of increasing my family flash before my eyes as the nylon cord and the remaining chain whip around the anchor locker, fly between my legs before heading along with the anchor to the bottom of the channel!
So one minute I appear to be an able seaman, the next a complete novice who nearly became a eunuch who now needs to try replace what I've lost - (anchor, chain and my dignity!).
So any help would be welcome. I'm looking for a Lewmar delta anchor (I think 10kg as my boat is just under 30 foot), some chain probably 30-40 meters (does that sound enough?), and replacement nylon cord/strap to secure this all back to the hull of my boat (which I've looked for on the web but I can't seem to find anything like it). Is there anything else I need, are there particular bolts I need to fasten the anchor to the chain et.
Obviously, replacing my dignity is beyond anyone's help.....
