How to store a large coil of anchor warp on deck or in a milk crate ?

[sarabande]

Mention in another thread about storing 50+m of anchor rope in a box or even on deck prior to deployment reminds me of a trick I was shown by a climbing friend and the details of which I have forgotten.

If one needs to have a ready-use warp to hand on the foredeck or in the cockpit, what ways are there of coiling it so that the boat's movement prior to anchoring does not tangle some individual coils. I have found the 'butterfly' but that seems to be for transport not for running out.

A reel would be best, but unless part of the fixed furniture on deck or in the cockpit, they tend to twist and fall over.

 

[rotrax]

The pro charter skipper we regularly fished with out of Lymington some years ago used a large Buoy and an Alderny Ring worked from the port side of his vessel.
Once he had motored at speed uptide causing the buoy to lift and then support the anchor - a four prong 12 kilo net grapnel set to trip - he would coil the warp and small amount of chain into a large - 800mm diameter - plastic basket.
I coiled it for him once or twice and remarked how twist free it was.
He told me he unshackled it from the chain from time to time and towed it behind the boat to untwist it.
Not on the boat yet, but my Danforth kedge and octoplait warp/chain are in an identical basket to his.
I shall let you know how it works............................

 

[salar]

Towing to untwist rope is an old sea-dog trick. When coiling rope I always do a wrist flick to lay the rope aligned to the twist. Often when anchoring for fishing I have to move, and instead of flaking the rope back into the locker I coil it with big loops and hang it on the rail over a rail-mounted lifebuoy hook. If I am motoring any distance I secure it with a bungee. Then when I re-anchor it flakes out very neatly. Maybe you could try this for first anchoring too?

 

[Neeves]

I might be the culprit who recently mentioned storing 40m of 3ply 12mm nylon in a milk crate. It simply needs patience.

Being 3 ply nylon it is stiff and not tactile like anchor plait. There is a spliced eye at both ends and one eye is shackled into the crate and one simply coils, or packs, the rope into the crate carefully. I used to use the same size and construction of rope rock climbing (pre kermantle days) . It was called Viking then and made by Bridon, Doncaster, I think No4, No3 was a 10mm rope, In coiling then each individual coil enjoyed a slight twist to stop the coils twisting (or hockling - is hockling an American word?)). I don't recall which way I twist and I simply perform the task 'naturally'. 40m of rope fills the crate with a small cylindrical hole down the centre in which the chain portion, 15m of 6mm chain) is then stored, with the shackle on the chain secured to the top edge of the crate. You could possibly pack 50m into a milk crate but it might be a tight fit for the last few metres and maybe not much room for the chain.

Bridon moved on into Dyneema production (we used some on our X-99 and Rothmans used it) but then I believe sold the business to English Braids.

The key, to me is spending the time to coil it properly and then the crate can be dropped into a dinghy with the spare rode neatly ready to deploy a second rode (or presumably a primary rode if you have somehow mislaid the primary). We might also deploy from the catamaran by motoring to the desired location dropping the anchor and then dropping back.

We keep the milk crate in a central bridge deck locker which is large enough to hold 2 stacks of 3 crates with further space for all the fenders and 2 x Fortress anchors (and a 200l diesel tank). The coils don't 'fall over' its comes out of the locker as it went in - neat a tidy.

The other milk crates hold mooring lines, some of the crayfishing gear, 30mm diameter buoy, retreival line, shorelines, spare lengths of chain to place round rocks (for shore lines). etc

Take care, stay safe.

Jonathan

 

[sarabande]

Not you JN, but thanks. I think it wasZoidberg several years ago.

There a trick that involves making the coil in the normal way, then turning them into a giant Figure of Eight. Somehow, thereafter, (the bit I can't recall) is the untwisting to let the rope run out without catching another coil and bring the whole lot out in a rush and jamming.

For those of you also trained in wire, it does not involve a Frenchman.

 

[Gary Fox]

I don't use rope warp, but have the same concern when dropping my gaff throat and peak halyards, without lumps of tangles rushing up to the blocks which is a real nuisance.
You should not coil them neatly, that guarantees a tangle; instead you should just lay loops down randomly on deck, in a pile, just like they want to fall on top of each other..it doesn't look neat but it never snarls up.

 

[Gary Fox]

Not you JN, but thanks. I think it wasZoidberg several years ago.

There a trick that involves making the coil in the normal way, then turning them into a giant Figure of Eight. Somehow, thereafter, (the bit I can't recall) is the untwisting to let the rope run out without catching another coil and bring the whole lot out in a rush and jamming.

For those of you also trained in wire, it does not involve a Frenchman.

If you want it neat, crisscrossing the turns as you flake it down means it's less likely to tangle as it pays out.

 

[TernVI]

I've seen plastic bottle crates with bits cut out, so the rope is kept around the edge.
I need to do something with a 70metre mains lead I have.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I’ve seen a crate with pegs in the corners you flake the line in figure of eights over. It seemed to work very well.

On the JSASTC Nicholson 55’s we used to keep the kedge in a bread crate type plastic thing. The end of the warp was left dangling out of one side or a corner and the anchorplait flaked down ‘as it fell. Chain and anchor on top. Deploying the main anchor would have been impossible in a hurry in an emergency so on entering and leaving harbour the kedge in its crate was always lifted out of the lazarette and the bitter end hanging out of the crate made fast to a handy cleat. Thus you had an anchor ready to deploy as a last resort in any emergency

 

[Gary Fox]

I’ve seen a crate with pegs in the corners you flake the line in figure of eights over. It seemed to work very well.

On the JSASTC Nicholson 55’s we used to keep the kedge in a bread crate type plastic thing. The end of the warp was left dangling out of one side or a corner and the anchorplait flaked down ‘as it fell. Chain and anchor on top. Deploying the main anchor would have been impossible in a hurry in an emergency so on entering and leaving harbour the kedge in its crate was always lifted out of the lazarette and the bitter end hanging out of the crate made fast to a handy cleat. Thus you had an anchor ready to deploy as a last resort in any emergency

That's exactly what I use, a quick and dirty way of stopping while you sort yourself out, without using the bower, chains, windlass etc.