Markings on anchor chain.

GHA said:
So much easier just to get a bucket and a brush like every other cruiser... ;)
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That's where I started 15 years or so ago at Osborne Bay having previously mainly anchored on sand or shingle. The experience taught me to install a pressure wash pump.
 
coopec said:
I don't follow what you mean. How can you use a bucket and brush? To do what?

Do you mean the deck? Yes, I suppose the bird shit would take a bit of moving. And a boat deck is not such a big area.
When you read advice like this you wonder how a 12v pump spraying water at 70 psi could be of any use.
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Clean the deck round the windlass and the anchor chain. I do have a pressure pump but it hardy ever gets used , quicker and easier ways there and then. This is from the real world.
 
Don't know if its been mentioned already (I only got to page 2) but I use the snooker ball colour system: red for 10m, yellow for 20, green for 30 etc. Double cable ties at the 5m intervals. Doubtless I picked it up from PBO sometime ago. Not much use if you're not of the Pot Black generation though.

I also painted 1m of my chain white just above the anchor shackle and 5m above it. Helps locate it in clear water and forewarns me when the anchor is approaching the bow roller.
 
vyv_cox said:
We use red for 10 metres, yellow for five. Red tie-wraps according to the length, i.e. 40 metres = 4 ties.
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We use a similar system (cable ties), with yellow for 5m, blue for 10m; so, e.g. 3 blues and a yellow is 35m. It's what my cave club uses for rope lengths (with the addition of red = 40m; insulating tape wound on tightly and covered in shrink-wrap) ; experience has shown that's very simple and comprehensible even by someone dog-tired, working in the dark, under a waterfall.... and after 40-odd years' use, I'm unlikely to forget it!
 
vyv_cox said:
One caution on the bitter end attachment. If you are ever unfortunate enough to run the whole lot out accidentally you will not be able to recover it easily if the rope extends out past the windlass. So keep it short, inside the locker.
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We have the bitter end extending to deck level but not to the windlass, that way, if we really had no choice, we could cut the rope whilst remaining on deck
 
GHA said:
So much easier just to get a bucket and a brush like every other cruiser... ;)
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As Vyv pointed out he doesn't need any device to clean mud off an anchor chain as he doesn't anchor in mud and I don't think I will either.

But if I was going to anchor in mud
  • I have 240V available.
  • To fit a Karcher type High Pressure Cleaner would be very simple
  • I can buy a Karcher type High Pressure Cleaner for $41.00 Pressure 1800 psi
  • A 12V Wash Down pump for $142 Pressure 70 psi
Anyhow it would be right down the list of my priorities.

Thanks for your thoughts anyway




A 12V 20L/MIN 70PSI Washdown Pump
 
vyv_cox said:
One caution on the bitter end attachment. If you are ever unfortunate enough to run the whole lot out accidentally you will not be able to recover it easily if the rope extends out past the windlass. So keep it short, inside the locker.
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This will be a difference in opinion.

If the bitter end is deep in an anchor locker, cutting it loose could be slow and dangerous. On deck is safer.

There is no reason to run the whole lot out, if it was marked. If it ran out anyway, out of control, I suspect the windlass failed and you arn't getting it back that way in any case. Or you will have to wait until you can motor up a little slack.
 
thinwater said:
This will be a difference in opinion.

If the bitter end is deep in an anchor locker, cutting it loose could be slow and dangerous. On deck is safer.

There is no reason to run the whole lot out, if it was marked. If it ran out anyway, out of control, I suspect the windlass failed and you arn't getting it back that way in any case. Or you will have to wait until you can motor up a little slack.
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Windlass failure?

Clutch vibrating loose in rough seas would be a common cause - you don't need a windlass failure. And its why you should always have your anchor secured with some means or other. We use a short strop and a chain hook, onto the chain adjacent to the anchor shackle.

I do recall a member here recounting how exactly this had happened, the clutch slipped, and he discharged all his chain and Spade anchor just off The Needles - and he had not secured the bitter end. From memory he was on his way to the Med or Spain/Portugal. At least when he crossed Biscay he had managed his weight in the bow :).

If the locker is deep it is easy to arrange that the last link of the chain is just below the windlass itself and within reach from the deck. You simply need to arrange that the rope strop is the right length (and that you have a decent knife - at hand).

Jonathan
 
coopec said:
As Vyv pointed out he doesn't need any device to clean mud off an anchor chain as he doesn't anchor in mud and I don't think I will either.

But if I was going to anchor in mud
  • I have 240V available.
  • To fit a Karcher type High Pressure Cleaner would be very simple
  • I can buy a Karcher type High Pressure Cleaner for $41.00 Pressure 1800 psi
  • A 12V Wash Down pump for $142 Pressure 70 psi
Anyhow it would be right down the list of my priorities.

Thanks for your thoughts anyway




A 12V 20L/MIN 70PSI Washdown Pump
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ISTR you're putting together a long distance cruising boat?
If so there's a strong argument for keeping the boat as simple as possible. Otherwise give it a year or 2 and some long passages much of the time will be spent just fixing the toys. That's just the way it goes. :whistle:
 
thinwater said:
This will be a difference in opinion.

If the bitter end is deep in an anchor locker, cutting it loose could be slow and dangerous. On deck is safer.

There is no reason to run the whole lot out, if it was marked. If it ran out anyway, out of control, I suspect the windlass failed and you arn't getting it back that way in any case. Or you will have to wait until you can motor up a little slack.
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I did not say it was deep in the locker. My windlass is mounted on the lid to the anchor locker, so easily accessible just by opening the locker lid, and there it is! Windlass installation

Berthing stern-to in Greece it is very common indeed to run all of the chain out. I have done it a couple of times and I have seen many others do it. Estimating your distance from the wall can be quite difficult, especially if your soon-to-be neighbours are much bigger than you, which in our case is almost always.

I have also (once!) been in the situation where the anchor fell off the bow, clutch free on the windlass, in 100 metres of water. At the time my bitter end was longer and it took an hour or more of struggling with winches and rolling hitches to recover.
 
GHA said:
ISTR you're putting together a long distance cruising boat?
If so there's a strong argument for keeping the boat as simple as possible. Otherwise give it a year or 2 and some long passages much of the time will be spent just fixing the toys. That's just the way it goes. :whistle:
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Yep! That's why I'm not bothering with anything that could be considered non essential.(y)
 
thinwater said:
This will be a difference in opinion.

If the bitter end is deep in an anchor locker, cutting it loose could be slow and dangerous. On deck is safer.

There is no reason to run the whole lot out, if it was marked. If it ran out anyway, out of control, I suspect the windlass failed and you arn't getting it back that way in any case. Or you will have to wait until you can motor up a little slack.
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There are pros and cons in both arrangements.

Mine is like thinwater as I can only access my anchor locker from inside the for cabin.

In Vyv's case where the anchor locker can be accessed from on the for deck ic a different situation.

I also have an anchor hook and a snubber line so if my chain should run out uncommanded I would hook my chain hook on the chain over the bow and haul in the chain with the capstan until the chain can he connected to the gypsy.
 
GHA said:
Nearly everything you post about is non essential on a cruising boat.... ;)
And much will very likely break along the way...
Gold dust in here >
Amazon.com: Buy, Outfit, and Sail eBook: Goodlander, Cap'n Fatty: Kindle Store

Thread drift over :)
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Thanks for telling me what is essential on my yacht. (You must be aware of my cruising plans!??)
What you consider essential and what I consider essential are undoubtedly two different things. (Some people don't consider fridge/freezers or water-makers essential for example).
 
coopec said:
Thanks for telling me what is essential on my yacht.
Wat you consider essential and what I consider essential are undoubtedly two different things. (Some people don't consider fridge/freezers or water-makers essential for example).
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It very much depends on how independent you wish to be and how isolated your area cruising will

I fitted a washing machine on board to please SWMBO. Do you consider pleasing SWMBO essencial.
 
coopec said:
Thanks for telling me what is essential on my yacht. (You must be aware of my cruising plans!??)
What you consider essential and what I consider essential are undoubtedly two different things. (Some people don't consider fridge/freezers or water-makers essential for example).
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Not my opinion, it's what happens on a long term/distance cruising boat. They tend to get simpler as time goes by and things continue to break, people get fed up fixing them and spending weeks hunting for parts.
Come back and agree in a few years. ;)
 
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