Pontoon Anchor Chains

[rosehugh22]

We have an ex-fishfarm pontoon which is in need of new chain. The pontoon is made of
wooden boards on sealed polystyrene blocks and it is t-shaped ; the longer cross piece is 9 metres long and the other dimention is 2.3 metres.
It has been looked at by professionals who said we need 4 new risers each 12 metres and 2 bridles each 5 metres together with 12 new shackles The ground chain is fine..
We intend to do this ourselves if possible.
Could anyone tell us what the function of the bridles is and point us to a source of further information?
All advice gratefully welcomed !

 

[vyv_cox]

Speak to Chris Wiggins at Bradney Chain. They are familiar with all this kind of stuff.

 

[Dipper]

I often help out servicing our club swinging moorings. With those, the risers are supported by large buoys and the bridles then go from the buoys to the boats. These can be thinner than the risers so as to fit the cleats on the boats. I'm not sure why you need separate bridles unless it allows you to leave the risers on for longer and renew the smaller bridles more frequently.

One thing we insist on with our moorings is not to use shackles between the ground chains and the risers. All our risers are supplied with a large ring at the end and the risers are passed through the last link of the ground chains then reeved back on themselves through the end ring. The result is that there is no need for a shackle on the seabed and the riser chain can't come off. Your chain supplier will be able to weld a ring on for you before the chain is galvanised.

 

[rosehugh22]

vyv and dipper -- thankyou for helpful tips
hugh