jneale
Well-Known Member
Chain does'nt break. - Probable cause was failure of the anchor swivel. Check the M8 recessed bolts, - mine went rusty and suspected they were chrome plated iron - I think there was an earlier post of this some time ago.
yacht on rocks - anchor chain
- Thread starter jneale
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SamanthaTabs
Well-Known Member
Weakest link undoubtedly is the connector? That said of course chain can break, too much strain or corrosion.
TQA
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Oh yes it does. Seen two in the last two years. Both about 10mm one was worn and rusty the other still had some galvanizing on it.
On the subject of shackles and swivels failing, a substantial percentage of moorings laid in the Southern Windwards have failed. Some in less than a year. If you are forced to use one back down on it hard and snorkel it if you can.
hartcjhart
Well-Known Member
+1 a chain is a series of 'links' each link has a join so a weak spot,
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily. The testing I did looked at 8 mm chain, 10 mm shackles and connectors/swivels for 8 mm, although some also covered 10 mm. Some connectors were weaker than the chain but several galvanised shackles were also. The best connectors are a lot stronger than the chain.
Chain should be inspected from time to time. Link to link contacts wear: 10% loss of area is the limit.
All the detail on my website under 'anchoring'.
prv
Well-Known Member
Indeed - I have a six-tonne shackle on a four-tonne chain.
Nevertheless, the OP may well be right that the shackle was at fault in this case, as I think a lot of anchors are held on with random shackles that "look about the right size", or cheapo chandlery swivels, with no real consideration given to their strength.
But to simply claim outright that "chain doesn't break" is absurd.
Pete
grafozz
Well-Known Member
the chain was looked at very carefully and it is only 2 years old , and the galvanising is good ,
the other end is still on the bottom / anchor and will be recovered soon .
we think the chain had become wrapped around large flat rocks on the seabed in 3-4 metres and a witness saw the boat with the chain fairly vertical when a swell came in and watched as it snatched violently .
this may have caused the chain to break , the rating for non test chain is 2-3 tons , this on a 6/7 ton boat could cause a large enough shock to snap a link .
the other end is still on the bottom / anchor and will be recovered soon .
we think the chain had become wrapped around large flat rocks on the seabed in 3-4 metres and a witness saw the boat with the chain fairly vertical when a swell came in and watched as it snatched violently .
this may have caused the chain to break , the rating for non test chain is 2-3 tons , this on a 6/7 ton boat could cause a large enough shock to snap a link .