Windlass Anchoring

agentaqua said:
Good post and also good advice, SH.
Reminded me to respond with another caution:
Be careful of where your try to anchor in certain spots on the coast that are or were past logging operations or past canneries or even sometimes past anchor buoys. Often large cable or chain left on the bottom or even sunken logs. If you get your anchor hooked into any of these - you're not getting it back.
Click to expand...
good to have an anchor-retrieval ring and buoy on board too in case your anchor gets stuck
ironwood-pacific-anchor-ring-stainless-anchor-retriever.jpg
 
So back to swivels for a sec, I know Sharphooks shared good points why not to use a swivel. I looked at rocna and they reccomend a high quality swivel or a shackle works too. With the way water moves around the Coast, I am still seeing the virtues in a swivel...perhaps a chain to swivel to shackle config is an option?
 
Last summer I spun up huge balls of kelp on my Rocna during a couple of storm fronts when I was hunkered down in a bay. As soon as I got back home I ordered a swivel, thinking that would take care of all the vegetables my anchor was raking up. First night on the hook with the new swivel....wouldn’t you know it..... another huge wind event.

I stayed up all night (on shore) worrying about the boat. Would the swivel explode? Would I lose my boat? The next day when I pulled the anchor, I noticed the collar of the swivel was distended and bruised (stainless!) (from side-load) . I took it off and haven’t used it since.

Reason: I have read that the way to side-step side load is to put a shackle between your anchor and the swivel. Unfortunately, the distance between my pulpit and the gypsy does not allow for both a shackle and a swivel (the swivel will sit on the gypsy which is a deal-breaker) .

If I’d had the extra real estate, I would NOT have attached the swivel to the shank of the anchor...I would have had a shackle inbetween the swivel and the shank

I posted my experience on another marine website and several guys commented that a good quality shackle between the shank of the anchor and the swivel is the way to go...no more side-load issues. The recommendation was the “U” or “D” shaped shackles that give the shank plenty of leeway to move back and forth without any binding risk—-

The French made “Wichard” “D” shackle was the tool they recommended to get that job done

4371DEC0-2FDC-4131-9910-C20AD6AE9CB1.jpeg
 
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ab1752 said:
So back to swivels for a sec, I know Sharphooks shared good points why not to use a swivel. I looked at rocna and they reccomend a high quality swivel or a shackle works too. With the way water moves around the Coast, I am still seeing the virtues in a swivel...perhaps a chain to swivel to shackle config is an option?
Click to expand...
the proponents of swivels say they are useful for 2 reasons - they (supposedly) reduce the twisting/kinking of the chain as you run it through the windlass gypsy;
the other reason is it allows a heavy anchor to "flop" around at the anchor roller and land in the correct orientation to slide in.
As others have pointed out though, if not made correctly, or side loaded to such a degree they can separate and leave you drifting - not worth it in my opinion.
If you are experiencing chain twist - just pull the anchor just off the bottom and wait - the chain will then untwist on it's own - think line twist when a swivel is sticky.
The anchor coming up in the wrong orientation (upside down for want of a better term) can't really be avoided, but unless you really have a monster anchor, a flip with a boat hook usually fixes it.
 
mayday said:
the proponents of swivels say they are useful for 2 reasons - they (supposedly) reduce the twisting/kinking of the chain as you run it through the windlass gypsy;
the other reason is it allows a heavy anchor to "flop" around at the anchor roller and land in the correct orientation to slide in.
As others have pointed out though, if not made correctly, or side loaded to such a degree they can separate and leave you drifting - not worth it in my opinion.
If you are experiencing chain twist - just pull the anchor just off the bottom and wait - the chain will then untwist on it's own - think line twist when a swivel is sticky.
The anchor coming up in the wrong orientation (upside down for want of a better term) can't really be avoided, but unless you really have a monster anchor, a flip with a boat hook usually fixes it.
Click to expand...
So my experience is the exact opposite. I was constantly getting chain twist when I used a swivel. The swivel I had was not cheap - close to $100. But I have have a large 33 pound anchor and the swivel is just metal on metal no bearings or anything. Plus the Rocna is a large spade so rotating under water is hard to do. Like sharp hooks I just did not have any confidence in the swivel. So I changed to 2 high strength shackles. I found with just one I could still make it bind but with 2 there is no way it will bind and side load. I have a bit of room between Anchor shank and windlass so 2 shackles is not a problem. You are not supposed to attached a swivel directly to the anchor but should have a short length of chain or at least shackle between the 2. Most smallest boats don’t have enough room to do that.
 
Sharphooks said:
Last summer I spun up huge balls of kelp on my Rocna during a couple of storm fronts when I was hunkered down in a bay. As soon as I got back home I ordered a swivel, thinking that would take care of all the vegetables my anchor was raking up. First night on the hook with the new swivel....wouldn’t you know it..... another huge wind event.

I stayed up all night (on shore) worrying about the boat. Would the swivel explode? Would I lose my boat? The next day when I pulled the anchor, I noticed the collar of the swivel was distended and bruised (stainless!) (from side-load) . I took it off and haven’t used it since.

Reason: I have read that the way to side-step side load is to put a shackle between your anchor and the swivel. Unfortunately, the distance between my pulpit and the gypsy does not allow for both a shackle and a swivel (the swivel will sit on the gypsy which is a deal-breaker) .

If I’d had the extra real estate, I would NOT have attached the swivel to the shank of the anchor...I would have had a shackle inbetween the swivel and the shank

I posted my experience on another marine website and several guys commented that a good quality shackle between the shank of the anchor and the swivel is the way to go...no more side-load issues. The recommendation was the “U” or “D” shaped shackles that give the shank plenty of leeway to move back and forth without any binding risk—-

The French made “Wichard” “D” shackle was the tool they recommended to get that job done

View attachment 52552
Click to expand...

Curious what size of shackle did you go with, 1/4"?
 
ab1752 said:
My wife's Mother's Day present has arrived...any way, the point on the pick is pretty tight to the gelcoat so there goes her anniversary present on a new roller like this one: https://ca.binnacle.com/Docking-and...r-for-Rocna-10-Kg-and-15-Kg/product_info.html

Unless any one has a better idea, seems like I will need to patch these holes and drill some new ones. Blah...

View attachment 52689 View attachment 52691
Click to expand...
Is very close to your bow but can it actually come in contact? Your bow drops back quite quickly so maybe ok?

your really going to like this anchor. Back down slowly first few times cause it will really grab.
 
Sir Reel said:
Is very close to your bow but can it actually come in contact? Your bow drops back quite quickly so maybe ok?

your really going to like this anchor. Back down slowly first few times cause it will really grab.
Click to expand...

Awesome...I'm going to swap the anchor roller out for that one that's better suited. It's super tight and could potentially contact the hull so best to sort it out. I just have to drill one more hole in the new rollers plate and I dont have to plug any in the boat, just drill 2 more and foot go with 4 anchor point .
 
ab1752 said:
My wife's Mother's Day present has arrived...any way, the point on the pick is pretty tight to the gelcoat so there goes her anniversary present on a new roller like this one: https://ca.binnacle.com/Docking-and...r-for-Rocna-10-Kg-and-15-Kg/product_info.html

Unless any one has a better idea, seems like I will need to patch these holes and drill some new ones. Blah...

View attachment 52689 View attachment 52691
Click to expand...


That sits not to bad, your concern is it’s to close and may hit the gel coat, looks pretty good if the rocna is tight like that. Fits way better than mine, I’m gonna have to make some mods. I’ll take some phots tomorrow, I’m gonna need everyone’s feedback, I definitely can’t splurge on the rocna specific roller
 
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