Cheapskate solution

[Chrisc]

I have 30m of 10mm chain on my anchor and then rope. The problem is that I have a horizontal windlass and its a pain in the bum trying to poke rope down the hawse pipe. Mostly, I anchor in 5m or less of water so I lie to all chain and the rope problem doesn't arise, but what I really need is 50m of chain. The trouble is that my 30m of chain is in good condition - too good to replace and I don't trust those chain joiners, c-clips etc, very much. I was thinking to get a link of 10mm stainless steel chain, cut it and bend it open a little, put on the two halves of galv chain to make up the 50m length and weld it up again. I know' dissimilar metals and all that but then I have a s/s swivel between the anchor and chain and it is fine after some years of use. I am confident enough in my welding to guarantee no porosity or slag inclusions etc in the weld. Would this be O.K, do you think?

Chris

[Chuck Baier]

we used C-Links to join our two 100' lengths of chain for 16 years and cruised tens of thousands of miles. The boat sat through 14 named storms without failure or damage. Or you can do it your way and trust your vessel to a weld. SS chain is a bad idea.

[Chrisc]

Thanks for your reply - I have no problem with c-joiners in principle. When I was fishing in the southern Atlantic we used them to join the chains that were attached to the trawl doors and they are under enormous strain.
I have checked out all our local suppliers in NZ and the best they can offer is a no-name joiner sourced from China, and that makes me a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps West Marine can help with a quality product.

[Chuck Baier]

Chris, They are available all over the web. But do get a good quality and Worst Marine might not be the best place to find quality.

[Jmolan]

Fishing in the Bearing Sea we never use shackels. Instead we use what we call hammerlocks. I do not know why yachts do not use them. They are 3 times stronger. In other words, a hammerlock of the size you can get in a 3/8's chain is 3 times stronger than the shackel of the same size. Check the fishing supply stores.

http://www.hampidjan.is/media/PDF/i3.pdf

[Chuck Baier]

looks interesting but have to wonder how a pleasure boat windlass would handle this. That has to be a consideration.

[Chrisc]

Yep, hammerlocks are great. I have seen them used in the stevedoring industry for years. They are constructed of hercalloy which can't be galvanised although the material does have a certain amount of corrosion resistance in its own right. Problems for me are the chain gypsy and the hawsepipe which I don't think it will fit down.

[raw1]

Chris, I reckon it would work. I had exactly the same problem as did a mate. He got a gal link the same size as his chain, cut a V (as in a sister clip) in it and in the two end links of the chain he was joining and had them welded up. (He has done several passages Aus to South West Pacific and got back each time.) I wanted to do the same but the coded welder refused to do the welding. So I got a stainless Chain Rivet Split Link from Whitworths in Aus <www.whitworths.com.au>. It is a split link that is hammered closed when you put the two chain end links in. Then I had the coded welder put a ss spot weld on each of the two studs. That was about 2 years ago and it has worked since. So far, so good. Which reminds me, I must have a look at it. I got some spare links with the idea of replacing the link every year or so. Might be time.
Ron.