What The Hockle Is Going On?

[sww914]

We have a 30,000lb full keel cruiser with a 60# CQR, 50' of 3/8" chain and 250' of 7/8 three strand rode as our primary.There isn't really any point in telling me that I should have all chain because I can't afford it anyway. Same with Rocna & Manson, can't do it.
A few weeks ago we were anchored in Bahia De Tortugas for 6 days and our rode developed a hockle about 20' from the chain. Not much wind there. We swapped the rode end-for-end, spliced to the chain anew, and removed the swivel as recommended by Chapman's Guide To Everything.
We anchored in Mag Bay for 8 days, it blew pretty good a couple days, no problem. We anchored in Cabo for 2, no problem. We anchored in La Cruz De Huanacaxtle for 14 days, Pretty windy a couple of the nights, no problem and then we anchored in Punta De Mita for 6 days and developed another hockle about 5 feet from the chain. It only ever blew about 10 in Punta De Mita so there wasn't ever much stress on the rode.
I don't understand what can be causing this. Do you?

[Kettlewell]

Probably the rope is wound up a bit. Might be worth it to disconnect from the anchor chain and tow it when under sail in deep water, but watch out it doesn't get away from you--it will be a lot of drag. Or, I periodically drag it out on the ground someplace where it is clean--a nice lawn is good, and gradually untwist it until it is really loose.

[S/V Alchemy]

No, I don't, unless the nylon portion of the rode was laid up weirdly in the first place, or that it's been severely stressed at some point and some fibres have elongated through stress or heat and others have not.

If you haven't been doing crazy 8s around the anchor due to tide and wind reversals, I'm not sure why this would happen.

I'm also not sure why you had to redo the chain-nylon splice. Could you not just rotate the nylon rode until you got the kinks out, like coiling down a garden hose?

[Paperbird]

Excerpt from a response by Don Casey to the same question in Sail Magazine (http://www.sailmagazine.com/boatwork...st-and-shout):

You can create a hockle when you rotate a twisted rope in the opposite direction of its lay, but the most common cause of a hockle in an anchor rode is when it is used with an anchor windlass. When line is hauled around the windlass in a counterclockwise motion, the windlass will tend to unlay the rope even as the individual strands in it are being twisted more tightly. Very often the end result is a kink, or hockle, in the rode - which is why rope manufacturers recommend that whenever you have new rope, you make clockwise turns around the windlass drum. Unfortunately, while doing so will tighten the lay, it will loosen the strands, which makes the rope stiff and, once again, subject to kinking. For this reason, if the windlass will accept it, the ideal solution is to alternate between clockwise and counter clockwise rotations when hauling.

There's more at article.

[delmarrey]

Just another reason to go to a multiplat rode. I hate 3 strand. It's always twisting. Almost cost me my mast once due to it kinking up the chain in the locker.

[gjordan]

I gave up on 3 strand for my primary and went to multiplat (8 strand). It took a while to learn to splice it to the chain, but it worked very well. I prefer all chain, but like you I could not afford to change the windlass (capstan) and buy 40 fathomes of 3/8 chain. I did continue to use 3 strand for my secondary and my stern anchor. I had an electric capstan, and could wind the 7/8 multiplat over it and with a little practice learned how to bring in the 60 foot of chain using the capstan. It beat hauling it by hand._____Grant.

[Benz]

I agree with Don Casey's assessment--if you take a thinner 3-strand line and twist it against the lay it will induce a hockle illustrative of what's happening to your rode. If/when you do replace the rode, the 8-plait is far and away better than three strand. If economy forces 3-strand, try to stick with New England or Samson ropes--they'll have less issues than other brands. In my experience, once a 3-strand line begins to hockle its useful life is almost over, since getting all the tweaks out is nigh impossible.

[gjordan]

delmarrey, your photo shows the multiplat only spliced to one link of the chain. The directions I got with the multiplat was to splice it down thru about 8 links. I really doubt that any more than the 3rd link gave any advantage but I did what the directions said. What brand of rope were you using. I have no memory of the brand that I used. I am curious. _____Grant.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by gjordan

delmarrey, your photo shows the multiplat only spliced to one link of the chain. The directions I got with the multiplat was to splice it down thru about 8 links. I really doubt that any more than the 3rd link gave any advantage but I did what the directions said. What brand of rope were you using. I have no memory of the brand that I used. I am curious. _____Grant.

Mine, as in the picture, came pre-spliced on the chain. Its been on for about 25 anchorages and it's doing fine. I check it each time it comes up. Its back spliced into itself about 10".
My previous smaller rode was spliced down 4 links and I noticed fraying around the chain after a season of gunkholeing. So I'll stick with this single link. it's doing fine.



It came with 20' of chain but I re-spliced it to 60'. >>> http://anchorlift.com/chains_and_ropes.html

Anchorlift BA912 - DB1/2-150 - YouTube

[sww914]

Just to answer some questions- We weren't spinning around & around, except for Cabo where there wasn't a problem. We *might* have done 2 or 3 circles at the most at the last anchorage. I haven't used the windlass for the rode, only the chain. I just haul it up by hand until I get to the chain because our horizontal windlass has the rope drum opposite the anchor roller and the hawse pipe so it's just easier to pull the rode up manually since it doesn't lie well between the drum and the other stuff anyway.
I don't know what brand of rope this is. I traded a pair of house speakers for it at the boatyard where we bought and refitted our boat. It looked nearly new but it could have been twisted and I wouldn't know. I guess used line is kind of like a used dog, you don't really know what they've been through.

[Benz]

There are more lousy brands of line than good ones. The good ones, like Samson and New England and Yale, might look the same as the other brands when new, but unlike them will continue to look good (and work well) long after the economy brands are all kinked up and chafed and stiff. After using some hardware store 3-strand for docklines many years ago, I refuse to use anything but the good stuff, and won't buy used line, especially for ground tackle. I'm sorry you got some bad line; I hope it doesn't become completely unmanageable before you can replace it.

[Bash]

There's some bad news here, but you need to hear it. Any three-strand line that hockles has been overstressed and should be replaced. Towing the line astern to unwind it isn't going to help. The problem with cheap line is that it handles strain unevenly, and this is what has probably caused your hockles.

Lesson learned. Cheap gear is sometimes more expensive than the good stuff. This is especially true with tackle.

[sww914]

Good news. A Christmas gift from family arrived today in the form of a check. We're off to do some shopping for a new rode tomorrow. 8 plait looks like the stuff to get. I guess Ill be learning anew splice soon. Should I use a swivel with 8 plait? Seems like I should.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by sww914

Good news. A Christmas gift from family arrived today in the form of a check. We're off to do some shopping for a new rode tomorrow. 8 plait looks like the stuff to get. I guess Ill be learning anew splice soon. Should I use a swivel with 8 plait? Seems like I should.

Swivels never worked for me! And they'd be the first to break.

8 plait doesn't twist under stress. For splicing 8 plait go here >>>> http://www.yalecordage.com/pdf/brait...ain_splice.pdf

For a multiplait go here >>> Splicing Instructions
Personally, I prefer the multiplait. It's a tighter weave w/less chance of snags.

I'd also recommend adding a whipping around its throat, as in the picture in my last post.

[mikereed100]

I had the same problem for decades with New England Ropes 3 strand. Whether I had a swivel or not (gave up on them about 25 years ago) the line would hockle. I always used line that was one size up from what was recommended for my boat. After one blow where a 3' section of my 5/8" three strand on my Catalina 30 hockled I switched to 8 strand octoplait. What a pleasure that stuff is! The "hand" is much better and makes a big difference as I pull the anchor by hand. Stows much better and makes a nice splice on the chain.