interesting info on setting a para anchor

[northerncat]

Ark Crown anchor systems

interesting use of chain i thought, something id never considered seems reasonable but im no engineer
sean

[GordMay]

Noah's 'Ark' Anchors also has several extensive tutorials (which I have not had time to study, and cannot recommend or not):

Beaufort scale & wind pressure: Beaufort scale - Ark Anchors

Noah's notes on safe anchoring: Ark Crown anchor systems

[Lodesman]

It certainly seems like it would work. I'd like to hear how it actually performs, by someone who has tried it. I wonder, if in the conditions one is likely to use a para, would not the anchor-chain be bar-taut as well?

Kevin

[Octopus]

I came across Noah 'easy rider' technique a few weeks ago when researching parachute anchors, except I found it on a different site (follow this link Ark Crown anchor systems). If you read any of the author's other 107 'Real Truth : Articles' (see To main Index) you may attach less credibility to his suggestion. The author, Terence Malaher, is clearly off his trolley; he lists his occupation as 'spiritual healer' and Interests as 'truth' and has bizarre opinions about a whole host of subjects. That doesn't mean the half chain rode technique is necessarily bad, but that it needs to be validated by others.

I contacted Alby McCracken of Para-Anchors, Australia to check out the idea and he was pretty scathing about the idea and the author.

According to his biog, Terence Malaher has had some experience fishing in a small fishing boat off East Africa, so perhaps he developed the technique then.

The idea sounds plausible and I'd like to give it a try, but in a life or death situation I'll be sticking to the all nylon rode technique recommended byAlby McCracken, until I have proof that the half chain rode technique works.

Chris

[GordMay]

Chris
Thanks for looking further.
Always check your sources.

[maxingout]

I looked at the drawings that show the large chain catenary loop in the proposed sea anchor system. The large loop of chain going into the water defeats part of the purpose of a parachute sea anchor. You want the parachute and 500 foot rode to be fairly tight all the time because you are using the parachute to protect you against a wave strike that could capsize or broach your yacht. If the rope between the parachute and the yacht is not fairly tight, your boat will be moved backward if you are hit by a breaking sea. That is one of the criticisms of Steve Dashew about using parachutes. He feels that your boat will get knocked backwards and you also may get rudder damage when you move backwards if you are hit by a big wave. If you put a big loop of chain in your parachute sea anchor set up, then you will be at risk for exactly what Dashew is saying.

When we were caught in a winter storm 300 miles north of New Zealand, we put out our parachute sea anchor on 500 feet of double braid nylon and an eighty foot bridle. In the forty five to fifty knot winds, the sea anchor rode remained under load all the time, and our catamaran bobbed up and down in the waves without getting knocked backward. We drifted about half a mile in 17 hours while attached to the parachute.

When I am in a storm, I don't want catenary in my parachute sea anchor rode. I want a tight rode that will protect me when I am hit on the bows by breaking seas, and I want that protection to start immediately rather than after I have been knocked backwards a distance 20 or more feet.

I have sea anchor chainplates installed in the decks on my bows, and I am not afraid to keep my sea anchor under constant strain. I also would think that a sea anchor under constant strain would be more stable - the parachute would be fully inflated in a configuration ready to protect you if you had a massive wave strike.

The author of the article also mentions the jerking effects of an all nylon rode. We never experienced any jerking motion from our sea anchor. The ride on the parachute was as smooth as silk.

Anyway, the parachute worked as advertised for us. I wouldn't go offshore without it.