Mark,
We disagree ;-)
First, I would argue that many, dare I say most, cruisers have full chain rodes to start with.
2nd, when you link pieces of chain, the link (shackle?) in between will be weaker than the chain itself in most cases. You need enlarged end-links on both sides of the chain to do that without weakening it (pin from strong enough shackle can't pass through a standard link).
3rd, I would argue that many, dare I say most, cruisers already have three anchors. Some have 6, some have 2.
4th, swivels and shackles are inexpensive. You can buy a 3/4" shackle or swivel for $10 to $20 each depending on where you go
shopping. Remember that we don't need shiny Wichard, we need brute strength and size doesn't matter.
5th, I can't talk about your
budget but imo
money spent on
anchoring kit is about the best spent money from a
budget... even better than on
insurance.
6th, 90 meters fine? what about
anchoring in 10 meter deep (at low tide) waters with a 10 meter tide? You would be under 5:1 already and that's not counting the surge of the storm and the waves. It all depends on where you anchor. Our primary
rode is 350' chain and secondary is 30' chain + 450'
rope. My 3rd rode is 30' chain+100' rope plus whatever I tie onto that.
7th, about the most important but as of yet undisclosed item: what kind and weight of anchor would you put on that 90 meter rode? Remember that the manufacturers recommendation size for your
boat will not
work. Many recommend based on 30 kts
wind, read the small letters under those tables.
Now what we agree: behind one anchor is what I would prefer too but I might change that opinion when the storm is coming for me. We had one anchor during Ivan but were not aboard when it hit. We later had two more coming for us and we opted for spiderweb in mangrove technique. But we have a 176 pound Bruce on a 55,000 pound
boat. I dare to state that this combo holds better than a 88 pound Bruce (if that would exist) on a 27,500 pound boat. Bigger anchors
work better even when a linear correction for difference in size is applied.
Whatever your method will be: think about it before sailing into areas that have these storms so that you have a plan at hand. I went to some cruiser-organized seminars on
hurricane anchoring and visited hundreds of
boats by
dinghy just before the storm passes or just after. What I found ranged from very well thought out to absolutely clueless or insufficient.
Many people will laugh at you when you talk about big anchors, chain, shackles for ships etc. I know, they laughed about me a lot. But after Ivan, we were 1 of the 4
boats leaving the bay on our own
power and there really were 198 boats in that bay. I had interviews with Cruising World etc. (they published it) and everybody wanted to know how it was possible to survive those conditions with hardly a scratch on the boat. The laughing had turned into a frenzy of knowledge gathering.
My latest
project that entered THE LIST is a huge attachment point on the bow just above waterline, like from 1" thick
stainless steel rod bent 180 degrees for attaching chain for storms or snubber for regular anchoring. People are laughing again when I describe that ;-)
The
photo is my preferred way to build a regular snubber, just some bling bling for the thread. See
s/v Jedi: tips uit de tropen for our blog entry on this.
ciao!
Nick.
so I have to make do with the best I have and the best I can afford. Otherwise I would be like some that I know who have been fitting out for over 10 years!
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