Bridle to Anchor Rope - HOW?

[DRS]

While the rolling hitch would have been my suggestion, My other question is where are you sailing that you are anchoring in 70 feet of water. Is it not possible to move into shallower water? Curious just because we don't often hear that on CF. I'm in the PNW and am used to some deep water but we can usually find thinner water somewhere in the bay.

[Eder]

Originally Posted by Revelations

On our catamaran, we have 300' of stainless steel anchor chain spliced to 600' of polyester anchor rope. Say we anchor in deep water of 70 feet - wanting a scope of 1:7, we will let all the anchor chain out and about another 190 feet of anchor rope.

We now want to tie the bridle to the anchor rope. The hookup must not slip and we must be able to untie/unknot the bridle later.

But how and what knot is best to use in this situation?

If you put out 500' rode anywhere you better put out fenders lol/.

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by DRS

While the rolling hitch would have been my suggestion, My other question is where are you sailing that you are anchoring in 70 feet of water. Is it not possible to move into shallower water? Curious just because we don't often hear that on CF. I'm in the PNW and am used to some deep water but we can usually find thinner water somewhere in the bay.

It was a hypothetical question and not based on our present situation. I'm asking this due to numerous deep anchorages in the Pacific but also for the "in case" possibility.

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Depending on the size of the bridle line it may not be very stretchy and fifteen feet is not enough to have a good cushion. The chain is not a good cushion either when it really matters. The snubber is there for those times when the chain is tight. Once the wind pulls the chain tight there isn't any more give and the ground tackle snatches up hard exactly when you don't want things to break. The long rubbery nylon snubber provides a good shock absorber under even the worst conditions.

This is a rather old writeup but it is still useful:

Tuning an Anchor Rode

Thank you! I will be reading the article.

[doublewide]

use a prussic, kleimheist or rolling hitch to establish a loop where you want to fasten the bridle to the rode. Then use a soft shackle to fasten the bridle to the loop.
When you don't have the rode out, use the same soft shackle to fasten the bridle to a link of chain.
Works great. super strong. easy to make and un-make the connection, will go over your bow roller so you don't have to lean over the crossbar to hook up the bridle.

[blueazimuth]

The only way, IMHO, is a rolling hitch, with 2 extra turns. And its free. Various metal claws are on the market, and they do work - sorta. But will damage galvanised chain, and are known to distort under high loads making it difficult, if not impossible to separate it from the chain. If you cannot remove the claw, and have to get out of there, ask yourself how the windlass is going to handle it? Very messy.
A rolling hitch is quick, easy and IMHO trouble free. It can be tied or untied at the bow and then chain paid out or brought in.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by Revelations

The bridle is nylon and each leg is around 15'. Besides this, there is also the weight of the chain lying on the ocean floor which gets lifted when under load - plenty of cushioning effect.

Its getting away from the subject matter; we use 2.5 times our beam for each leg of the bridle. This also coincides with what Ace recommended to me for the Jordan Drogue drogue.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by blueazimuth

The only way, IMHO, is a rolling hitch, with 2 extra turns. And its free. Various metal claws are on the market, and they do work - sorta. But will damage galvanised chain, and are known to distort under high loads making it difficult, if not impossible to separate it from the chain. If you cannot remove the claw, and have to get out of there, ask yourself how the windlass is going to handle it? Very messy.
A rolling hitch is quick, easy and IMHO trouble free. It can be tied or untied at the bow and then chain paid out or brought in.

The claws only distort "under high load" when the snubber is way to damn short. Otherwise, how did the load get so high?

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by Revelations

We now want to tie the bridle to the anchor rope. The hookup must not slip and we must be able to untie/unknot the bridle later.

But how and what knot is best to use in this situation?

Just curious why you would want to use a Anchor Snubber on the anchor line, especially with 190 feet of it deployed.

I would think that has plenty of stretch and once tied to a cleat you are done....

What am I missing?

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Revelations

On our catamaran, we have 300' of stainless steel anchor chain spliced to 600' of polyester anchor rope. Say we anchor in deep water of 70 feet - wanting a scope of 1:7,

. . . "Wanting a scope of 1:7" ??? . . . I think you mean 7:1 . . . This may sound 'picky' to some however, if you are wanting to provide reliable information, I believe you have a responsibility to make sure it is correct in every way.
These forums are used by a great many newbies (to boating) who may put greater trust than they should in what others post here as being 'knowledgeable' in what they're talking about.
In this instance, the difference between 1:7 and 7:1 is considerable. Look it up in a "Power Squadron" basic seamanship manual under the term "scope".

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

Just curious why you would want to use a Anchor Snubber on the anchor line, especially with 190 feet of it deployed.

I would think that has plenty of stretch and once tied to a cleat you are done....

What am I missing?

I did not ask anything about an anchor snubber!? It was suggested in #19 which also refers to an article. We have been in some substantial blows of 50 knots (and strong currents) whilst at anchor and never encountered any sharp snapping (pulling tight) of tight lines or chain.

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by Sailorbob8599

. . . "Wanting a scope of 1:7" ??? . . . I think you mean 7:1 . . . This may sound 'picky' to some however, if you are wanting to provide reliable information, I believe you have a responsibility to make sure it is correct in every way.
These forums are used by a great many newbies (to boating) who may put greater trust than they should in what others post here as being 'knowledgeable' in what they're talking about.
In this instance, the difference between 1:7 and 7:1 is considerable. Look it up in a "Power Squadron" basic seamanship manual under the term "scope".

Valid point - thanks for the correction.

[DRS]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

Its getting away from the subject matter; we use 2.5 times our beam for each leg of the bridle. This also coincides with what Ace recommended to me for the Jordan Drogue drogue.

2.5 times the beam for each leg so at 30 ft beam each leg is 75 feet long ???????

[Rufduck]

I know that this is an old thread but I’m confused, which happens more of late.

My cat bridle is 5/8-3/4” double braid (probably polyester). Each leg is about 20’ long. It is a single length with a knot (think mine’s a figure 8) in the middle that forms a loop. Each end of the legs are made off to the ends of the front crossbeam.
I have a Weichard chain hook captured by the loop which is fine for the all chain rode I presently use.

Without adding another length of line to the loop, how do I tie a rolling, prussik or whatever hitch to a rope rode?

Myself, I wonder why not just double the rope rode, pass it up through the loop in the bridle, take once around the loop and tuck it under where the rode came up through the loop. It’s a bowline tied with 2 lines.
What am I missing? And what are other cat sailors using for a bridle that they have a spare length of line?
Cheers

[Caleb_Grey]