Chain Galvanization question

[steve.garlick]

Okay, a little faq will fix it.

Here's the anchor thief

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Our next chain purchase will be all stainless rode. Galvanized turns to crap with rust in only three seasons or so with the amount of anchoring we do. The cheap Chinese junk only lasts one season according to my friend who accidentally bought some.

Once had the same thought as was tired of the mess and could not find anyone to galvanize our 1/2" chain in the SCS. Everyone I asked warned me off of Stainless. Supposedly the welds can be suspect and sudden failure when you need it most can be a problem.

Ended up replacing the gypsy on our Maxwell windlass which we could bring in ourselves and buying some local Chinese chain to match as we could not get the right size of chain locally.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by steve.garlick

Okay, a little faq will fix it.

Here's the anchor thief

Ahaa! Interesting bit of kit, that is. I sure could have used it the time I got hooked onto the main fibre-optic phone cable going N from Sydney. The Telstra chaps who arrived whilst I was attempting to get unsnagged said that if I damaged it I would be up for a 250,000 dollar repair bill. Got my attention, that did!

Where did you get it? And how much?

Thanks for the info and the picture, Steve!

Cheers,

Jim

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by steve.garlick

Hi Jim,

Here's a photo of our new anchor thief. Its bigger and heavier than our first one. YOu lower it down under the snagged anchor chain, line. Pull it up and tie it off. You can then lower your own anchor and release the snag. The beauty is the trip line. Makes it easy to then let go of the offending chain. We've lost boathooks trying to release a chain from a boat hook.

Works a treat, just what you need for those 0300 wake up calls!!

Steve

Not sure I fully understand the process you are describing. This presumes you can get the snag near enough to the surface that you can visually see it and hook the thief to what you are snagged on, correct?

[Exile]

Anybody think it's worth wire brushing the bad spots on older chains and applying the zinc-based galvanizing stuff in a spray can (e.g. Rustoleum)? I remember seeing a pic of Jedi doing it, but not sure it's really worth the effort.

[steve.garlick]

Anchor thiefs are available in pretty much every reasonable chandlery in Greece. Cost was about 25 Euro. I've only seen them in Greece, because anchor snags here are very common. Most mooring is drop your anchor off the dock, back down on the dock and then attach stern lines

Suijin, the thief is not for deep water snags but when you pull up some one else's rode. Usually, this effectively anchors you to their boat. Some-one else did this to me in the middle of the night, dragging my anchor out and putting my boat on the concrete dock.

You can try looping a rope around their anchor chain, and then drop yours out under it, but this can be very hard to do. The thief is weighty enough to drop under their chain. You can then haul it up and tie it off. If you now slacken off your anchor rode, you can unhook yourself. The trick is then to release the offending rode. The trip line allows you to do this.

[steve.garlick]

Jim,

I believe that Telstra will re-imburse you the cost of an anchor if you leave it in situ to save the cable.

That bit of apocrypha came from our TAFE lecturer doing our Master 6.

[Mark Johnson]

A good price on ACCO chain can be gotten at Marine Warehouse: tom@marinewarehouse.net Or sales@marinewarehouse.net This tidbit compliments of Nick on Jedi...

I am ordering a custom made ACCO HT/G43 1/4" chain with an oversized end link from them, because in my size chain, there is no 5/16" shackle available that matches it's 2,600 SWL. Once you move up to 5/16" HT chain, Crosby makes a HT 3/8" shackle that fits and exceeds the WL of the chain.

West Marine's prices are high btw, even with a PS account. Also, their current 1/4" and 5/16" HT/G4 chain, just like their shackles, are made in China. I generally have no interest in Chinese made chain or hardware myself...

West Marine does sell other ACCO chains, but not in the HT/G4 grade, IT is actually Chinese. Bear in mind, that even ACCO has an "imported" line of chain called "Boaters Pride". Some of their hardware as well, like the G-7 double clevis links, are just zinc plated and "imported". These days... If you care about Origin of Manufacture, ask!

Back to the OPs question:
I agree with a previous post... The "shiny" galvanized look only last a short while, even on a shelf, then it turns matte grey. It may well just be irregular oxidizing of the chain from how it sat in the barrell over a year or so. Unless you see bare metal or rust, it is probably OK.

Mark

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by steve.garlick

Jim,

I believe that Telstra will re-imburse you the cost of an anchor if you leave it in situ to save the cable.

That bit of apocrypha came from our TAFE lecturer doing our Master 6.

Really??!!!

I wasn't aware of that, and the Telstra guys that were shouting at me didn't mention it as an option. In the event, when I was informed of the rather severe downside of continuing to struggle I cut and buoyed the chain and returned the next day at slack water. A few minutes with scuba gear retrieved the anchor. As an aside, that was a scary dive, with zero visibility, total darkness after about a metre of depth, and lots of bull sharks reported in the area (Hawkesbury river)!

Your thief would have saved me embarrassment, strife and potential economic disaster. I will see if I can find one somewhere.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Cheers,

Jim