How long is your anchor snubber?

[Anders]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

Our snubber is rigged from the stern of the boat so only projects over the bow roller a metre or so. This means that to deploy more scope only a very short amount of chain needs to be retrieved before the snubber can be detached, minimising the major drawback of always deploying a long elastic snubber.

If I understand you correctly your snubber goes from the bow via the side deck to the stern were it's tied off? How do you prevent chafe?

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Anders

If I understand you correctly your snubber goes from the bow via the side deck to the stern were it's tied off? How do you prevent chafe?

The snubber is connected to the stern cleats and passes through some low friction rings (secured with Bullseye soft shackles) that direct the nylon to the bow. There is a short section of thick Dyneema where the rope passes over the bow roller.

The system works well. The main advantage is that the snubber cannot twist around the chain, stays clean and dry, plus to adjust the scope only a meter or so of chain needs to be retrieved.

[Hhew]

15 ft of 1/2 inch three strand dock line, with a spliced loop on one end, a galvanized chain hook on the other, and one of those Davis bungee snubbers in the middle. Easy on, easy off. I just attach it to a bow cleat and make sure there’s slack in the chain. Takes the load off the windlass (I know the guy who installed that thing and he’s a bit sketchy) and absorbs snatch loads on the chain and anchor. I use it for anything more than a quick lunch stop. Rocna + lots o’ chain + snubber = good night sleep.

[Pegu Club]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Good! Possibly try 1/2” diameter and to put it through a chock instead of over the roller. We find it eliminates sound from the chain, a better scope angle and it reduces back and forth sailing behind the anchor. Also, friends weren’t happy, then tried a chock on the other side and it worked perfect so that’s worth trying too

That sounds reasonable enough, we have noticed we “sail” more than we would like to while at anchor, I will run the snubber line through a chock next time as a comparison, thanks for the info. By the way why !/2 inch line? Is it a stretch/shock absorbing benefit? We appear to have reasonable stretch capacity with the 5/8 line, as well thinking it would be stronger…? Again thanks.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Pegu Club

That sounds reasonable enough, we have noticed we “sail” more than we would like to while at anchor, I will run the snubber line through a chock next time as a comparison, thanks for the info. By the way why !/2 inch line? Is it a stretch/shock absorbing benefit? We appear to have reasonable stretch capacity with the 5/8 line, as well thinking it would be stronger…? Again thanks.

I managed to break a 1/2” snubber once during a violent storm, but I am 64’ long, a ketch and 25 metric tons. I went up to 5/8” and never broke it.

When you weigh less, you go to a smaller diameter so that you get enough stretch with a smaller length. Additional length is useless.
Also, when not testing, you can’t overstretch or break the snubber because the chain will come taut and take the load before that happens.

I must say that I do like the system to have the snubber in deck like described above, except I think they use too much length, probably because the snubber is too thick. Using single braid Dyneema for a small piece that goes through the chock onto the chain is very nice, but please people, splice that straight onto each other instead of using thimbles etc.

I will also experiment with dynamic climbing rope (stretchy) after good reports about it on the forum before.

I also have a hurricane snubber. It’s more than 10 years old and 3/4” 3-strand polyester, 20’ long. I went through 3 or 4 hurricanes with it, last one was Isaias with 70kts wind for a day or so and 3 days of 40-50kts. Zero chafing gear (the snubber itself is chafing gear) and still good enough

[Pegu Club]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I managed to break a 1/2” snubber once during a violent storm, but I am 64’ long, a ketch and 25 metric tons. I went up to 5/8” and never broke it.

When you weigh less, you go to a smaller diameter so that you get enough stretch with a smaller length. Additional length is useless.
Also, when not testing, you can’t overstretch or break the snubber because the chain will come taut and take the load before that happens.

I must say that I do like the system to have the snubber in deck like described above, except I think they use too much length, probably because the snubber is too thick. Using single braid Dyneema for a small piece that goes through the chock onto the chain is very nice, but please people, splice that straight onto each other instead of using thimbles etc.

I will also experiment with dynamic climbing rope (stretchy) after good reports about it on the forum before.

I also have a hurricane snubber. It’s more than 10 years old and 3/4” 3-strand polyester, 20’ long. I went through 3 or 4 hurricanes with it, last one was Isaias with 70kts wind for a day or so and 3 days of 40-50kts. Zero chafing gear (the snubber itself is chafing gear) and still good enough

We did Isaias as well, up near Cambridge Maryland, we were up Island creek as far as we could go, we saw 60 knots, went right over us, that was a first, all went as good as one would want it to, we have also seen 35 plus knots for three days at Normans key Exumas, in both events we didn’t budge, but we had gotten in place a couple of days in advance, and the anchor was well set when the festivities started,

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

When you weigh less, you go to a smaller diameter so that you get enough stretch with a smaller length. Additional length is useless.
Also, when not testing, you can’t overstretch or break the snubber because the chain will come taut and take the load before that happens.

To get a little extra stretch given I'm only deploying 15-20' of line is to unlay a couple of feet and insert a length of bungee into the lay of the line with some stitching at either end to hold it in place. If gives me a few inches of easier stretch before the line itself starts stretching. Seems to work well, but only used it a dozen times so far.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

To get a little extra stretch given I'm only deploying 15-20' of line is to unlay a couple of feet and insert a length of bungee into the lay of the line with some stitching at either end to hold it in place. If gives me a few inches of easier stretch before the line itself starts stretching. Seems to work well, but only used it a dozen times so far.

Yes, this works really well. You introduce additional “constructional stretch”. The problem is durability but I never actually tried this so it would be great if you post updates as you use it longer

I think those rubber thingies that you pull the line through and wrap around have a longer lifespan, but I never used those either

[bergius]

About 4m long, with a mooring compensator on it. Tied with a rolling hitch.

Admittedly we don’t really ever need to anchor in rolly places here in the Baltic.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

.

. Using single braid Dyneema for a small piece that goes through the chock onto the chain is very nice, but please people, splice that straight onto each other instead of using thimbles etc.

Why do you think this is an issue?

We did it this way because
1) I have no idea how to splice dyneema to 3 strand nylon
2) I can easily change the length of the snubber for varying conditions whilst using the same Sampson post > dyneema section

[Hartleyg]

Simi, you do it by splicing a loop in each one. I did mine using some stout soft shackles, but you could just splice the loops around each other (hard to change, but saves pieces!)
We weigh about 38,000 lbs, 48' OAL and we use 28' of 5/8" 3-strand nylon on deck (very similar to what Noelec did) with a Dyneema strop from the end of the nylon to a soft shackle that attaches to the chain.
Advantages are as he stated - attachment is only a short distance from the bow - easy to adjust chain length, snubber & attachment doesn't lie in the mud in shallow places (like the Chesapeake), and the helmsman can see the snubber from the wheel on our center-cockpit boat, so has a good idea about how much tension is on the rode, and its easy to see if its dragging/jumping.


Hartley
S/V Atsa

[MWGDVC]

We use 40' (x2) 1/2" nylon bridle run through bow chocks, tied to bulwark mounted cleats port and starboard. Never through bow roller. We tie bridle so chain hook is 4-5' off sea bed if in shallow water. Chain tied off with 3/4" nylon rolling hitch on deck to another cleat in case of bridle or hook failure.
38' center cockpit fairly high windage.

[markxengineerin]

Really interesting results, thanks for the votes

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Why do you think this is an issue?

We did it this way because
1) I have no idea how to splice dyneema to 3 strand nylon
2) I can easily change the length of the snubber for varying conditions whilst using the same Sampson post > dyneema section

Yes, like Hartley writes, an eye in each, the Dyneema straight to the 3-strand eye. Soft shackle to chain is perfect.

[SailingHarmonie]

Our arrangement is pretty simple. We use a 30 foot 5/8" 12 plait line line as the snubber for a 38,000 lb mono hull. It is tied on with a rolling hitch. We ahve never gone smaller, but we have gone bigger when expecting Force 8 or better.

In the very rare occasions we have needed more scope, we simple toss that snubber overboard, and tie on another after letting out another half shot of chain. it stays tied to the chain for recovery later. We have a half dozen of these lines since we use them as docking lines as well.

Our boat has a roller system specifically designed for a snubber, so we have never had any chafe issues, and we don't need to fuss with chafing gear. We also use a Mantus chain hook on a heavy spectra soft shackle as a chainstop on deck to keep loads off the windlass. We have never broken a snubber, or had one come undone, but it is just good practice to have the backup.

I am curious, for people who advocate shorter or minimal snubbers, Why? What is the disadvantage of a longer snubber? In really strong winds we will see our system dynamically stretch easily 6 feet or more. That's a HUGE amount of energy that is NOT jerking on the anchor.

I understand even less people who adjust the length as conditions change. When a squall comes through at 2AM I do NOT want to get out on deck to ease out more snubber line. Especially since it is quite possible my anchor has already been yanked out of the bottom. I do not see ANY benefit to a short snubber in light conditions that make such an exercise worth it.

For many modern anchors one thing that they do not do well at is resetting after they have pulled out and started to drag. A venerable CQR will drag for a mile, and set when it feels like. A Rocna will likely have some debris speared on its point, or jammed into its roll bar and need to be retrieved to clear. I really prefer to do everything I can to keep my anchor buried in the bottom.