Shackles, Swivels, Stoppers and Weight Distribution

[s/v Jedi]

Hi,

I talked about this stuff in several threads here and decided to take a couple of pictures;

The first one shows the windlass way aft of the bow and how the deck is protected from the chain. Also, note the chain stopper and the mud dam just aft of the windlass to keep the decks as clean as possible:


The 2nd photo shows the 3/8" G7 chain with large end-link and 3/4" swivel and shackle to the 80kg (176 lb) Bruce anchor. Check out the two small rollers to keep it all running smoothly and lock the anchor in place:

ciao!
Nick.

[barnakiel]

Nice!

How long does the Vetus(?)/Threadmaster pad stand in a day-in day-out use?

barnie

[s/v Jedi]

It's 15 years old now and starting to loose bits here and there.

ciao!
Nick.

[MarkJ]

Nick, is it to piss the person off who is trying to sleep in the forward cabin?
Wait till they are in the land of Zzzzzzz and then drop 100 meters of chain?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Nick, is it to piss the person off who is trying to sleep in the forward cabin?
Wait till they are in the land of Zzzzzzz and then drop 100 meters of chain?

There is no cabin below that. Underneath is the sail locker, which is separated from the interior with a watertight bulkhead. The chain locker is build against that bulkhead. Although we are 64', our interior is just 39', something most sailors can't comprehend (where's the other 25' ??!! ;-)

ciao!
Nick.

[barnakiel]

Hahaha - sort of expected this answer!

Nick - the chain locker - how deep is it? Is it just above the bottom or higher up? And do you have a split locker to keep another chain there?

b.

[s/v Jedi]

Barnie: The chain locker is between 5' and 6' tall, rectangular with a square foot bottom. That is the other advantage of bringing it aft for most boats: you get the height to build one high enough so that the chain auto-feeds reliably.

The locker aft like we have it was optional and it is integrated with the bulkhead. The standard option was "traditional" forward using a PVC pipe. Our bow is so plumb that it can still be that same height but you get the weight forward plus the windlass clutters the deck with all the other hardware up the bow (cleats, retractable bowsprit etc.)

cheers,
Nick.

[zeehag]

i refuse to use swivels on my anchor line as they are the weakest link and do not warn before failing.....thought for the day--i have seen the drastic results of this failure ....i refuse to go there in my own boats....when i anchor for protracted lengths of time i have no problem with the rode--i use a cqr and chain and i also have rode which uses line---gooood luck and please do not use a swivel when anchoring near my boat as i reallly get tired of having to assist at 0300 when they fail.....i am waaay too old for that anymore ..LOL....good luck

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i refuse to use swivels on my anchor line as they are the weakest link ...

True.

But some boats have chain too heavy to toss/unravel/un-twist it by hand. Probably no escape from the swivel to them.

b.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i refuse to use swivels on my anchor line as they are the weakest link and do not warn before failing...

That was exactly what I thought but without swivel our chain gets twisted. So, during hurricane Ivan we had a 5/8" shackle and a 5/8" swivel and the shackle turned out to be weaker than the swivel... the exact opposite of what I believed: the shackle was weaker than the swivel.

But most cruisers think about those shiny stainless toys when the subject of swivel comes up (also called anchor connectors) while I am talking about the type you see on the photo in post 1 of this thread. The photo shows 3/4" shackle and swivel; an upgrade I did after the hurricane.

cheers,
Nick.

[Randyonr3]

there are a couple different types of swivels like the ones you have shown.. kinda hard to tell them apart.. one has a slug dropped over the end and welded.. the other has a nut screwed on and welded.. you have to look close but can often see the threads on the good ones using the nuts welded to the end and then coated..
By the way NICK,
I was thinking of recoating the chain once I get down your way.. the regulations up here are so tight that the cost is out-of-sight.. any ideas for doing it down there.. Id like to get it done befor we cross and dont know where the next stop would be.......

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Barnie: The chain locker is between 5' and 6' tall, rectangular with a square foot bottom. That is the other advantage of bringing it aft for most boats: you get the height to build one high enough so that the chain auto-feeds reliably.


cheers,
Nick.

The huge advantage of a chain locker aft is getting all of that weight out of the very peak of the bows. That leads to other advantages -- you can design a fine bow without worrying about buouancy, which adds speed (and beauty).

I really deplore the modern practice of squeezing every cubic centimeter of volume out of the hull for accomodation, leaving nothing for technical space. I consider that to be one of our boat's biggest weaknesses -- she has one fairly decent laz locker (we call it the "garage"), and a chain lockerI can stand up in, but that's not enough. Where do you keep sails on a modern boat? I get the impression that we're not expected to have any sails on board at all, other than what's left on the roller furling gear. My hat's off to Dashew for bucking this trend.