Building 23' catamaran. Build updates

[Chimo]

Hi Fed

Spot on. With enough chain to both lay and if necessary lift a little where it joins the warp, which is also long enough for the given depth I usually find there is enough movement and give in the silver to absorb the "minimal" pull exerted by a little less than 2 tonnes of streamlined Vagabond.

Mind you in 100 ft plus on reefy ground I just use a little reef anchor on a fair length of chain that really has no possibility of holding fast but does until the bouy and split ring does its thing. Go figure but it works for me so far.

Cheers
Chimo

[Fed]

I don't want to pollute your thread Steve but I need to say that I think having slack in the chain & anchoring with cable ties is dead set dangerous, probably even illegal if you get a zealot cop.

[stevej]

I just bought a new plough anchor as sick of my simple sand anchor not holding in botany bay
4 cable ties on the shank end and takes a lot of force to bust them

[Chimo]

Thats what I find too Steve.

Mind you I didn't know the water police were diving on anchors to check them. Learn something every day. Good thing we remember to have a watch on for the full 24hrs when we anchor so we don't wake up in New Zealand, Brisbane or Tasmania

[MattM84]

The cable ties are only used to secure the chain to the shank as a weak link to enable the anchor to still be retrieved should it become stuck, the chain is still secured to the anchor with a bolt or shackle, can use tie wire instead of cable ties if you wanted to, just be harder to bust should the anchor become stuck, really don't see any harm in this method at all and is what i use. Any way back on topic now i can't wait to see some on water pics of this boat, am well and truly envious of your achievments.

[Volvo]

The cable ties are only used to secure the chain to the shank as a weak link to enable the anchor to still be retrieved should it become stuck, the chain is still secured to the anchor with a bolt or shackle, can use tie wire instead of cable ties if you wanted to, just be harder to bust should the anchor become stuck, really don't see any harm in this method at all and is what i use. Any way back on topic now i can't wait to see some on water pics of this boat, am well and truly envious of your achievments.

Spot on and have been anchoring this method fer yonks and in some instances if it werent for the use of cable ties as in some past cases there would have been no way of retreiving my anchor , and another anchor left behind..
Also set and anchor alarm on the plotter if anchoring at night though have never moved but gives peace of mind just incase..

[Fed]

Slack chain means you are connecting the the chain to the anchor with a cable tie, when the tie breaks you then have the chain connected to the wrong end which is not a good idea when your crippled boat is being blown towards the rocks.
Cable ties yes, slack chain not on my boat.

[chris69]

Hi Steve id put a stainless shackel at the end of the shank and use the cable ties to the smooth round end of the shackel to the chain so the ties dont chaff out on the edges of the shank and yes you want a tight chain on the shaft for direct pull to set the anchor as you would expect with out breaking the ties,as for the amount of wraps and the size of ties you use only you will know when you need to break that weak link then you know weither you have used to many wraps or ties,but as you have a light cat hull with more windage than hull drag the lenght of chain i see there in your pic the warp of the chain should hold well with a level pull on the bottom and thats what you want for secure anchoring,3/8 staino chain looks very nice,cheers Chris.

[stevemid]

Chimo, Fed, SteveJ, MattM84, Volvo, Chris69,
Some very good comments and will take all on board. My thoughts:

1. This rig is no replacement for a reef anchor which I'll have on board.
2. Drifting toward the rocks or on a lee shore is not something Id like to contemplate with cable tie holding me off , however a quick shackle through the shank attachment point and you're back to standard rig (almost)
3. I thought about running the chain under the roll bar but then if the point is fouled on a rock or something the pull would be "up" as opposed to "back" when the chain is run over the roll bar
4. Without any slack the horizontal pull on the anchor would be almost normal, and you'd get breakaway only when you pulled up vertically which is what you'd want I'd think?

Thanks for the thoughts. This is something that needs a bit of testing which I'm bound to do.

Steve

[The Woo]

Ummmm, no. Sorry guys.

The anchor chain should be connected by shackle directly to the eye at the rear of the anchor, ie, traditionally.
The small eye loop welded toward the nose or "front" of the anchor is for a trip rope.

It is used thus; IF you are anchoring on ground likely to snag your anchor, you tie a small trip rope (4/5mm typically on a small vessel) to it before lowering the anchor.
Once the anchor touches bottom tie a float to te trip rope and let it go. This marks your anchor position to other vessels (and you). The float also keeps the trip rope from entangling or winding itself around your anchor chain/rope. Continue to let out your required anchor scope as per nomal. The float will be some distance in front of your vessel, depending on depth of course.

If your anchor does become stuck, you simply motor up to the float, take it with a mooring pole, and "trip" the anchor out, by pulling it from the nose, away from the snag.
If it's not stuck, retrieve normally and you can still use the drive-off loop/float method also.

Edit: And is that stainless chain "tested"? If not, might as well buy another anchor now mate

[stevemid]

Hi Woo,
What you say is correct. That is the way the anchors were meant to be tripped. This other way is a short cut.

Steve

[The Woo]

Well, with all due respect, and you know I like you mate, but I have to say I don't see using zip ties as seaman-like. There's just too many instances where this "short-cut" can become a liability. But, each to his own

[stevemid]

Well, with all due respect, and you know I like you mate, but I have to say I don't see using zip ties as seaman-like. There's just too many instances where this "short-cut" can become a liability. But, each to his own

Yes, not seaman like but fisherman like. It's a rig that lets fisherman use a plow-type anchor in foul ground when fishing with the increased liklihood of retrieving it. I would not use it cruising, or on the sailboat, but I will use it for fishing when I'm right there and anchoring/re anchoring multiple times per trip. But I do see your point and it is the correct one especially when you look at your anchor as a piece of safety gear

[Dave_H]

Yes, not seaman like but fisherman like. It's a rig that lets fisherman use a plow-type anchor in foul ground when fishing with the increased liklihood of retrieving it. I would not use it cruising, or on the sailboat, but I will use it for fishing when I'm right there and anchoring/re anchoring multiple times per trip. But I do see your point and it is the correct one especially when you look at your anchor as a piece of safety gear

Steve, we lost our first Sarca off the front of Dixie (two trips old!) on the top of the pinacle directly out the front off Pt Stephens a few years ago because we only had one method of being attached to it. We religiously use a seperate trip line/float combo now, even though they are designed to allow the shackle to slide forwards to dislodge the anchor.

Gets a bit expensive pulling up a dead end chain!

[stevemid]

Steve, we lost our first Sarca off the front of Dixie (two trips old!) on the top of the pinacle directly out the front off Pt Stephens a few years ago because we only had one method of being attached to it. We religiously use a seperate trip line/float combo now, even though they are designed to allow the shackle to slide forwards to dislodge the anchor.

Gets a bit expensive pulling up a dead end chain!

So how do you do it? What depths are you talking about? I tried using an anchor marker buoy on my first trip up to Qld. On the first attempt the 1/8" line parted and the marker buoy was AWOL in the morning, on the second the tide submerged the buoy and someone else anchored on top of it anyway. So those were my last attempts. How do you get the depth right for the marker and how do you keep the two lines separate when launching and in the lockers?
PS I can't afford to lose a Sarca either!
Steve