MacGregorSailors.com

Hi,

Just wondering how other mac owners handle their anchor chain/rope tangles.

I have my anchors, connected to 8m of chain, spliced onto 8mm three strand anchor rope. When i pull up the anchor all the rope gets dropped into the anchor locker, with the chain dropped on top. Sometimes this gets into a real mess. I was thinking of rigging up some sort of rope spool - to keep it all tidy and easy to handle.

Does anybody have any comments/suggestions?

Cheers
RockMan

Brackets for the anchors on the pulpit rail. I have two Dartmouth anchors, chains and all, that get to hang on the outside. When I get a breather, I coil the rodes in the anchor locker.

The rodes are usually cleated. I make sure the end on the rode is attached to the pulpit. Lost an anchor once on the lake. The rode got off the cleat somehow, the boat started drifting, and before I realized what was going on, the anchor and the rode was gone\

Anchor line stowed loosely in the locker is bound to foul. I quickly learned that I hate sitting up on the foredeck, untangling anchor line. I store two complete rodes with chain in my anchor locker. I coil the secondary line in hand as I pull it in. Biggest problem there is length of line. Conventional coiling results in too big a wad of line in the off hand before all the line is in. I flake the line, with one loop going one way, next loop going the other way. This allows coiling of a long line without an unmanageable diameter of line to hold while coiling. I secure the flaked line with one of those plastic ball bungees which some use as sail ties. Any short bungee would work, but I try to avoid hook types in the anchor locker. This coiled rode gets tucked along the side of the locker. Primary anchor rode is laid in a triangular pattern, loosely, in the remaining area of the locker, as it is drawn in. This way, it never fouls and is always available for immediate deployment. And, I can grab the bungeed secondary rode and load it into the dinghy for setting a second anchor, or take astern for a stern anchor. I keep my primary Bruce type anchor on a bow roller, and my Fortress Danforth type secondary on a bracket mounted to the bow railing. It's a simple setup that works great.

I switched to a nylon braided line. You want nylon line for anchoring, since it provides shock-absorbing stretch. Braided nylon is usually single braid, as opposed to double braid polyester used for sheets or halyards. The single braid is uniquely 'limp' without inate body tension. This makes it easier to just flake into the locker, without coiling.

My Bulwagga anchor is on a roller, no other choice. I switched from 20 ft chain to just 6 feet of extra-heavy 3/8" chain, same weight but less punishing to handle and stow. I just flake the line into the locker, where it lays flat and untangled, chain resting on top. And, I always have the bitter end tied to the deck padeye, don't want to lose anything~!

Yale Cordage named their anchor braid, Brait, pictured here. Yale claims that Brait's energy absorption is 75% greater than 3-strand nylon. The 12-strand braid is quite evident ... imparting its easy-lay, and energy absorption.



Size 3/8ths is priced at 50 cents at Annapolis Performance (linked above).
Winter sale, less 15% during January, net $42.50 per hundred (+shipping).



P.S. As in the choice of wire rigging, 'bigger' is not always 'better!'
Anchor line for our Mac 26 is amply sized at 3/8" diameter ...
perfect shock absorption, & the cost is much less than half-inch.

For my current lake use, I have a 12 lb HiTensile II Danforth with 10' of 1/4" chain bent to 225 ft. of 7/16" three ply nylon rode. I seldom use more than 125' so the first 100' of rode is flaked on the bottom of the locker as flat as possible. A piece of vinyl fabric is laid on top as a separater, then the rest is flaked in.

When I pull in rode I'm sitting on the foredeck and pass the line to the deck and closed hatch behind me. I use the scraper (old stainless kitchen spatula) to get rid of gunk on the anchor and chain as it comes aboard. I then hang the anchor from the pulpit hanger while I carefully flake the nylon in on top of the separater followed by the chain and then the anchor. The stern anchor is only a 4 lb Danforth with 4' of chain so the rode and chain and anchor just fall as they will into an old catfood container as I bring them in on the stern deck.

If single handing, in a tight anchorage like a river or narrow cove, and the wind is blowing, it might be best to either worry about the final stowage until you have more room to drift, or if space permits let the boat idle in a tight circle under power while you clean and flake and stow.

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I got tired of the mess as well long ago. No matter how hard you try you can't keep it neat over time. I'm talking about anchoring out over a week long trip often setting two anchors at each stop. You just can't keep the piles separate. The problem was particularly bad when I kept one of my two anchors in the locker with the chain and rode.

My answer was to keep both anchors outside on a roller and the rail. Without the need to store an anchor in the locker it was easy to split the locker in two with a simple 'T' shaped plywood divider. I cut a triangular base and screwed a divider strip to it. The base just sets in the locker under the rode and chain. This makes it easy to handle both 150' 3/8" three strand rodes each with 15+' of chain. You do however have to cut an opening for the chain to pass out from the locker to the anchors. I just cut 1-1/2" off the forward end of the locker lid. (Be sure to seal up the exposed core with epoxy). This setup has worked great for years. More than 50% of the time I set two anchors for better security, protection against current and wind shifts and to limit swinging. Having complete access to either rode without interference is really great when handling two anchors. (I'd never be out there with just one anchor, there are just to many situations that demand a second.) You'll also notice that my two anchors are of different styles that have different strengths in different bottoms. I started with two Danforth style anchors and ran into too many situations where a danforth was useless such a weed and shell fouled bottoms. With the widely different bottom type encountered up here in the NW you have to have anchors with a broader range of capabilities.

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My most common set is two anchors 180 degrees apart. This will park the boat in an exact spot that it just swings around. It will cover almost any current or wind shift.

It's also really easy to set and retrieve. I just drop the first, fall back to the end of that rode, power back to set it, drop the second then pull the boat in using the first rode to a spot in the center, then set the second.

Sometimes when I want to keep the boat pointed toward waves and wakes I'll pull up the one headed to the stern and cleat it to a stern cleat as it goes by. This parks the boat just as well as stern anchor but eliminates the need to deal with the rode and anchor being stored at the stern.

I usually anchor in 10'-20' allowing for our up to 14' tides here. In general I'll be sitting on 60'-90' out on each rode. I'm an advocate of a good size chain, but would not use more than 30'. You still want to have a good length of nylon as part of the system so you get shock absorbtion during wind or tidal surges.

On our very first overnight trip out with the X we anchored on the third night along the NE shore of Hope Island just inside Deception Pass. It was a nice small cove along the island we had all to ourselves. We anchored around noon and I set the first anchor to the north against the weak current. I set the second off the stern to the south roughly parallel to the shore. In the afternoon the current switched to the south and we swang 180 degrees onto the south anchor. This current built stronger and stronger until it was 5+ knots. Taking the dog to the beach after dark I knew I had one shot rowing back to the boat with the current.

In the morning after another change to the north during the night we were back in the middle of a 7 knot flow from the south. As we prepared to leave we fell back and pulled up the north anchor then started the motor to go for the south anchor. I had my wife at the helm motoring forward against the current as I pulled in the rode. She had instuctions to peel off to port as soon as the anchor came free. She also had instructions to circle around the point astern of us and pick me up if I happened to fall overboard. There was no way I was going to get back to the boat if I went in the drink with that current running.

It was a good first introduction to the realities of anchoring up here in the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.ddunn.org/LogBook02.htm

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Duane,

I take it the 4 pins on hope Island already had occupants??

IT is a nice protected place to anchor from the wind that picks up every afternoon.

We were anchored in the SE cove the first night because the buoys were full when we got there. The second night we went over the the main North bay and got a buoy. It was OK, but there were boats on the other buoys and a rather loud group camped on shore. This led us to look for a more private and quiet location for the third night. The NE bay was perfect with a good beach for the kids. Even with the current I would go back there again.

Have you ever stayed across the bay at Skagit Island? We've yet to stop there even with all the times we've passed by.

Eric,

I think you will find that most recommend not having chain all the way up to the cleat. If you do go all chain, you usually want to have a nylon snubber with chain hooks that you can put on the chain and bring back to the boat cleats to gain some shock relief. Sure in normal circumstances the lifting of the chain provides a buffer, but in more extreme conditions the chain will be bar tight and the shock load can be extreme without a nylon buffer.

Not to mention the other drawback of all chain, the weight you have to lift. Without a windlass it can be next to impossible to bring in all that chain.

An example of when it would have been a problem is when we anchored at Chatterbox Falls in Princess Louisa Inlet, BC. While this is not an everyday type of anchorage it was an interesting anchoring lesson.

We decided to move from the dock to anchored out in front of the falls about mid-day. The tide was about 3/4 high. We motored over to the spot we had picked with my wife at the helm and me on the bow. As we slowly moved in I could see it getting quite shallow. She was calling out depths on the sounder which is back at the transom. I had her start reversing out when she got to 10' Knowing that we were too shallow for the tide I waited just a bit until it looked like we had about 15' of water. I dropped the anchor and payed out the rode to just over 100' when I snubbed it to set the anchor. The bottom was softish mud and the Bruce started to drag. Before I knew it the anchor was dragged off the river mouth shelf and swung free of the bottom. It was now hanging straight down 100+' not touching anything.

As you can imagine bringing up the anchor and chain from 100' straight down was a workout. If it had been all chain I would have been done for.

We got the anchor back on board and went in again. This time I set it in 6' of water and it bit well. (What's cool about this place is you don't have to worry about swinging. The flow of the water from the base of the waterfall keeps you nicely pointed at the fall and holds you away from the beach.) The next morning at low tide the anchor was high and dry 20' up the beach. We left early the following day an the tide was high so we could just sneak in to 5', grab the anchor and back away.

http://www.ddunn.org/LogBook51.htm

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I agree with what you are saying, I've always said more chain is better than less, but there are circumstances where it can be detremental, especially with small boats like ours.

I would dispute that your anchor is not going to work correctly with 15' - 25' of chain. In almost all cases with the proper scope out on an all chain rode this is equal to the amount of chain that is horizontal along the bottom and you get just as good of a horizontal pull on the anchor with a nylon/chain rode as all chain.

The people who are really kidding themselves are the ones who think 3' to 6' of chain is enough. I still can't believe that reputable places like West Marine would even sell kits with such short chain as a resonable anchoring system yet their catalog is full of these short chain bundles.

I'm also still looking for a good kellet to use with my nylon/chain rode to increase cantenary and get a better hold in high wind conditions. These seem to be a good trade off between carrying all that extra weight in chain. The problem is the only ones I've seen that I like cost too much money.

The other thing to consider with a lot of chain besides pulling it out is that this is a lot of weight high up and right at the bow. This is not good for the stability of a Mac boat.

Like Frank, I just flake my line into the anchor locker and it has never fouled. It is also nylon, probably about 3/8 inch line.

Regarding the length of chain, I need to measure, but I don't think I have more than about 6 feet. It is a good heavy chain though (not that little whimpy chain they put on anchor kits) and connected to a G11 guardian danforth style. I've never had the anchor slip including some good overnight squalls. Of course, us Floridians are spoiled with good holding grounds too.

One of the big advantages of the Mac is that you can anchor in the shallows close to shore. This way, you don't need to be swinging around with all the big keelboats out in the deeper holes. I can't stand the swing so I always tie a stern line to the shore somehow and put the bow into the expected direction of wind. This is an extremely stable configuration and it also prevents the boat from doing a 180 and potentially unsetting your main bow anchor.