[Rhodes22-list] questions regarding anchoring system / process

[Peter Nyberg]

Jesse,

Yes, for some reason people tend to have strong opinions on topics related to anchoring.  But here goes anyway.

The web tubing chain covering is among the latest additions to the system.  So far, it’s only been used on one week long cruise.  Way too soon to say anything about durability, though I think this material is popular with rock climbers, so I’ll be surprised if there’s an issue on that score.  There’s no hint of any damage to the deck, but then the system was in use for most of last season without a cover on the chain, and no hint of deck damage.  Perhaps the cover is unnecessary, but it makes me feel better.  I was worried about the possibility that the cover would track muck up from the bottom, but in several anchorages I used during my cruise, the anchor came up muddy, but the cover came up clean, so this aspect is looking good.
The lazarette/combing anchor rode storage bags are working well on the whole.  Sometimes it does take a bit of effort to get the rode to feed into the bag.  More vertical drop would be better, but then I’d need a bigger boat.  So far there have been no issues at all with the rode feeding out of the bag when the anchor is dropped.  Anything like a roller or fairlead does not seem to be necessary.
The wood floor of the lazarette is held in place by gravity alone.  It’s never shown the slightest inclination to shift.
Having the anchor rodes on deck has caused no issues so far.  On the other hand, I seem to be tripping over the jib furling line more frequently lately for some reason.
You raise a good point about having the rode disconnected from the anchor.  After my last cruise, I disconnected the rodes and stored them completely in the bags.  I figured that leaving the rodes on deck would result in dirt ’shadows’.  I was back on the boat today to do a few chores in preparation for my next cruise.  As part of this, I moved the boat from its mooring to the marina dock.  I did this without reconnecting even one anchor to its rode.  If my outboard had quit during the move, I would have had no quick anchoring option.   I should have connected a rode to an anchor.  Doing this the ’slow’ way involves an allen wrench and might take two minutes.  Having a ‘quick’ way seems like a good idea, just in case, perhaps involving a carabiner…

—Peter

> On Jul 17, 2020, at 4:43 PM, Jesse Shumaker <jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Peter, thanks for documenting the evolution of your anchoring setup and
> procedure.
> 
> After doing some anchoring this summer both singlehanded and with crew, and
> trying some different approaches, I have plans to make some modifications
> to my boat in the off season to make anchoring a bit easier.  There are
> some differences between your boat and mine, as well as some of the gear I
> plan to use but I like your overall concept.
> 
> For others that may not have seen Peter's videos on this topic, the ones
> that I'm referring to are listed below.  It's possible that I missed some
> of Peter's documentation on this topic that may be spread across some other
> videos.
> 
>   - discussion of an earlier evolution of the system starting around 3
>   minutes in on episode 77: https://youtu.be/j2ebeJZUslk
>   - anchor rode bags to be stored in lazarette: episode 81:
>   https://youtu.be/GheL7_fhpGo
>   - overall anchoring system: episode 82: https://youtu.be/VeL_3Ir0yQ4
> 
> 
> I had a few questions regarding your anchoring setup.  Your insight and
> experience would help guide the design of my setup.
> 
>   - Have you found the tubular chain covering to work well in terms of
>   protecting the deck?  Does the covering appear to be durable?  Does the
>   chain covering track a lot of the bottom up onto the deck?
>   - Does your rode storage in the lazarette / coaming work well in
>   practice?  Does the rode come out of the deck pipe easily and flake into
>   the bag you made without issue?  If needed, it seems like a roller could be
>   added right in front of the deck pipe in order to act as a fairlead to
>   position the rode at a better angle to go through the pipe
>   - For the wood floor that you made in the lazarette (covered in
>   episode #4: storage solutions: https://youtu.be/hXNDjEH-MYg), is that
>   attached to the hull in any way or simply cut to fit and held by gravity
>   and the gear on top of the floor?  I'm thinking about making a floor
>   to help support the bottom of the bag that will contain the rode that I
>   plan to store in the lazarette like your setup.  The floor could be useful
>   organizing the rest of the lazarette as well.
>   - When you are cruising, does it cause any issues to leave the rode on
>   deck?
>   - If you leave the anchor on the bow roller but put the rode back in the
>   laz for long term storage, do you have a quick way to connect and
>   disconnect the anchor and rode?
> 
> As I prepare and execute this project I may have some additional questions
> for the group.  I'll post more details as it comes together.
> 
> I must say that I'm posting on this topic with some trepidation.  If past
> threads on the list (and conversations with sailors in general) are any
> indication, any discussion of ground tackle and anchoring techniques is
> bound to stir up strong opinions.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jesse Shumaker
> S/V Zephyr