Tying off your anchor correctly

Barlow1016

Member
Jun 3, 2017
45
Farmington Utah
Boat Info
1999 340 Sundancer
Engines
454 merCruiser 7.4 MPI Bravo one outdrive’s 4 blade props. 5.0 Westerbeke generator
We have a 99 340 Sundancer with 200 feet of all chain road with a windless. How are you guys securing the chain to the cleat, to release the pressure from the windless? We boat in Utah so we don’t have the big ocean waves to give stress to the windless.
 
Last edited:
I have seen some use a nylon coated cable with clips on each end. Loop the one end through the cleat and hook it to the cable.
 
You may get away with instsalling a chain stopper if your conditions are light.

I use an Ultra chain grab with nylon rope and forsheda mooring compensators on the nylon line. Tie it off on the cleats. I never used to use anything until recently. But now use this setup after shearing the swivel in half (and losing the anchor) and also noticed 2 of the 6 machine screws had sheared off on the anchor chute.

Even nylon rope and a chain grabber should suffice and provide plenty of headroom for your conditions.
 
I use a 5/16" clevis hook with a 1/2" fender line.....the loop in the fender line works well to connect the clevis hook to the rope and I used a rope clamp to make a loop on he other end of the rope to connect to the anchor deck cleat....

cost effective and works very well....

cliff


bow.jpg
 
Just snubbing the chain to a line and letting out more chain method can really put strain on the bow rollers. The way we have done it is use a bridle that attaches to both bow cleats. There are various ways and devices for attaching the chain to it. This puts the strain on the cleats, which are much stronger than the capstan or windlass. Using two lines instead of just one reduces the force on each by half. And since the connection points are lower and farther back and not sticking up high on the bow, the boat will rock a lot less when the wind or current pulls tight against the anchor. Less rolly = better sleeping. And, if it's made out of something such as nylon with a little stretch, it lessens the slamming of the rode getting tight. The guy in the v-berth will especially appreciate this. This has been good in 60+ knot winds.
 
Just snubbing the chain to a line and letting out more chain method can really put strain on the bow rollers. The way we have done it is use a bridle that attaches to both bow cleats. There are various ways and devices for attaching the chain to it. This puts the strain on the cleats, which are much stronger than the capstan or windlass. Using two lines instead of just one reduces the force on each by half. And since the connection points are lower and farther back and not sticking up high on the bow, the boat will rock a lot less when the wind or current pulls tight against the anchor. Less rolly = better sleeping. And, if it's made out of something such as nylon with a little stretch, it lessens the slamming of the rode getting tight. The guy in the v-berth will especially appreciate this. This has been good in 60+ knot winds.


very good points if you normally anchor in rough waters and/or high winds.....we are inland lake boaters so we don't have these concerns.....we might see 1' wakes from passing boats....normally if we see a thunderstorm approaching we head back to the covered dock....sometimes we have to ride a storm out but not often...

cliff
 
Agree with Urtica, which is why 2 of the fasteners on my anchor shute sheared. Any snatch or side tension puts side loads on the shute. An anchor bridle on the front cleats is a more robust solution as Urtica and NHD have recommended.

Cliff, not sure how old your anchor swivel is, but that's the type that sheared in half on my boat. May want to consider a replacement if you want to keep your new Mantus anchor.

Ironically, I get more snatch in shallower calmer waters compared to the ocean where the wind and swell keeps a constant tension on the chain and the catenary effect acts like a damper using a longer rode in deeper waters. In shallower calmer waters the boat would drift around the anchor until a wind gust or wind shift occurred and the boat would gather momentum, take up the slack and snatch the chain. The shorter rode had less of a catenary effect too.
 
Ok, you guys have scared me enough so I ordered a Mantus swivel.....:(....

What's another $75 at this point....right?

cliff
 
Great advice guys. Thank you! I’m going to order a swivel also, because this weekend we were anchored down in 35 feet of water with my buddy tied up to me,he had rope road wrapped all around my chain. Neither of us have never seen this before. Took us a fair amount of time to get the mess un done.
 
I use a 5/16" clevis hook with a 1/2" fender line.....the loop in the fender line works well to connect the clevis hook to the rope and I used a rope clamp to make a loop on he other end of the rope to connect to the anchor deck cleat....

cost effective and works very well....

cliff


View attachment 59054


Cliff-What is the length of your snubber line?
 
Cliff, I’m gonna go with what you’re showing. Clean and simple
 
I've used a bowline on a chain catch and then ran each end to the cleats up front. It's simple and distributes the load well. Nylon stretches, but normal rope with large loops on each side with a number of twists in the rope allows the rope to stretch a bit, acting like nylon if that's all you have available.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,948
Messages
1,422,804
Members
60,930
Latest member
Ebrown69
Back
Top