We offshore sailors have the ability to put up for years, and sometimes even for decades, with gear that really does not work very well. And yet we also have gear on our boats that has been refined to be near perfect. This dichotomy never ceases to amaze me.
A good example of the latter is the two-speed self-tailing winch, a machine that has been essentially unchanged for some 30 years and that just works so perfectly that it’s hard to think of any way to improve it.
On the other hand, bow (anchor) rollers by and large fall into the former category. Most of them don’t work very well, and yet we put up with this sad state of affairs and seem to assume that the rollers provided by most boat builders are as good as it gets.
But they aren’t, and improving or replacing them is one of the most useful modifications we can make to a voyaging boat. Let’s look at what makes the perfect anchor roller, or at least way better than standard, and how to build one.
Hi John,
Nice article about a piece of gear which, when it gives you trouble, can really ruin your day and lead to serious injuries when attempting to put things right.
I feel lucky to have an anchor platform which checks most of your boxes and has been a valuable companion (with our windlass) to many a fire drill over the years. The anchor is secured aft by the windlass and secured with the windlass brake. Next however, I have always lashed our anchor to the side and back as this keeps it from making noise in side to side action and “fixes” it in place. In the rare need for immediate anchor down, a kick to the rotary handles on the windlass clutch and a knife (either in my pocket or lashed to the pulpit) to the side tensioning line could not be faster. I have shied away from chain clutches as I have known reports of clutches that, when tensioned toward the anchor, have been hard to release without the tension being taken up by the windlass (much like some rope clutches are hard to release without the tension being relieved by the winch).
That is a very interesting observation by Colin about the groove in the roller mitigating chain twist. I have such a groove in my roller and have never suffered from chain twist and feel the same way about chain swivels as you so delicately put it. This may go part way towards explaining why some feel the need for a swivel (beyond the extra-ordinary advertising hype).
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on the lashings. I really don’t like to see an anchor lashed in such a way that a knife will be required.
To me, as I say in the post, if the anchor can’t be secured by tensioning the rode then the roller needs modifying or replacing.
I agree on the dangers of a clutch jamming. That’s why we only use the band brake inshore.
We have an anchor well about half a metre deep. I’m still working out how best to utilize it, but I think one option is to bring the anchor inboard off soundings and to secure it in this well. It’s better protected, weight is (somewhat) out of the ends and the stresses on the short sprit are lessened. I approve of the “groove in the Delrin” roller idea; mine already features that, but alas, I have them ganged in three side by side, which as you point out, is self-limiting.
Still, this is very thought-provoking, especially as I’m on course to buy an expensive anchor!
Hi Marc,
I strongly recommend against bringing the anchor inboard when on a passage. First off, if your anchor roller is not strong enough to take a wave strike offshore, then it’s simply not strong enough. Sooner or later it will get hit by a big wave inshore and then fail. Some of the worst wave strikes I have ever seen where when inshore sailing (wind against tide).
Second, when is the most likely time you will need to drop the anchor fast? Answer: at the end of an ocean passage when you are tired, the boat and the gear has been subjected to the stresses of an offshore passage, and you are approaching an unfamiliar harbour.
Bottom line, the best bower should be ready to go at a moments notice at all times.
Thank you, John.
Hi John,
I have seen anchors’ chain being tightened using ‘devils claws’ secured on strong point additionally to the windlass brake method you describe.
By the way what are your thoughts on Boreal 47 anchor pulpit and roller design?
Hi Nikolas,
Yes, I have seen ‘devils claws’ too, but I really don’t like them much since it is difficult to release them under load, and therefore if I didn’t have a band brake I trusted, I would prefer the system with the Tylaska shackle I list above.
As to the Boreal, I have not used the rollers, but they look as if they would work well with a single anchor. However, I also think the second anchor positioning could be improved a lot. More on that in part 2
Hi Nikolas
a couple of points on the anchor mounting on the Boreal (form someone who has worked on them). The first is that the rollers themselves are a decent size – far too often they are too small in diameter. The second is that the chain passes through a tube under the deck and can be secured by a pin or carabiner back at the locker in front of the mast so it cannot come free, which is a lot easier than doing it out on the bowsprit platform. The third is that most of the boats I have worked on with the owners have a welded samson post just aft of the anchor channels which is a perfect place to attach a securing line for the anchor at the inboard end. But Like most of these boats (our Ovni, too) the platform doesn’t lend itself well to the permanent mounting of a second anchor; however it is perfect for attaching a snubber from the samson post to pass out through the starboard roller.
Best wishes
Colin
Hi Colin,
Thanks for the fill in on the Boreal.
Hi John,
If the goal is a secure the anchor in a manner that provides reliable stowage and also allows for quick emergency deployment, then I believe that the lashing I referred to (actually a one line pulling around the anchor so it torques it and pulls it aft) seems to meet the criteria, at least for me. One quick swipe with a knife that is always on station on the pulpit releases this secondary securing line.
I am uncomfortable, if I read your securing system correctly, with there only being the band brake holding the anchor in place when sailing inshore. As you pointed out, some of the most potent blows to the anchor and the anchor area happen coastal cruising wind vs tide. I prefer 2 modes of securing the anchor, inshore or off. The anchor going walk-about through some sort of failure, human (failure to tighten the band brake sufficiently) or mechanical, in a seaway is too much a recipe for damage to vessel or person to be left to one method.
By the way, I likely missed a notice or something, but I miss the ability to check a box and have further comments sent directly to my email. Is there a way I can request this to occur?
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Like I say, we will have to agree to disagree. I’m perfectly comfortable securing with a substantiation band brake like that on our Idea windlass and if I had a less substantial brake I would use a tackle, as detailed in the post.
Further, I disagree with the idea of having different securing methods inshore and offshore. As I said to Marc, some of the worst conditions to loosen up an anchor I have seen occurred inshore.
Yes, I tend to tighten the clutch too, offshore, but that’s just being anal, and is not very logical, as our discussion has made clear to me.
To me, there should be one simple and easy to release way to secure the anchor at all times.
And to me the fundamental point is that if tensioning the rode, no matter whether band brake or tackle, won’t secure the anchor properly, then the design of the roller is flawed.
Hi John,
I agree completely on the importance of the bow roller and think that you have done a good job of outlining what to keep in mind. Here are a few thoughts to add to it:
I agree with your belief that tensioning the chain should make the anchor secure. I have built a few bow rollers at this point and the second to last one I built had ears on it similar to the one that you have pictured with the spade. When I was building it, I made sure to get the geometry right which was not easy as most of these are actually too far aft and when the anchor comes up, it contacts this area first often making it hard to get on the roller. It worked okay for a while although it was a bit finicky when pulling in the chain the last few inches. I ended up bending one of the ears temporarily preventing proper stowage while hauling the anchor in the dark leaving an anchorage because the wind had gotten up to 30 and it was starting to get rough. In the end, I made something with a roller geometry an awful lot like the FPB one with 2 separate rollers for a single anchor. When the anchor is hauled all the way in, the lower roller is effectively against the fluke and the upper roller is still touching the shank so the anchor is really secure. Also, 2 rollers really decrease the loads as the shank comes up and over. On an anchor like a spade with the really curved shank, this may be harder to implement. I now believe that the anchor roller ideally should actually have 2 rollers placed to securely hold the shank and fluke.
For short hops, we simply leave the load on the chain. For longer periods, I installed a cleat next to the windlass and we use a soft shackle to attach a line to the chain which is cleated off. If we need the anchor down quickly, I simply uncleat the line and drop the anchor with the line still attached to the chain which I have tried and works fine.
One of the hardest things in my experience is dealing with mooring pendants. On our boat, there is a large stainless bow casting which would need extensive modification to put a chock beyond the anchor which is already sort of out in space to prevent interference. We have compromised and use homemade cyclone mooring pendants (dyneema with a brummel splice on either end on the boat end of a normal nylon pendant) and leave the anchor on unless we are threatened with storm conditions. We have seen a small amount of chafe on the fire hose chafe guard but absolutely zero visible chafe to the dyneema. With our previous Yale pendants and plain nylon ones, we quickly got chafe from the anchor and had to remove it. Nantucket has successfully used the same system for a quite a while now and it can get pretty rough in there in a NE and nobody bothers to take anchors off and no chafe has been observed. While not ideal, I believe this to be a safe compromise provided that we are around and able to take the anchor off the bow when prolonged storm force conditions are expected which is less than once a year for us.
Eric
Hi Eric,
A lot of good points, thanks. I will be covering much of this in part 2, particularly the mooring issue.