Windlasses, chain, and snubbers

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Windlass

A good windlass is a significant safety item.

On a boat of any size, you will be better off with a power windlass.  You'll be safer because you can (and therefore, will) easily move if you're not happy with how your anchor set, or if someone anchors too close to you.  It's no more work to anchor in deeper water, which gives you more room and gets you away from the crowds - which is a safety issue, incidentally.

If you have to get out in a hurry, you can.  You can also use your windlass to launch and retrieve your dinghy, or to manage other heavy items like a fuel drum, all with no physical effort except pushing the button.

We have had electric windlasses on Achates and RED, and never had any problems with either of them.  Some people swear by hydraulic windlasses, but I don't like them unless you are using hydraulics for other things on your vessel.  Hydraulics are heavy, leak-prone, and are almost always driven by the main engine, which means you haven't any redundancy.

Our electric windlass works off our batteries if we want to sail off the anchor or hoist the dinghy (we don't have to start the engine as with a hydraulic), and we can supplement the batteries by starting either the genset or the main engine.  This seems more convenient and fault-tolerant to me than a hydraulic system.

We installed a Lighthouse 1501DWG on RED; this easily handles the anchoring loads, plus, with two chain gipsies and two warping drums, we can launch either or both of our anchors instantly, as well as pull lines for various jobs with either of the warping drums.  It wasn't cheap, but it's a magnificent and well-designed piece of gear.

Chain

Any anchoring system needs to have a reasonable length of chain between the anchor and the vessel.  If you're anchoring in coral, you'll be happiest with all chain.

We use 5/16" High Test chain on RED; it has a breaking strength of about 12,000 pounds and a safe working load of 3,900 pounds.  That's quite a bit stronger than 3/8" BBB ("triple-B") chain, with a breaking strength of 11,000 pounds and a safe working load of less than 3,000 pounds.

Because the 5/16" chain is lighter, you can carry more of it, and thereby put out more scope.

We carry two 300 foot chain rodes on RED.

Snubbers

A snubber is an elastic member between your anchor chain and your vessel.  It has several purposes:

• To take the strain off of your windlass so that you don' t break it
• To stretch when your anchor comes under load so that you don't snatch the anchor out of the bottom, or break something because of the sudden shock load
• To keep noise from the chain being dragged across the bottom from being transmitted into the boat

We have a dedicated rope locker right at the bow that holds 300 feet of 3/4" three-strand nylon.  This makes a superb snubber; the three-strand nylon is more elastic than double-braid, it's incredibly strong, reasonably chafe-resistant, and I can put out as much snubber as I want.  

How long should a snubber be?

We rarely run less than 20 feet of snubber, and often have 50 or 60 feet (or more) out.  This is a great shock absorber and really eases the ride when you're in a bumpy anchorage.  It's great insurance against breaking gear or dragging anchor because the strain is taken up gently, which puts far less strain on your anchor and chain.

Attaching the snubber to your chain

The very best way to attach your snubber to your anchor chain is to use a Rolling Hitch.  If you tie it correctly - and it's not difficult - it will never slip or jam, and it won't damage the galvanizing on your chain, either.

Most boats use chain claws of one type or another to attach snubbers.  We used to, but after having to pound it off with a hammer when it jammed a few times, and after seeing what was left of a friend's broken chain claw, I started using a rolling hitch.  I've never looked back.

Common mistakes

Most boats run snubbers that are too short and too light for their boat.  10 feet of 1/2" snubber is not adequate for a 20 ton sailboat.

Manual windlasses are slow and lots of work.  The lever-action models only retrieve about 3 inches of chain per stroke, so you can imagine how long it takes to weigh the anchor if you're in deep water!  Not to mention, you'll be tired when you finish.  Our Lighthouse retrieves 30-60 feet/minute (or thereabouts) and in the Marshall Islands we thought nothing of anchoring in 80 feet or deeper spots.  If you only have a manual windlass, you avoid these spots at all costs.

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