questions about anchor rode/thimbles

H

haakebecks

New member
So I am getting ready to pull the trigger and order up new grand tackle from Defender, unless you folks can steer me to a cheaper/better vendor.

I'm going with 250 feet of 1/2 8 plait and 50 of 1/4 G4 HT chain. I'll be doing a chain to rope splice. My question is on the other end of the rope. Are most of you folks using a thimble and then going using a shackle to connect that to the eye bolt in the anchor locker or are you doing something else?
 
You may not want a thimble if you are using a windlass, even at the bitter end. Some folks switch ends every few years--to even the wear on the rode.
I tie a bowline in the bitter end, then I use 1/4" line --about 10 feet of it. I then thread the line thru the eye bolt, back thru the bowline, back thru the eye bolt nut, several times. This way if you need to access the end of the line, it can be brought to the deck, and even cut fast if you have to cut and run rapidly--the fine line can be cut faster than the full 1/2" line. If I have a windlass, (which I currently don't), I put a tight eye splice in the bitter end, and then do the same as above, so the bitter end could be brought up thru the windlass.
 
I use one of these swivels between the chain and anchor: Chicago Hardware 1/2" Swivel. It's worked well. Shackle on one end, swivel pin on t'other. I tried to use the next size up, but that was too big for the chain.

I stay away from the fancy ones (Suncor, etc.) because I read of them breaking. That's probably been cured or was a ramdon failure, but just a plain galvanized one has held for years.

I changed to braided anchor line, and found I had to soak it before the windlass would pull it in. Dumping it into the ocean fixed the problem.

Note that Defenders URLs doesn't work well with my posts. So you've got the URL AND the description. They have a similar one from WorldWide Enterprises at half the price. You make the choice.

Boris
 
haakebecks":3gfmro9y said:
My question is on the other end of the rope. Are most of you folks using a thimble and then going using a shackle to connect that to the eye bolt in the anchor locker or are you doing something else?
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The eye bolt in my anchor locker was extremely not up to the task*, so what I have done (unless/until I do something better) is to tie a piece of hardwood onto the bitter end. It's something like a 1" x 2" x 8". I made two round turns and a couple of half hitches. I can turn it parallel with the rode and juuuust fit it through the deck pipe, but I don't think it will come back out unless I want it to. At least, it's a risk I'm okay with taking (of course too, one could use a disk or something that would not fit through the deck pipe).

At some point I may put in an adequate eye-bolt or similar; possibly an eye nut on the after side of the bow eye.

Sunbeam

* That is, it was a rather dainty eye-bolt, and was fastened through the not-all-that-strong bulkhead that divides the anchor locker from the V-berth with a bit of silicone and a finishing washer. I removed it and filled the hole (which would have allowed water into the berth cushion area).
 
As always, I appreciate all of the great advice and feedback. Sounds like a bowline with some 1/4 is a cheaper/easier solution.

Thanks!

That leads me to my second question. Current anchor is a 10kg/22lb Bruce knock-off. Was leaning towards a Manson Supreme, but the 25lb Manson seems substantially larger than the Bruce. Are most of you running 25lb Manson Supremes on 25 Classics/26 Ventures or is the 15lb adequate?
 
haakebecks":60eyfy55 said:
As always, I appreciate all of the great advice and feedback. Sounds like a bowline with some 1/4 is a cheaper/easier solution.

Thanks!

That leads me to my second question. Current anchor is a 10kg/22lb Bruce knock-off. Was leaning towards a Manson Supreme, but the 25lb Manson seems substantially larger than the Bruce. Are most of you running 25lb Manson Supremes on 25 Classics/26 Ventures or is the 15lb adequate?
Click to expand...



I secured with a bowline to the u-bolt in my anchor locker. Don't forget to tie off the loose end with some cord or electrical tape so the gremlins can't undo it.
I am very happy with my 15lb Manson Supreme, but then my boat is a 22. The Manson anchor chart will tell you what a 15lb'er is good for. But I would be tempted to go next size up for your boat. You may want to check your roller/bale clearance. If you look in my album under mods, you will see my clearance.

Martin.
 
We used the 25# Manson Supreme on our 25. Excellent anchor, and in my opinion far better than the Bruce. I realize the Bruce--or Bruce knock off--many of which are cast--and more likely to fail) are popular in the PNW. Not as popular on the East Coast.

In the tests I did in sand and mud, shell, the Mansom Supreme out preformed the Danforth HT, the Fortress --equal to the Fortress 15 X--much larger than the C Dory usually carry, Delta, Northill. The Manson set faster than the Larger Fortress did.
 
thataway":346ee5tx said:
We used the 25# Manson Supreme on our 25. Excellent anchor, and in my opinion far better than the Bruce. I realize the Bruce--or Bruce knock off--many of which are cast--and more likely to fail) are popular in the PNW. Not as popular on the East Coast.

In the tests I did in sand and mud, shell, the Mansom Supreme out preformed the Danforth HT, the Fortress --equal to the Fortress 15 X--much larger than the C Dory usually carry, Delta, Northill. The Manson set faster than the Larger Fortress did.
Click to expand...




I agree with Bob, the Manson really is Supreme. Worth mentioning is, this is the easiest setting anchor I have ever used when anchoring solo.

Martin.
 
haakebecks":7q125q8k said:
Did you all have to replace the bow roller for that or was there enough clearance from the hull with the standard roller?
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One note is that the "standard" (builder installed) bow roller has varied over the years. My 2002 boat came a smallish roller, and the Manson Supreme 15# was a poor fit at best. I replaced it with the roller that came on (at least one) 2008 22 Cruiser (Retriever), because Sam ("20Dauntless," owner of Retriever) had one on his boat and also had a Manson Supreme and I could see they fit well. The only difference is that I got the long version of the roller, so it covers a bit more of the foredeck going aft.

There is a previous thread concerning Manson Supremes and bow rollers in which there are model numbers, names and photos. It mostly concerned 22's/15# anchors, but still might be useful. Here is a link to it:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=18642

A few of the early photos in my posts to that thread show up as blanks, because I didn't then understand that rearranging my photo album(s) would "break" the links. However the photos are still in my album (I can't go back and edit the posts to fix the links).

Sunbeam
 
haakebecks":2etrkerv said:
Did you all have to replace the bow roller for that or was there enough clearance from the hull with the standard roller?
Click to expand...




I did not have to change the roller or bale on my 2009 boat.

Martin.
 
We did not change the bow roller--I may have put on a longer SS bail--don't remember. But as Sunbeam notes there are several different bow rollers on the boats.
 
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