"Bob" wrote in message
...
Wilbur Hubbard (wishing I were about forty years younger)


I dont want to waste my time finding your original post. However, the
one I recall that cought my eye was your statment that anchor rode
should be 3 strand nylon.

Here I completly disagree in one aspect. Yes, 3 strand is okay for day
anchors in winds below 20 k how ever in conditions where "extream"
loads are experinced nylon double braid is best. Why? It wont hockle
and part do to the hockle. Yes double braid has less stretch but if
you ballance the correct working load, length, and chain/line ratio it
will counter the reduced stratch. Your ground tackle In a survival
situation should be double braid not 3 strand. And i dont give a ****
what Ocean Navigator or Cruising WOrld mag you quote. Recreational
sailing advice/best practices is driven by marketing stratiges to get
you to buy a product or erronious tradition.

Do a review of the approperate case studies and youll find that rodes
part in three typical places:
1) Chafe point where line gets fair lead through a closed chock on
deck. ( this can be cured)
2) standing part of line due to hockle (this can be cured with double
braid)
3) eye splice/shackle connection to chain. (this can be cured)

This aint briain surgury its jsut plain riggin.

BOb




More lack of experience with small sailboats noted. Now, I know why Joe
thinks you're woefully uninformed.

First off, I never said "all nylon rode" as I've always been a proponent of
eight to ten feet of heavy chain attached to the anchor then a shackle and
eye-spliced nylon around a thimble. Now that I'm well off and retired I even
use stainless steel chain lengths.

An all-chain rode (and you need at least two minimum, preferable three at
the ready) is untenable because of way too much weight which will compromise
a small vessel's ability to sail.

Hockling is NO PROBLEM unless you anchor for days or weeks at a time and go
round and round on the anchor. Even then a wise sailor like myself will have
a swivel attached to the rode so it can't twist and hockle. ANY time you see
a hockled rode you are seeing ineptitude and neglect. Wake up!

Three-strand is easy to eye splice. Double-braid is a real pain in the ass.
Three-strand is more stretchy which is exactly what one wants in an anchor
rode to reduce shock loads on attachment points. Three-strand molds and
mildews far less. Three strand is less expensive. Only an ignorant sailor
thinks double-braid is the superior choice for an anchor rode.


Wilbur Hubbard