On Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:39:57 -0500, "Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach at
gmail dotcom wrote:
From my limited perspective, it seems you'd have to be in a whirlpool, or on
the hook for months with a consistent direction of turn, to put any notable
number of turns on a chain.

That is definitely not the cause. We are rarely anchored more than a
day or two at a time, and hardly ever in whirlpools!

Then, unless you've got a hundred feet out in a 10' anchorage, as you
brought up the anchor, just letting it hang a bit once it comes off the
bottom should unwind any turns you've accumulated.


I believe that part of the problem occurrs when retrieving chain.

There seem to be some circumstances where the bow roller itself is a
possible culprit, trying to impart a small rotational force, probably
when the pull is slightly to one side.

There is another situation that can arise if you have a rode that is
partially 3 strand and partially chain. Under load, the 3 strand does
a certain amount of twisting and untwisting. That was an issue on my
old boat, and a swivel solved the problem.

If you've got substantial chain on the bottom, a swivel won't do you any
good until you tighten up, anyway, CF raising and waiting above.

What am I missing?

My biggest issue is with the anchor trying to come over the bow roller
sideways or backwards. This may be specific to my particular
configuration, but a swivel is definitely the cure.