Wayne.B wrote in
news
I use chain. :-)


Us, too! There's a whole "CHAIN LOCKER" full of it up under the
windlass...(c;

I've got all chain also but it would be nice to get rid of 300+ # in the
bow. This is in a 32' Gulf pilothouse and the weight is enough to put the
bow down a couple inches so rain water gathers on the deck inside of running
out the aft scuppers at dock.
Gordon.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote in
news
I use chain. :-)


Us, too! There's a whole "CHAIN LOCKER" full of it up under the
windlass...(c;

"Gordon" wrote:

I've got all chain also but it would be nice to get rid of 300+ # in the
bow. This is in a 32' Gulf pilothouse and the weight is enough to put the
bow down a couple inches so rain water gathers on the deck inside of running
out the aft scuppers at dock.
Gordon.

We've led ours down into the bilge

Or you could just put some other heavy stuff aft.

"Larry" wrote in message
. ..
Wayne.B wrote in
news
I use chain. :-)


Us, too! There's a whole "CHAIN LOCKER" full of it up under the
windlass...(c;



grandma Rosalie

Gordon wrote:
I've got all chain also but it would be nice to get rid of 300+ # in the
bow. This is in a 32' Gulf pilothouse and the weight is enough to put the
bow down a couple inches so rain water gathers on the deck inside of running
out the aft scuppers at dock.
Gordon.

"Larry" wrote in message
...

Wayne.B wrote in
news

I use chain. :-)


Us, too! There's a whole "CHAIN LOCKER" full of it up under the
windlass...(c;

I have 280 feet of chain but the PO rigged the cable locker so there is
a hawse pipe that leads down under the forward berth. The original
cable locker (forward of the berth and higher) is now where the spare
rode (rope with 20 feet of chain reside. The setup works very well and
keeps the weight low and farther aft.
The boat is a Truant 33 Pilothouse (similar to the Gulf)

Gaz

Gary wrote in news:wYDmf.85849$Gd6.46791
@pd7tw3no:

I have 280 feet of chain but the PO rigged the cable locker so there is
a hawse pipe that leads down under the forward berth. The original
cable locker (forward of the berth and higher) is now where the spare
rode (rope with 20 feet of chain reside. The setup works very well and
keeps the weight low and farther aft.
The boat is a Truant 33 Pilothouse (similar to the Gulf)



In the Amel ketch, the chain locker is forward of the forward watertight
bulkhead, at your feet in the vberth. It has a drain into the bilge,
somewhere in the bottom of it because when you flush it it runs the bilge
pump and water comes out the forward compartment shutoff valve from the
2nd watertight compartment, the head and v-berth forward of the salon's
forward watertight bulkhead, so I'd think the chain goes very deep into
the hull and piles up in the V of the bow down low. There are two huge
lockers on either side of the anchor chain windlass that are very deep,
deep enough so when you stand in them it's up to your thighs so all that
chain must be stored down centerline very deep between them.

Maybe, because it is so deep, it doesn't destabilize the trim up forward,
being under the waterline or almost.

Gordon wrote:
I've got all chain also but it would be nice to get rid of 300+ # in the
bow. This is in a 32' Gulf pilothouse and the weight is enough to put the
bow down a couple inches so rain water gathers on the deck inside of running
out the aft scuppers at dock.
Gordon.

Are you sure you need all that chain? Where do you cruise? Do you
have a powered windlass?

My previous boat came with a lot of chain (90-100 feet), plus heavy
nylon and a heavy anchor. After I downsized I was much happier. Now
I don't hesitate to haul and reset the anchor. On my current boat I
have an electric windlass, but I still feel better with only 50 feet
of chain, which I can easily haul by hand.

Jeff wrote in news
Are you sure you need all that chain?

Yes, it's all chain and very handy in many situations

Where do you cruise?

Offshore from the Caribbean to Wilimington, NC, homeport is Charleston.

Do you have a powered windlass?

Yes, the Amel comes with a very heavy duty, one-way, single footswitch
windlass. Taking it apart to grease it and inspect its brushes/commutator,
I noted it has windings and hookups for both directions. The powered
roller furler had been replaced by the first owner with a manual furler,
leaving two 250A contactors with nothing to do in the v-berth port cabinet
next to the single 250A contactor for this windlass. So, I rewired the
windlass for dual directions and added another foot button switch for down
as well as the original up haul. I commandeered one of the furler
contactors to provide the other direction, pulling in extra wires from the
windlass to it.

Back in the center cockpit, the electric furler had a control on the
console to wind the headsail in and out. That was commandeered to also
power the now-bi-directional windlass by remote control from the helmsman's
seat, both up and down. In a blow, in your skivvies, you can adjust the
anchor chain rode from the comfort of the covered cockpit without going up
forward to fight with the damnable windlass clutch to pay out more chain,
now....really handy. One person can also singlehand the anchor in and out
in badweather once the anchor is free of its safety lock for sea. This is
nice when you're shorthanded. The chain has never jammed in either the bow
roller, windlass' deep chain grooves or in the hawsepipe into the deep
chain locker with all that chain pulling down on it through the hawsepipe,
so this works very well.

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 13:39:28 -0500, Larry wrote:

you can adjust the
anchor chain rode from the comfort of the covered cockpit without going up
forward to fight with the damnable windlass clutch to pay out more chain,
now....really handy.

==========================

Handy perhaps, but not really a good idea. Every windlass
manufacturer that I know of recommends that the windlass be offloaded
at anchor, either with a mechanical chain stopper or a hook line.
Most serious cruisers that I know use a 10 to 20 nylon foot hook line
to get some shock absorption at the same time.

If you expose your windlass to shock loads and/or cyclic loading you
will eventually damage the gear train or shaft seals. Damage the
shaft seals and the gear train will follow.

Either way, chain stopper or hook line, you've got to go forward to
adjust the scope.

Larry wrote:
Jeff wrote in news

Are you sure you need all that chain?


Yes, it's all chain and very handy in many situations

Well, I was asking Gordon. Since the Amel is over 50 feet and
displaces about 20 tons, its not quite the same situation.

Gordon was asking about 300 feet of chain. I've anchored all over the
East Coast and can only think of a few places I've deployed more than
150 feet. Much of the time my 50 feet of chain on a nylon rode is
effectively all chain with a snubber.

Where do you cruise?

Offshore from the Caribbean to Wilimington, NC, homeport is Charleston.

Do you have a powered windlass?

....
In a blow, in your skivvies, you can adjust the
anchor chain rode from the comfort of the covered cockpit without going up
forward to fight with the damnable windlass clutch to pay out more chain,
now....really handy.

Do you leave the chain in the windlass as your primary stopper? I
didn't think that was recommended, especially in a blow. I always
transfer the load to a cleat, but on my cat I use a bridle, so I don't
do too many midnight adjustments. Even when I used all chain on a
heavier monohull, I usually had a snubber.

Jeff wrote in :

Well, I was asking Gordon. Since the Amel is over 50 feet and
displaces about 20 tons, its not quite the same situation.



Naw...we dream of the big Mari, but this boat is a Sharki 41 (39 if the
marina people are askin'...(c. They measured it.

It's not that big....just well made.