We’re slowly making our way through the systems on the boat that are necessary for the shake down trip to Catalina in August. This weekend’s project was sorting out the anchor locker and determining just what’s in there. Having only anchored a couple of times in Felicità, we didn’t really know what we had.
Here’s what we discovered. We don’t have an anchor locker faucet and hose (as advertised in the boat listing)–UGH. After we pulled everything out, it was disgusting down there! Sure would be nice to be able to rinse the muddy anchor off every time we pull it up. Add another project to the list…
We also determined that we have 120 of chain on our primary anchor that sits in the bow roller. And, the second anchor has about 20 feet of chain and 90 feet of rode (landlubber translation: rope). John Kretschmer suggests we carry 200 ft of chain and 200 ft of rode for offshore sailing. And that the chain be 3/8 inch. Put that on the project list, too (cha ching, cha ching, cha ching).
Tim put zip ties every 20 feet (1 at 20 feet, 2 at 40 feet, 3 at 60 feet, etc.) so that we can keep track of how much we’re letting out. There was a gauge on our charter boat this Spring, but like most gauges on boats, it did not seem accurate. The zip tie method is rudimentary, but reliable (until they fall off!).
We also confirmed the chain hook we bought in the Caribbean fits our chain. Yea! We were told that this is a great hook, but that you can’t find this kind in the USA. So, we drove all over Grenada looking for one. This was the only size we could find… and were a little afraid it was not big enough. Looking forward to trying this out as the hooks we’ve used so far seem to fall off easily.
Landlubber translation: A chain hook is a piece of kit used to connect a snubber to the chain when at anchor. A snubber is a short length of line attached to the chain and a strong point on the boat. Its purpose is to take the load off the windlass (the piece of equipment used to take the anchor up and down) and keep the chain from rattling around in the bow roller. Comes in very handy when you are trying to sleep!