Page 112 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

have anything directly to do with anchoring, but Nylon Warnings
they can nonetheless be crucial to rode selection for
your boat. The first is cost: Three-strand nylon is Nylon warning #1
cheap compared to chain. For the yacht-poor sailor, Nylon is stronger than Dacron, but only when it
is dry; unlike Dacron, it becomes 10 to 15 percent
this alone would make rope attractive—if there were weaker when it is wet.
a way to prevent chafe.
The second factor is weight. Particularly in Nylon warning #2
Nylon is significantly more susceptible to chafe
light-displacement boats, anchor chain when stowed than Dacron. Its greater elasticity is considered a
will trim the hull down at the bow. This cuts speed, plus in preventing shock loads in mooring lines,
exaggerates weather helm, and makes nose-dives but it stretches where it passes through chocks.
The resulting movement produces chafe. (see
more likely. To compound matters, the chain when “Quick Chafe Gear,” in Chapter 12, page 375).
deployed will leave the bow too buoyant, so that the Nylon warning #3
boat will be inclined to sail around on its anchor. Nylon is also susceptible to UV degradation.
If your boat is heavy enough and full enough
forward that chain doesn’t affect your trim, then an Nylon warning #4
If nylon breaks at maximum strength, it snaps
all-chain rode with snubber can be a good (if expen- back at approximately 700 feet per second. Yikes.
sive) way to go. To recap, nylon is weaker when it is wet,
But for the majority of boats afloat, there’s a doesn’t do well in sunlight, is easily chafed, and
can hit you faster than some rifle bullets if it
strong argument for combining rope and chain. Put breaks. It is, in short, the worst possible material
enough chain at the lower end to provide catenary for mooring and anchor lines. It is also the best,
and abrasion resistance down there, and let the because it can absorb energy by stretching. We
just have to deal with its (many) vices, in order to
rest of the rode be strong, resilient, light, inexpen- take advantage of its one virtue.
sive rope. To avoid chafe at the upper end, see to it You can improve the chafe resistance of nylon,
that your hawse or roller has smooth, wide-radiused or of any other material, by getting the smooth-
sides, and that the rope cannot jump free under side est, widest radius chocks you can, and by locat-
ing mooring cleats as close as possible to those
loads. You can also cushion the rope with a length of chocks. You can also, as noted above, make use
split heavy-duty hose positioned to take the chafe. of snubbers.
Finally, always hitch a separate rope snubber onto
the rode for insurance, just as with chain. 3. When hoisting the anchor, you run into
This brings us at last to the Chain Splice, for we trouble when the thimble hits the bow roller or
must have a way to join these two materials. The hawse, and again when it reaches the winch—
most often-seen way to do this is to Eyesplice the you have to wrestle it past both points.
rope around a thimble, then shackle the thimble
to the chain. It’s an easy method, but it has several This is why some authorities recommend a
drawbacks: maximum chain length of approximately the draft
of the boat plus the freeboard at the bow. With that
1. The thimble is inclined to chafe the rope, or length of chain, your anchor will have broken out
to pop out, or both. You can seize the thimble to by the time the thimble reaches the hangup points,
the rope, but seizings can chafe away, too. and it’ll be somewhat less of a struggle to wrestle the
thimble past them.
2. The shackle can also chafe the rope, despite But for many boats, this means only 10 feet or
the presence of the thimble. In any event, it’s so of chain, too little for adequate catenary or chafe
one more piece that can fail; a primary rule of protection. I recommend a chain section of about
rigging is to eliminate all possible links. half your average scope. So, if the anchorages in

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