Swivel & chain anchor system

I have owned #79 for 8 years, sailed from the USVI to Italy with many stops in between and have 2 Bruce anchors in my rollers. I have no swivel on my 300 feet of 3/8 chain and my friend, on his 2nd lap around the world, said I need one. He also said his has only dragged anchor maybe 5 times in 35 years of living on board! So, I do take his advice seriously even though he is a writer, Cruising World's Captain Fatty, and I know he can be full of shit. Sorry for being so vulgar what I should say is he has been accused of using what he calls his "artistic license" to embellish stories.

The swivels I have seen at West Marine don't seem like they will be strong enough for my Whitby. Anyone know the number of LBs the swivel should be approved for?

Thanks in Advance,
Vincent
#79

Ahoy,
Our friend Fatty sails a Hughs 38 ft which has a displacement of 12506 lbs....the Whitby has 24112 lbs. Big differnece.......BUT... there is a lot of different opinions on which is better..........part chain and part rode .....or all of one or the other. It depends on where your sailing "I think". If you are sailing in the Indian ocean the last thing you want weighting down your bow is a 65 lb anchor and a 45 lb anchor.... and 300 ft of chain! If you are in the islands dealing with coral heads you need chain......how much ???? I've spent alot of money going to semanars and there has been very little agreement on this issue. Today I'm thinking 140ft of chain and 200 ft of rode.....but has I hear more "experts" that might change. The problem is we are cutting the dock lines Aug. 1st.

Good Luck and Happy Sails......rr

Ahoy,

Why not have both options? On our 45 lbs CQR we have 300 foot of the high test lighter weight chain.
On our Delta we have only 50 foot of chain and over 200 foot of rode for springiness.
We can interchange and mix and match. That is why there are two chain lockers. We have three snubbers:
Our casual every day snubber is very easy small and light duty, then a double bridle stronger one with abrasion protection,
and of course the SUPER SNUBBER that has dual bridle of 50 foot of New England Rope that has stretch and strength with double rubber elastic springs, ample abrasion guards and the French high strength alloy hooks to prevent chain hooks from coming off in light conditions.

We are also getting a much heavier Rocna www.rocna.com/ from New Zealand 25 Kilo? or 33?

These options allow for most conditions? Randy is absolutely correct about weight in the bow however.
Best to use the bow water tank up before going out in rough stuff.

Patrick and Lisa s/v Gaia

Ahoy again,

Regarding the swivel. They all look too weak for my taste. Chain is only as strong as the weakest link.
We did experience chain twist once. We let out all the 300 plus foot while at the dock and
carefully removed all twist. Believe that was due to the new chain not being put in correctly.
Thought of going out to deep water and letting out all chain to remove twists...but that thought
was erased with common sense and failure mode analysis shortly thereafter.

We have seen no twists since then. We have a old Maxwell Nilson Windlass with an new sand cast gypsy.
The guys in New Zealand really did a good job. Also got me a new electric motor. Wonderful! very very strong.

Patrick and Lisa Gaia

some photos of the Nilson Windlass above and below deck:

Patrick, Pat on S/V Fair Isle. I noticed your windlass appears to be parallel to the deck from the picture. I am installing a new Maxwell much like yours and it is specifying that the windlass needs to be level, thus requiring a wedge 1/2" to 1 1/2" inclining above and below deck. Has your installation caused any binding or chain alignment issues? Thanks.