Time to replace my anchor bridle and thinking of throwing the chain hook away and using a hitch or soft shackle instead. Looking for anyone's thoughts or comments.
Boat is a 30' wharram catamaran moored fore and aft in a tidal creek. Plan was to have two 5m 12mm nylon ropes, eye spliced around the bow beam going to a spliced eye with a thimble. Then joined by a shackle and then either a chain hook or a single length of rope for a hitch (rolling/camel/icicle/prussic/....) or soft shackle. Similar arrangement at the stern.
My current chain hook a wichard type has been known to drop off and also to reattach on other parts of the anchor chain forming loops.
So buy a better chain hook with a locking gate or trust my knots?
What about a nylon rope through the thimble and back on itself and made off with a cleat.
Select to expand quoteandycass said..
Time to replace my anchor bridle and thinking of throwing the chain hook away and using a hitch or soft shackle instead. Looking for anyone's thoughts or comments.
Boat is a 30' wharram catamaran moored fore and aft in a tidal creek. Plan was to have two 5m 12mm nylon ropes, eye spliced around the bow beam going to a spliced eye with a thimble. Then joined by a shackle and then either a chain hook or a single length of rope for a hitch (rolling/camel/icicle/prussic/....) or soft shackle. Similar arrangement at the stern.
My current chain hook a wichard type has been known to drop off and also to reattach on other parts of the anchor chain forming loops.
So buy a better chain hook with a locking gate or trust my knots?
I assume that you leave a meter or so of slack chain behind the hook, and set the bridle short enough that the hook is always above the ground. I have always just used an open grab hook on the 3 cats that i have owned over a 25 year period and i have never dropped the hook. I don't know what is going on with your arrangement. I used to sometimes loose the hook when I was setting it, but soon worked out that you can keep enough tension on the bridle leg as you feed it out if you use a loop of line over one side of the bridle and feed it out as you drop,
Ive been using Stainless Steel Asymmetric Snap Hook on my bridle for the last couple of seasons and have had no issues thus far , it saves having to do what phoenix was explaining with open hook.
Like PhoenixStar, I've never had a problem with using just a chain hook.
FYI, I use a snubber on each bridle line:
blog.arribasail.com/2013/02/tech-reducing-shock-loads-to-your-anchor.html
just use a ropedog to connect the bridle to the chain or rope, very reliable and only takes a few seconds to tie or move, make a ropedog up with about 2m of line, put a thimble or figure 8 knot in the center and plait the 2 tails onto your anchor line, crossing over about seven times, finish with a reef knot.
Mantus chain hook
