[C320-list] Anchor swivel Yes or no?

[Doug Treff]

Here's my thing... You said that you're running 30 feet of chain, so one
could readily assume that the remainder of your rode is nylon line.
There  should be plenty of twist in that portion of the rode to negate
needing a swivel. And besides - how often do you anchor in one place
longer than overnight? That's the real use case for swivels. If you're
pulling the anchor and moving the boat after one or two nights, the
twist will undo itself when you raise anchor.

I had a similar setup when I bought September Song. In fact, it was
EXACTLY the same setup, including the Danforth style anchor. It was
horrible. I was always having trouble getting that thing to set, and
when I did, I would drag about half the time. I changed ONLY the anchor
- I went with Mantus - and since then I am extremely happy with my
anchoring setup. Sets on the first try and holds well almost always.

So my advice: Forget about a swivel. Ditch that Danforth and get a
better anchor. I can tell you I love the Mantus but I ended up needing
to install the extended anchor roller since my boat is a 1996 and it had
the short roller. The tip of the anchor was tapping against the side of
the bow when I was underway and I was concerned that it might chip the
fiberglass.

Dragging anchor is similar to running aground. There are boaters who
have dragged anchor, and there are boaters who WILL drag anchor.
Sometimes it just happens. But it should not be a regular occurrence.

Here's the link to that Practical Sailor article about swivels:
http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/Broken-Anchor-Swivels-11783-1.html

And another: https://www.morganscloud.com/2010/09/12/anchor-swivels/

Hope all this helps!

--
Doug Treff
September Song #350
doug at treff.us


On Thu, Mar 2, 2017, at 09:29 AM, Scott Westwood wrote:
> I tried to search and found several thoughts on the subject of anchor
> swivels.
> Our boat came with 22 Danforth and about 20 ft of 1/4 chain that is now
> not usable/rusty.  The second anchor is in better overall condition with
> 20 ft of 1/4 chain and also has 22 Danforth.
> We have had 2 times in strong winds that the anchor didn't hold.  Twice
> it took 10 attempts and just moved on and found better holding.  NOTE:
> This was when we first got the boat and the rode was marked incorrectly. 
> Now (with proper scope) we have not drug since, but....
> Reason for email:  Because of a closeout sale I could not resist, I have
> 30 ft of 3/8 chain now and (so far) plan to keep the same anchors. Bit of
> overkill I know but I like the added weight.  The question I have is
> swivel or no swivel.  I am leaning to no swivel for added safety but
> looking for any thoughts I might be missing?  We have muddy bottoms
> around here.
> NOTE: I know the issue with added chain weight on the bow but I am still
> assessing those affects.  May stow second anchor aft if becomes an
> issue...
> Pros:1. Avoids twist.2. Maybe help keep dug in???
> Cons:1. introduces a week link (I was thinking of going with 1/2" swivel-
> next size up)
> Any thoughts?
> Thanks,
> Scott Westwood scottwestwood at bellsouth.net H (919)-362-8538    C
> (919)-618-7185