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Ground Tackle for PSC 34

7K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  elliowb 
#1 ·
One of my winter projects is to review and upgrade the ground tackle on my 1994 PSC34. The boat came with a SL Sea Tiger 555 windlass, a primary 35lb CQR with 93 feet of 5/16" 3B chain with additional rope rode (I haven't measured the length of it yet), and a lunch hook that appears to be a 22lb Lewmar Delta with about 7 feet of chain and about a 100 feet of rope rode.

At some point in the next 5 years, I would like to do offshore cruising. So, I want to make sure that I have excellent ground tackle.

When WM had a sale going I purchased a 45lb Mantus that I had hoped would replace the primary anchor. However, I've tried to fit it on the bowsprit anchor roller and it appears to be too large. It impinges on the bobstay and doesn't secure well to the sprit and is so large that it won't allow for easy use of the second anchor.

Before I return it for the next size down (35lb), have any of you PSC34 owners fit a Mantus 35lb anchor on your boat?

Also, I think that I probably need double the amount of chain on the primary anchor. I'm considering getting 200 feet of 5/16" G4. Does this sound reasonable for the PSC34?

When hauling in the current 3B chain with the 555, the chain does not release from the gypsy and drop down into the chain locker. Any suggestions here. It appears to be a rope/chain gypsy and the only SL gypsies that handle both appear to be for larger chain, so maybe the gypsy is not sized appropriately?

One last question, at least for the moment, do other PSC34 owners have severe chafe on the teak just aft of the anchor roller on the bowsprit? It seems that the windlass should actually be higher to prevent the chafe.

Below is a picture of the current chain and my, unsuccessful, attempt to fit the 45lb Mantus.
 

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#2 ·
Well...I can't address the particular issues you're having with fitting the anchor on the roller. We don't have a platform/bowsprit on Jo Beth. Our dual roller is in the stemhead fitting and we have a 44lb Rocna that snuggles in just fine.

As to your rodes, for comparison, we have 150' of 5/16" chain, (I don't recall offhand if it's BBB, etc.), with 150' of 1/2" 3-strand nylon rode on the Rocna. Our secondary, or 'lunch hook' is a Fortress (the correct one for the boat length) on 35' of 5/16" chain and 150' of 1/2" 3-strand nylon. We're going to replace the primary chain in a couple of years and I think I'm going to increase the chain to 200' and shorten the nylon by 50' or even 100'. Still mulling this around.

We have a Lofrans Tigress 'up-only' windlass, with a chain gypsy on one side and a drum on the other. Personally, I've never been a fan of the 'combo' gypsy units. It does sound like your chain and gypsy are likely mismatched, causing the issue you describe. Sorry I can't offer anything more concrete.
 
#3 ·
Thanks so much for your response Bill and Lisa. Although I haven't laid hands on a Rocna, my guess is that it is much heavier built than the Mantus. Maybe that's why I'm having problems with the same weight Mantus. I think I'll see if I can find a Rocna that I can compare with the Mantus. The Mantus sizing chart suggests that the PSC34 is at the upper end of the 35lb, that's why I opted for the 45lb.

Also, thank you for your thoughts on the amount of chain. I think that I'll go with 200' as well. BTW, just noticed that on Defender the G4 is about 10% cheaper than the BBB. Even though it's got a higher working load, it's a bit lighter.

I'm going to go pull the gypsy off the windlass tomorrow so that I can find a part number and figure out if I need a new gypsy.
 
#4 ·
Like svjobeth we do not have the bowsprit platform on Irish Eyes, so I can't help you there.

We carry two anchors on the bow and started off with a 20 lb CQR and a 35 lb Delta. The CQR was replaced with a 44 lb Bruce and the Delta was later replaced with a 44 lb Rocna. The Rocna is now on 100 ft of 5/16" BBB and 170 of 5/8" nylon and is most often used. The Bruce is on 50 ft of 5/16" BBB and 182 ft of 5/8" nylon. In 12 years of cruising from the Chesapeake Bay to the Bahamas there have been few times that we could have used more than the 100 ft of chain that we have.

On the stern is a Fortress FX-16 on 25 ft of 5/16" BBB and 250 ft of 1/2" nylon that has been used a few times to recover from navigational misadventures.

Our Muir 850 vertical windlass has both a rope capstan and a chain gypsy. The gypsy is stamped 5/16 BBB.

We tried to fit the pattern of a 45 lb Mantus on the bow, but its roll bar struck the bow pulpit tubing under the combined red/green light. There is picture in the last post of this thread http://www.sailnet.com/forums/pacific-seacraft/100827-new-generation-anchor-37-a.html .

Bill Murdoch
1988 PSC 34
Irish Eyes
Irish Eyes to the Bahamas
 
#5 ·
Thanks Bill (seems there are a lot of us Bills that are also Crealock owners. I guess if you're named Bill you just know a great boat when you see one :wink). So, given what you use, it sounds like I'm headed in the right direction.

I just went back over to the boat earlier today and checked the gypsy. It's a RCB70, which according to S-L is for rope/chain and fits 3/8" G4 or BBB and most European 10mm. I don't find any 5/16 gypsies on the only website that has any legacy parts for the 555.

So, what I'm thinking is that I may stick with the gypsy and order 3/8" chain. However, I don't want to overload my bow. Two hundred feet of 5/16 is in the neighborhood of 200 pounds. So, if I simply get 200 pounds of 3/8, would that be equivalent in terms of giving me good holding power. It would be about 125 feet of 3/8, so 75 feet less. I could make up the difference in length with 8 strand nylon. Right? Any down side to making the substitution? I certainly don't need the extra strength of the 3/8th, just the same weight as the 5/16??
 
#7 ·
Indigo does not have the bowsprit either. We carry a 44lb Rocna with 250' 5/16 chain, and the weight hasn't been a problem. In mexico we rarely ever put out more than 125' but we are almost always anchored in 25' or less water. If we go to the pacific islands I think 250' will be just about right. If we stayed here I could lop off 75'. It all depends where you think you will be.
 
#10 ·
Thanks Brian. I definitely plan on getting outside of the Great Lakes and down to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Possibly further afield, but for the time being that is fairly far in the future and is much less probable.
 
#13 ·
My two cents.... I have a Ronca 33 anchor that fits perfectly on the roller. I attach the anchor to Hush with 90 foot of 5/16 chain HT and 150 foot of 5/8 inch three strand nylon. I kept the factory installed Muir Hercules windlass that I use for exercise (its manual). From reading all the different posts, I am sure you see that choices for ground tackle are varied as there are destinations to sail to.

As a note, I elected to listen to the Factory recommendations regarding anchor size. We have a 33 pound hook that has never failed. Have been on the hook in 40 to 50 kt winds last winter. No problem holding. I wanted to keep the anchor weight in control so Hush wasn't running bow down. Works well for us.
 
#14 ·
I have 93 PSC 34 that I am outfitting. Apparently they came with or without the bow pulpit platform. Unfortunately I don't have it. The bow rollers are big but so close together that I don't see how one would fit two anchors on them. I have a 33# Bruce and 35# CQR but there is no way they will both fit on. Anyone know what the factory was thinking about this?
 
#15 ·
Aliddell,
Our 34 doesn't have the bow platform, and it came with two CQRs (a 35# and a 25#) both on the bow. Because the CQR plows pivot, the 25s plow was pulled to the side and tied off to make room for the main anchor on the other roller. It worked pretty well. However, we removed both and replaced them with a single 45# Rocna. The roll bar on the Rocna prevents another anchor, but in the three years cruising Mexico I have never felt like I needed another bow anchor, ever. We do have a stern anchor at the ready, just in case, but never use it. Many of the cruisers down here (much more experienced than us) carry only one oversized bow anchor as well. Personally, I sleep much better with one big, newer generation anchor set, than having a smaller anchor down with an even smaller anchor as a backup.
 
#16 ·
I'm a little late to the party, but I hope I'm not to late to help.
You've been getting good advice about the anchor & tackle so I'm on about your windlass problem. There should be a metal "stripper" that rides under the center of the gypsy sticking up close to the metal. This finger shaped piece of metal literally strips the chain or line from the gypsy allowing it to fall into the hole. From your description, this "stripper" is missing or out of place (bent?).
Before you spend any money on chain, be sure the "stripper" is functioning properly.
 
#17 ·
In post #4 I described our anchor evolution. Right now we have both a 44 lb Rocna and a 44 lb genuine Bruce on the bow. They will fit. The Rocna is on the windlass side and launches first. The Bruce goes next. That said, in about 150 nights anchored out last year, the Bruce never got wet. I'm not sure it is needed, but I own it and find it hard to leave behind.



Bill Murdoch
1988 PSC 34
Irish Eyes
 
#18 ·
I'm not sure it is needed, but I own it and find it hard to leave behind.
Bill Murdoch
1988 PSC 34
Irish Eyes
I'm like you, the 44# Bruce was on the boat when I bought it, but it's never been wet. Silly thing. Even when I needed a #2, I used the Danforth.
I've finally lucked into a Fortress for a good price so I'm going to send that silly Bruce to a watery grave somewhere. I doubt I could get 10 bucks for it, even though it looks brand new. Those that like them already have one or two and those that don't, well..... .
Silly anchor
 
#21 ·
Our Bristol has only one anchor roller. I thought this was a problem but thought I would give it a try. Result is that we ended up using our Manson Supreme for more than 1000 nights of anchoring and never considered the need to drop a second anchor. Once we used our ancient Hi-tensile Danforth to hold us in one spot while the tide came up when some dummy (that would be me) managed to get us stuck ons one coral. Our brand new Fortress never saw the water.

I could see how a Supreme or Rocna might cause problems on boats with two anchors on rollers or with some bowsprits or platforms. We spent some time with Peter Smith, the guy who invented the Rocna, in Namibia. He had just picked up the prototype for the new Vulcan anchor which is like a Rocna but with no roll bar. He was confident it would work fine without the roll bar. It certainly would stow more neatly.
 
#22 ·
All this talk of the Rocna type anchors not fitting on a vessel's bow or with another anchor got me thinking. After something over three years of anchoring with our Rocna almost every night, I believe I would redesign my bow roller set up to accommodate a Rocna before I'd ever think of sailing without one again.
As for bothering with having a second anchor on the bow, it's completely unnecessary, these days. IMO these "next gen" anchors have revolutionized the whole idea of anchoring, and even though I'll still carry at least 4 complete anchors and rodes, I sincerely doubt that any of the secondaries will ever get used with enough regularity for any of them to need to be on the bow.
Go ahead, build the boat to fit the anchor; it's worth it.
 
#23 ·
Just about finished with the rebuild of my Seatiger 555. Housing was blasted, chemical stripped (because of intense infiltration of grease in the casting), and powder coated. All new parts from SL Spares in the UK. Still have to fill it up with grease and install the bottom gasket and plate, but just about there. One step closer to having overhauled the ground tackle system. Still need new chain and rode and have to figure out how to completely secure the new Mantus.

Below are the before and after photos. I am going to try to put together a rebuild instruction. SL Spares instructions are very brief and the photos are terrible.
 

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#24 ·
I've been slowly working on a couple of off-season projects. I finally figured out how to secure the new Mantus 35lb anchor on my PSC 34 bow pulpit. I've posted a couple of pictures, so hopefully this will help any other PSC 34 owners who want to switch to a Mantus.

The problem that I encountered was that when hauled in tight, the inboard fluke of the anchor impinged on the bobstay, so that was unacceptable. I ordered Mantus' Anchor Mate in hopes that it would eliminate the problem. However, the Anchor Mate isn't designed to work with the somewhat custom bow pulpit and anchor roller on the PSC34. After trying a couple of alternatives, I decided that I needed to fit the Anchor Mate immediately next to the roller (and inside the metal brackets that hold the roller). I ordered a new, narrower roller, that allowed slightly more room for the Anchor Mate and used bronze bushings to keep the Anchor Mate tight, but still allow the roller to spin freely.

Untitled by Bill, on Flickr

Untitled by Bill, on Flickr

Untitled by Bill, on Flickr
 
#25 ·
Not on a PSC, but here is a picture of my Mantus Anchor Mate;


And here are some pics of the Anchor Mate with my Rocna;


 
#26 ·
Sorry, I didn't mean for my post to be stupid or a plug for the Mantus Anchor Mate. I genuinely puzzled for some time before figuring out how to mount this new anchor, just thought it might help another PSC owner with a the same anchor roller setup that I have. :(
 
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