Rigging bridle/snubber/chain hook help please

[svindigo]

I am trying to noodle out the best way to rig a snubber for our ground tackle and would love to hear some of the collective wisdom.

Stats:
50' CC Ketch
60 Manson Supreme
380' 3/8" BBB

I am thinking that a 30' 3/4" line with a 3/8" chain hook is the way to go but would like to make it a bridle to allow for "trimming". Would you go with two lines and chain hooks (one from each fairlead) or would you try to end up with an eye splice in the middle of a long line with each end brought back to the boat? Or... would you go a completely different way. I appreciate any and all input.

Cheers
Ike

[sailingdog]

I would go with a bridle, but with each leg of the bridle attached separately, or two separate snubber lines. The main reason I would do this is for redundancy. If either line chafes through, the other should be able to hold the boat, provided you've attached them to a substantial enough hard point on the boat.—a mooring bitt or large cleat with substantial backing, or preferably tied into the hull structure somehow.

The line should be at least 30', but given the size of your boat, 75' might make more sense. If you have to let out some additional rode, 30' really isn't long enough to accommodate that... where as snubbers that are 75' long would allow you to let out at least 40' additional rode without having to remove the chain hook, which would require you to retreive the rode to get the chain hook off.

[svindigo]

Thanks, SD. I think I like the idea of two independent lines and chain hooks as well. Follow up question for you, on your snubber to chain hook attachment do you see much chafe? The chain hook I have is pretty rough and while I will file it smooth(er) it is still cast so is somewhat rough. Is this negligible compared to the fairlead chafe (I have lots of firehose to address that). No way to fit a thimble through the eye of hte hook. Just wondering.

Thx again
Ike

[sailingdog]

You could always wrap the chain hook eye with self-bonding silicon tape before splicing the line to it... the silicone tape will act as a chafe barrier.

The reason I don't like separate hooks and lines is that then you have an awful lot to keep a track of, and if one of the chainhooks works loose, it can pull the other one free by accident. Since only one will be under load really, you're not really giving the system real redundancy, since chain hooks if they're under load, then to fall off. If you have just one chain hook, the strain on it should keep it on the chain, regardless of whether you have one line or two connected to it.

If the chain hook eye is too small to take two 3/4" lines, then you may want to use two shackles to the eye and then splice each line to a shackle. Also, cover the eyesplice/shackle connection with silicone self-bonding tape to protect it from chafe.

[svindigo]

Ah, with persistence comes clarity. Thank you for that. I see the issue with unequal tension on 2 indpendent hooks. Hadn't considered that. The chain hook eye can just barely fit one 3/4" line so if I run an anchor shackle through that and attach two snubber lines with eye splices and thimbles I should be able to address lines and chafe. Do you see any hitches with that arrangement? I really appreciate your insight.

Thx
Ike

[TrueBlue]

My boat is smaller than Indigo, but unless anchored in one spot for days, I prefer a single 30 ft three strand bridle with a spliced loop at one end - secured to the port cleat, over the bulwark chock - fitted with a leather chafe guard. The chain hook floats on the mid point of the line and the bitter end is cleated to the starboard bow cleat with chafe guard over bulwark chock. This allows for any necessary trimming w/o much fuss.

[svindigo]

TrueBlue,
Thanks for the idea. Do you experience much chafe on the line by the hook?
Thx
Ike

[sailingdog]

TB-

Although that seems to be an elegant solution, the problem I see with that is that if either side chafes, you lose the snubber completely. In a storm, I can see it chafing through at the chain hook. The shock loading on the chain could cause it to rip out of the boat.

[camaraderie]

Ike... on a similar size boat we use two docking lines of 3 strand nylon and attach the loops to a large anchor shackle which we then put throuh the eye in the chain hook using the shackle pin. This eliminates most of the chafe since you can get nice, smooth anchor shackles and the pin (wired closed) allows the hook to rotate on it. Has been an ideal solution for us as it balances out the load to 2 cleats and we have redundancy if a line should part.

[sailingdog]

Cam's suggestion works for me...since it's basically along the same lines as my idea. The large anchor shackle should be strong enough to have a high enough SWL to handle the chain in question.