Snubber Line

[tsingtao]

Want to make a proper snubber line for my 15,000 lb (20,000 full everything) Gulf 32. Have 300 feet of 3/8 all chain rode. Questions -- Size and length of snubber line? Chain hook vs carabine? Would appreciate expert advice. Thanks.

[btrayfors]

30' of 1/2" 3-strand nylon, spliced to a 3/8" galvanized chain hook.

Make up two of them, since in heavier wind conditions it often makes sense to deploy one on each side of the bow.

Bill

[tsingtao]

Bill,
Is there a reason for not using carabiners?? Have had chain hooks "fall off" in light conditions and seems like if you were using two one would always be tensioned and the other not.

[camaraderie]

Two helps keep the boat from swinging on anchor quite so much. Also provides a measure of safety if one lets go. I put a shackle on the chain hook and then buy 2 dock lines with prespliced loops...putting the loops on the shackle...one hook...2 lines. Carabiners can jam when you need to get them off quickly to haul the anchor.

[Boasun]

Originally Posted by tsingtao

Bill,
Is there a reason for not using carabiners?? Have had chain hooks "fall off" in light conditions and seems like if you were using two one would always be tensioned and the other not.

If you mouse the chain hook it won't fall off. To mouse one is to put a seizing around the end of the hook and back to the main body of it. Put on right the hook will never bounce off the chain. And a sharp knife will remove the mousing when you need too. It is only a temptorary seizing thus you cut it off when finished with it.
Carabiners don't have the same BS (breaking strain not bull Sh*t) that a chain hook has. There are pelican hooks that will stand up to the strain much better then a carabiner. In fact on the larger vessels the pelican hook is used to secure the anchor after it set or housed.
I can throw a mousing on a hook in less then a minute. But then I have been doing it for many years.

[tsingtao]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Off to the candy store. Appreciate the advise. Thanks

[donradclife]

Next time you are in Australia, go into any chandlery and buy a few stainless steel chainhooks. They are not expensive, and will last forever. It mystifies me why you can't buy them in the US. One half-inch line sounds about right for your size boat, as you want the snubber to stretch a lot.

[Vasco]

Stainless chainhooks are available in the States. I bought one for $16 in St. Augustine last fall.

[SanderO]

I am using a heavy duty rubber compensator with 40' - 1" double braid nylon. It has and eye splice and I use a stainless steel reefing hook which is a long U with a loop like a hook similar to this one: http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=22953F but with a more close and longer U. The hook goes THROUGH the chain and the possibility of falling off is nil. My chain is 5/16", the hook material is 3/8" so it is unlikely it will fail if the chain holds.

I attach the hook to the chain just forward of the windlass and hold the snubber line up as I let more chain out and it passes over the bow roller until in it is well below the water. Then I tie of the bitter end using the windlass drum as a fair lead. The cleats are well aft of the drum so the strain on the windlass is minimal. The snubber lines pass over the chafe free roller and not through chocks.

If the boat shears the lead is fair and won't chade in the bow either.

The compensator adds more stretch and tells me if the anchor is set. If it is it will stretch and untwist a bit under load. Twenty or 30 feet of nylon might strech under load, but you can't see it... and the loading means the anchor is dug in. The compensator works like an anchor "tell tale".

jef
sv shiva

[Lucky Jack]

In response to the tendency of a chain hook to come off when the snubber line is slack, I have been successfully using a West Marine velcro tie for mousing. It keeps the hardware in place when the line is slack and is easily installed or removed by hand when time is of the essence. Since the snubber stays in the upper water column, it doesn't seem likely to be scraped off and has been working successfully for me so far. I have much more confidence in this rig than a carabiner. Carabiners can come off when twisted and typically represent a "weak link" in most rigging systems.