[Rhodes22-list] anchoring obsession

Peter Thorn pthorn at nc.rr.com
Sat Jan 14 12:53:25 EST 2006


Hi Mary Lou,

It's quite windy and blowing in cold here and could get as low as 28
tonight!   My skipper cancelled the NYRA winter series racing at Blackbeard
SC on the Neuse River, so I spent most of the morning messing around with
that Anchor Catenary program Ron attached.

Using my imagined problem of being stuck out in the Pamlico, out of sight of
land, in 20' of water over a muck bottom, using Raven's storm anchor (FX11,
16' chain, 150' 3/8" three stand nylon all out), and setting the Kellet at
75', here are the results:

        Kellet = 0#  =  95.2#
        Kellet = 10  = 131.5
        Kellet = 20  = 168.0

Now it's just a matter of trying to figure out what these results actually
mean.  I'm a builder, not a genius.  My guess is that, with the catenary
shape described by the graph shown on the catenary analyzer program, those
are the various horizontal thrust forces holding each particular catenary
profile shape in equilibrium against an infinitely strong anchor.  So, a 10#
Kellet provides a 38% increase and a 20# Kellet provides a 76% increase in
the force needed to hold each's catenary shape versus no Kellet at all.  If
my guess is right, then a Kellet does help quite a bit, adding significantly
to the "shock absorber effect" Rik wrote about.

Yes, we use a 10# steel mushroom anchor on 3/8 nylon as a lunch hook.  Works
well in any mud bottom and doesn't seem to snag on the stumps in Kerr Lake
the Army Corp of Engineers forgot to grub out before they filled the lake in
the '60s.

So... I'm thinking about modifying the 10# mushroom anchor with another
quick link (through its nylon rode eye) and a big S hook to ride down the
storm anchor rode as a make-shift Kellet.  This capital investment might be
a whopping $5, so there's not much to loose by trying.  A possible
enhancement is to melt down some lead tire weights on a Coleman stove
outside and pour 2 or 3 cups of hot lead weight into the mushroom bell.
Maybe that's too obsessive-- even for me.

The big worry is getting caught halfway to Ocracoke in a summer storm.  Out
in the middle you lose sight of land for about an hour and there's no place
to hide.  The wind driven waves are short and square.  They come up fast, so
having a method ready to keep the bow to the wind would be very good indeed.
That Boy Scout training never goes away.

Late last October at Silver Lake on Ocracoke at 5:30am a local storm hit our
trailer sailor group.  55 Knot winds were reported on WX.  Raven, with the
pop top cover up, heeled 30 degrees against her docklines.  It was gone in
30 minutes, but imagine being out in that!

PT







----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Lou Troy" <mltroy at verizon.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 11:41 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] anchoring obsession


> Peter,
> My purely theoretical take on this - having never used a kellet, is that
it
> might help - particularly if the winds were not very steady or if there
was
> wave action.
>
> Have you used the mushroom much as a lunch hook?
>
> Mary Lou
> 1991 R22 Fretless
> Ft. Washington, PA / Swan Creek, MD
>
>
>
> At 04:29 PM 1/13/2006 -0500, you wrote:
> >GlacierRon, Dave, Bill or anybody:
> >
> >You have me thinking about anchors and not getting any work done  :)
> >
> >Suppose I'm out in the Pamlico Sound, with it's mucky bottom in 20' of
water
> >and a squall comes up.  Would it help to use the lunch hook, a 10# steel
> >mushroom anchor with a 3/8" nylon rode, as a Kellet  shackled to the
storm
> >anchor rode?   The storm anchor is FX11 Fortress with 16' of 1/4" proof
coil
> >chain plus 3/8" three strand nylon rode?  Or, could it just make things
> >worse?
> >
> >Any thoughts welcome.
> >
> >PT
> >
> >__________________________________________________
> >Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>
> __________________________________________________
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