PART SEVEN: ANCHORING SYSTEMS
One unusual and compact stainless
swivel is the Ultra Swivel, available from
Quickline USA. The swivel is a ball-socket
arrangement that also allows a toggling
action (Figure 23-8).Rope
As discussed earlier, one of rope’s advantages
is that it has stretch, or elasticity, to absorb
shock. There are several schools of thought
on what makes the best material for anchor
rode. What you want is a tough, relatively
inexpensive line that has as much stretch
as possible. This means nylon, and of the
common nylon-line configurations, simple
three-strand has the most stretch. Plaited or
jacketed construction will work, but I can’tsee justifying the extra cost or the reduction
in stretchiness, except on large boats, where
double-braid can be easier to handle, or for
Yale Brait line (which we’ll consider shortly).
Don’t use economy three-strand, however;
use the best-quality three-strand you can find.
The good stuff is softer and more supple, so it
stows and handles more easily.Rope Rode Terms
The terminology for anchor rodes has be-
come rather sloppy. It used to be that the
proper name for a rope anchor line less than
about^5 / 8 inch diameter (16 mm) was anchor
warp. Anchor ropes larger than this were
generally termed anchor cables. The word
cablealso refers to a measure of distance (as
we’ve seen), and technically, cable-laid rope
is rope with the strands twisted from right to
left (holding the end away from you). Rope
twisted in the opposite direction is hawser-
laid rope—right-hand rope. These distinc-
tions have been largely lost. Hawser-laid rope
was generally heavier, so it was once com-
mon to generically call any particularly heavy
mooring or anchor line a hawser. Today, best
practice seems to be to call rope anchor lines
either rope anchor rodesor simply anchor
warps. (Warps are also ropes that are trailedFigure 23-8. Ultra
Swivel (Courtesy
Quickline USA)
TABLE 23-10. ULTRA SWIVEL SPECIFICATIONS—STAINLESS STEEL
Chain Dia. Max Anchor Wgt. Breaking Strength Case A x B Anchor Side Max
mm inches kg lb. kg lb. mm C× D× E mm Angle
6 1 / 4 ̋ 13 29 2,250 4,960 Ø 35× 100 Ø 10× 16 × 31 30°
8 5 / 16 ̋ 23 51 4,150 9,140 Ø 40× 120 Ø 12× 19 × 36.5 30°
10 3 / 8 ̋ 36 80 6,620 14,580 Ø 45× 136 Ø 14× 21 × 40 29°
13 1 / 2 ̋ 60 130 12,000 26,400 Ø 55× 170 Ø 16× 26 × 51.5 28°
16 5 / 8 ̋ 100 220 18,200 40,000 Ø 65× 202 Ø 20× 30.5× 59 28°