Cruising Helmsman – June 2017

ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR

YOUR ANCHOR AND CHAIN

For about twenty years before sailing

off to South East Asia on Matilda,

Bruce Nicholson was an electronics

technician on oil exploration vessels,

with the last few years as a positioning/

data-acquisition specialist. This

meant he had a fair bit to do with

towing stuff behind boats. Just about

anything metallic they towed had an

anode welded or bolted to it. Whether

stainless steel or sherardised chain, it

had an anode somewhere.

At Matilda’s last haulout, Bruce

replaced the anchor chain and installed

an anode on the anchor for additional

protection for both anchor and chain.

Does it work? Bruce thinks it cannot be

doing any harm and has noticed that in

ten months the anode is almost ready

for replacement. He assumes In most

anchoring systems there are several

dissimilar metals in the mix. There is the

steel chain with a zinc coating which rests

in the chrome plated bronze anchor winch

gypsy, then the chain rolls over a bronze bow

roller and an often stainless steel bracket and

finally connecting to a large anchor with a

stainless steel swivel because the galvanised

ones do not go through the roller easily. On

some vessels the snubber hook is stainless,

so this adds another dissimilar metal.

Attaching the anodes was straightforward.

Bruce purchased a pair of small disk anodes

and bolted them through a hole used for

attaching a shackle to the top of the anchor.

If you have a roll bar anchor the use of

a shaft anode the right size would make

installation even easier.

I discussed Bruce’s approach with

CH’s anchor expert Jonathon Neeves.

He agrees that the anode wear suggests

it does work, but cautions against using

any anode big enough to affect the

weight or balance of the anchor, or using

an anode on the roll bar of the anchor in

case this might reduce its ability to dive

into the seabed.

Jon was sceptical about an anode’s ability

to protect chain unless the galvanising has

worn off. This is a very real scenario in

Australian waters. Most galvanising is worn

off by abrasion and our coral/silica sands

are very harsh on anchoring gear.

Do you have experience with this? We would

like to hear from any reader who has tried

adding anodes to the anchoring system.

THAT TROUBLESOME THIRD REEF

Many boats have a mainsail with three reefs but boom sheaves for only two reefing lines.

Ingenious people have come up with numerous ways of threading three ropes into two

sheaves,  but I agree with Western Australian naval architect Kim Klaka, who thinks they are

trying to solve a problem that should not and need not, exist. Kim’s solution to the third reef

problem is quite simple: only have two reefs.

Next time you have your mainsail overhauled, get the sailmaker put in a reef between

your existing first and second reefs; this will become your new first reef and the third reef

becomes your new second reef.

With a new mainsail it is even easier. Just ask the sailmaker to put the deepest reef where

a third reef would usually go, then put the other reef half way down from there.

There is no need for reefs that change sail area by small amounts. Kim has cruised and

raced for nearly twenty years using this “two reefs to the third reef” system and never

found the boat to be out of balance or wrongly canvassed. He suspects the third reef

concept is a throwback to the days before headsail furlers, when it was easier to reef the

main in rough weather than change to a smaller hanked-on headsail.

LEFT: Deep reefs (arrowed) on this Lagoon 39

eliminate the need for a third reef.

34

Cruising Helmsman June 2017

IDEAS LOCKER

BY PETREA McCARTHY

ABOVE: Port and starboard anchor anodes almost depleted after ten months.