How can I join two pieces of anchor chain?
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We have an Arcona 400
which we keep at Plymouth
yacht haven. We bought
her because she is well built,
a delight to sail, is reasonably
quick and can accommodate our daughters
and their young families. We mainly cruise
locally with the occasional racing event for
charity. We plan a cruise to south Brittany
this summer. I have 45m of 8mm anchor
chain, hardly sufficient for anchoring my boat
in a range of wind and tide conditions. I have
a further 30m of 8mm chain sitting in my
garage, but is there any safe way of joining
the two together? Will this joint pass through
the anchor winch? Alastair ParamoreA
Vyv Cox, a chartered
engineer specialising
in metallurgy, replies:
The only fastener that will
join two lengths of chain
and subsequently pass through a windlass is
a C-link. Two C-shaped half links are riveted
together to form a single link that can be
stronger than the chain, but not in all cases.
Sold in many chandleries, the C-links are
either cheaply made from mild steel or
somewhat more expensively from stainless
steel. Neither of these is likely to be as
strong as Grade 30 chain but in most cases
will be adequate for occasional anchoring.
Industrial links sold for use in lifting and
hoisting are made from heat-treated alloy
steel that when made up, is at least as
strong as Grade 40 chain. The most widelyavailable in the UK are those made by
Crosby, marketed as the Missing Link. Alloy
steel C-links require heavy hammering to
make up the rivets, unlike the other types
that are relatively soft and therefore easy.
In service, both steel types will corrode
faster than the chain to which they’re
connected. Painting and regular inspectionare recommended to extend their life.
Stainless-steel types are far less prone
to corrosion and this property may be
considered more important than their lower
ultimate strength. Industrial suppliers will not
normally supply C-links in small numbers.
One good source of single items by mail
order is Tecni-Lift (www.tecni-lift.co.uk).WIN
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BIG QU ESTION
ARCONA BOUGHT BY NAJAD
‘Arcona make some fantastic and very desirable
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