Dave Gerr - Boat Mechanical Systems Handbook-How to Design, Install, and Recognize Proper Systems in Boats

you’re retrofitting, reinforce the dickens out

of everything—you won’t be sorry.

Hawsepipes

Though I’ve designed a number of boats with

hawsepipes, none have ever been built that

way. In fact, Imaginewas designed with

anchors stowed in hawsepipes, port and star-

board on the bow. So far, in every case, the

disadvantages of hawsepipes have resulted in

changing to anchor rollers when the boat was

built. Hawsepipes definitely can work and

work well, however. They are particularly

appropriate and attractive for larger vessels,

over 90 feet (27 m), where the anchors are so

heavy that hawsepipes greatly simplify

anchor handling. Even so, anchor rollers can

be fitted and function nicely on such sizable

craft.

Strictly speaking, the pipes that run

down from the deck to the hull side are the

hawsepipes, and the holes exiting the side of

the hull are the hawseholes. In any case, the

geometry here is complex and will need care-

ful thought and design. Among the considera-

tions is that the hawsepipes must be large

enough and long enough to accept the full

length of the anchor shank with distance to

spare, so the anchor and chain will snug up

against the hull properly. On deck, the

hawsepipe exit must be located where it will

provide a clean, fair lead to the windlass,

with room for a chain stopper between the

windlass and the pipe’s deck opening. The

hawseholes must be located so the anchor

lies flush against the hull and doesn’t extend

forward of the bow or sit too low to the

waterline. The anchor needs to be high

enough to be clear of the normal bow wave

during routine operation.

Structurally, the hawsepipe must be very

rugged (Figure 24-13). If it cracks or breaks

free, you will have a serious leak at the bow,

which would make for a bad day on the

water.

When the anchor is deployed, the chain

tends to chafe and cut the bow, marking it

badly and potentially even damaging the bow.

You can see this in the photo of the Danforth

anchor in a hawsepipe (Figure 24-14) where

the stock has deeply scarred the hull, the

forward fluke’s bill has chafed the small pad

added for it, and the chain has marred the

stem at the waterline. If the boat is a sailboat

with bowsprit and bobstay, the chain will

foul, chafe, and bend the bobstay even worse

than a rode set through chocks on deck or

from rollers on a bowsprit; see the bobstay

in Figure 24-15. This boat also has navy stock-

less anchors—not ideal. The anchor will be

inclined to bang and scratch against the hull

during deployment or retrieval, and the chain

can be noisy in the hawsepipe. Finally, you

cannot reach down to work on or get at the

anchor. If you want to change anchors or oth-

erwise inspect them, you need to drop the

PART SEVEN: ANCHORING SYSTEMS

Figure 24-13. Diagram of a hawsepipe

(FromThe Design and Construction of

Power Workboats,by Arthur F. Johnson)

Figure 24-14. Danforth anchor in a

hawsepipe. (This bow also has a plastic

chafe pad)