PS Advisor
March 2013 Issue
The Hassles of Hockles
Tips for preventing anchor-chain jams in windlasses.
Taking the advice of a PS review, I installed a Lewmar V2 windlass on my boat in 2008. I went with the installer’s recommendation of 100 feet of galvanized chain and 100 feet of eight-part braid, connected with a rope-to-chain splice, and I have a Delta 35 anchor. I found that a chain hockle (a twist in the chain that jams the windlass) will terribly mangle the vertical windlass. I have just completed my second mangling and ordered replacement parts—but these parts will not save me from the next mangling. The Lewmar distributor told me to install a chain swivel, but PS has warned about this (PS Advisor, May 2010). Is an all-chain rode a dumb idea? Is there some solution?
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