Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

Part of our ongoing, long-term testing includes keeping track of a still-in-use set of 40-something-year-old Barlow 28s, a 30-year-old pair of Barient 25s, and a 25-year-old pair of stainless-steel Lewmar 30s. In a recent field check of these old treasures, line tension testing indicated that the old hardware was in good working order and seemed to have weathered the ravages of time and the elements.

Recent tests on a miserable holding bottom in the Chesapeake Bay (see PS, February 2015 online) showed that conventionally sized anchors just don't hold in a soupy bottom. Those that can-pivoting fluke anchors-arent always the easiest to set, and security during wind shifts is much debated. Setting a second anchor is an option-one weve studied previously (see Tropical Storm Dos and Donts, PS November 2011 online)-but tandem rigs intrigued us. Could two anchors on a single rode provide more secure holding in tricky bottoms, and if so, what is the ideal arrangement? We were particularly interested in single-line tandem rigs (which Rocna designer Peter Smith referred to in his report) and V-tandem rigs (which several PS contributors have had success with).

The consensus among anchor makers (Fortress, Bruce, Manson, Mantus) is that holding power in soft bottoms increases in approximate proportion with anchor mass; exponents range from 0.92 to 1.0. While there are differences between models and manufacturers, a 35-pound Mantus should hold roughly 18 times more than a 2-pound Mantus, and a Fortress FX-16 should hold four times more than a Guardian G5.

This months report on tandem anchoring rigs was on my mind as the winds began gusting above 30 knots in the Dry Tortugas. Wed stopped there to wait out the passing of a late-season cold front during our recent voyage from Sarasota, Fla., to Havana, Cuba, aboard a friends 42-foot Endeavor, Lost Boys.

A well-secured boat in the best-designed marina can't be expected to survive a direct hit from a hurricane. Major boat-insurance companies recommend hauling out and tying down your boat, but that isn't always an option, nor is it any guarantee.

Practical Sailor has covered storm preparation on several occasions. The two most extensive articles appeared in July 2008 Gear for Battening Down Ahead of Storms, and Tropical Storms Dos and Donts, from November 2011. We also have an online article How to Help Your Boat Survive a Major Storm. What follows are just a few tips relevant to securing your boat in a marina when you have exhausted all other safer alternatives.

Would you trust a pencil-thin, anchor chain that touts greater strength than the locker-full of high-quality, 3/8-inch, galvanized short-link chain that youve counted on for years? Would you even want a lighter chain? After all, the chains heft creates catenary, that all-essential dip in the anchor rode that improves your anchors holding ability.

The true test of marine gear is not whether it works when installed, but rather how it functions after years in the field. To that end, we have left samples of sewing materials and sewn test samples in the sun, wind, rain, and snow for two years, and have also sailed with sewn samples in service on our test boat.

Weve sewn our fair share of eyes in nylon webbing, but heres an easy no-sew alternative for creating a webbing strap with a buckle (shackle) that can be used for easily lashing down the dinghy, a battery, or even holding up your pants in a pinch. It is based on stuff a sailor has on hand-webbing, a chain link, and a shackle-and is as strong as professionally sewn ends, plus it can be untied after loading. It has tested at greater than 85-percent breaking strength and 100 percent of minimum rate strength, and it works on both nylon and ultra-high strength materials like Vectran webbing.

Over the past few years, weve noticed a worldwide uptick in keel failures. The problem has yet to reach epidemic proportions, but we are hearing more and more troubling accounts of what happens when the ballast parts company with the hull, and a crew faces capsize, flooding, and-all too often-death.