Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
My rules of engagement for any kind of long term presence on the water---spare propellers, spare anchor and spare chain. Those items are an absolute given. In a boat my size that's a lot of weight so I try and trim the non essentials
So speaking of tools...the big question has always been—-what do I bring as an absolute minimum?
This summer, two weeks into the trip, my Lewmar windlass crapped out. I had brought a multimeter and confirmed I was getting voltage to the solenoid. I was getting an audible click when pushing the power button but the windlass was dead.
So there I was, a survivor of multiple herniated disks from past bad behaviors, hand-pulling a 15 kg Rocna and 50 feet of chain 3 or 4 times a day. I consoled myself knowing I had lots of Advil on board but the sciatica was already tapping me on the shoulder.
Then one day I free-spooled the windlass to get the anchor down to the bottom in a hurry. When it was time to pull, by chance I pushed the power button, forgetting it was dead. The windlass fired up for about three seconds then went back to dead. What the heck?
So i went up to the bow and stuck my head in the anchor locker (something I should have done when it first crapped out) . The installer (and I'm not making this up) had zip-tied both the power and ground cable directly ACROSS the mouth of the hawse pipe below the gypsy —- The rode had sawed the ground cable almost in half. That 3 second power-up had been caused (probably) by the ground cable getting jostled just enough by the rode and chain on their free-fall which served to produce a momentary proper circuit. What were the chances of that????
I tell this story because yes, I had left behind all my electrical stuff when packing for the trip---all my bullet connectors, bits of wire, electrical tape, wire strippers etc etc and it was abundantly clear that I desperately needed approximately 6 inches of 10 AWG ground cable and a couple of bullet connectors to repair and properly ground the circuit
So I put on my MacGyver hat.....what would Macgyver do?
This is what got me through the rest of the trip:
I had a one inch section of ground cable to work with in very tight quarters. It took me at least 45 minutes to get those crimps in place but you can imagine the rush of pleasure I got when I got power back into that windlass!
MacGyver No 2: Dyneema thread… don’t leave home without it!
A three strand rode to anchor splice will not go smoothly through my gypsy so for the last few years I’ve been using a two strand splice. This is all about expediency and dealing with the spectre of boating solo—every trip up to the bow to free a stuck three-strand splice that’s skipping in the gypsy because it’s too bulky I see as one more potential exposure incident and I try to minimize those …. Boating solo is all about planning your moves to minimize uneccessary exposure…a two strand splice goes through a Lewmar gypsy like shiat through a goose
But the two strand splice means your’re now relying on 2/3 rds of the B.S, of your original 3 strand rode and what I’ve got in my boat is soft—/ very prone to abrasion
Out comes the Dyneema thread… wonderful stuff….MacGyver would not have left home without it. Without sounding melodramatic, I’m not sure I could have done the trip without Dyneema thread…or at least made it home with my trusty 15 kg Rocna
I was up in Nepean Sound in a bay one night and just happened to scrutinize my two strand splice——yikes, the rode was almost sawed in half—-my 15 kg Rocna was hanging by a thread…I figure it happened on the anchor roller—-there is a sharp flange on either side and apparently I hadn’t let enough rode out to get the splice past those sharp edges on a lunch or a dog-to-the-beach hook.
So I was forced to re-splice while free drifting in my boat…not my favorite thing to do. It got lumpy, I got impatient and ended up doing a bit of a sloppy job but I got it done. But just to seal the deal, I went nuts with the Dyneema. In retrospect, that was the right move. That night all the reports were calling for 25 - 30 from the S.E.. I chose what I thought was the perfect anchorage to make it through the night based on that outlook. At midnight, my anchorage went from a bit blowy to instant 4 foot rollers —-the wind had veered North East and I was 100% exposed for 7 straight hours to big wind with lots of fetch—-a major rodeo event with the bow bucking at least 5 -6 feet in the air all evening long…huge stress on the anchor splice and having to deal all night with a dog giving me stink eye….Dude, why did you anchor all prepared for a S.E. Blow when even I knew it would veer to N.E….are you stupid????
The next morning, I genuflected at the altar of DYneema thread—-the Rocna never left it’s original position and my splice looked fresh as a daisy
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