An Anchor Project

Spring Weather

The teak sports a shine again, coat #7, but the weather has really slowed down progress. At noon today it was 55 F in the shed and the outside humidity was 98%. Varnish just doesn’t want to flow or dry in those conditions. When it is chilly and damp you can forget about two coats a day, instead it’s more like one coat every two or three days. Warmer, drier weather is predicted for the end of the week. It’s Spring, it’s the Northwest, it happens. So it's time for some other projects on the To-Do list.

Chain Check Time

Rhapsody carries 400 feet of 3/8 inch chain on the main anchor. That’s usually adequate for our typical Alaskan anchorages, allowing a comfortable 3:1 to 5:1 scope in depths up to 80 feet. In deeper water or during a storm it would be nice to have more chain available, just in case. The Capt. hauled all 400 feet of chain out of the lower chain locker for routine inspection and thought about lengthening it, and possibly modifying the chain locker to handle the extra footage, etc. 

Both anchors are currently resting on the boat shed floor, and major portions of the chains have moved from chain locker to shed floor, to boat deck, back to chain locker and back again to deck… you get the picture.

He had also pulled the 100 feet of chain and 250 feet of line for the auxiliary anchor out of the upper chain locker. Since we’re in the shed without benefit of the hydraulic winch, that’s a whole lot of pulling.

The 250 feet length of anchor line soaked in a bleach solution for a day, was rinsed and is now looped and drying over the stair rail. It looks like new (it should, since we never use it) and smells pretty good too.

Rain pants, fishing pants, work pants too.

The anchor rode may look good, but the chain locker is a different story. Seawater and miscellaneous organic matter end up being stored with the chain, despite its receiving a fresh water washdown before it reaches the chainpipe. There’s some stinky stuff in that space, until the chain locker is cleaned up. (Thank you Capt. for handling that job solo!) 

The Capt. spent a lot of time in the upper chain locker.

     Above: the bitter end of the auxiliary anchor rode, tied off securely. 

Coming soon: the final coats of AwlSpar Varnish, bottom paint and a modification solution for the chain lockers.