Chain fall in locker

[stwendl]

R27 here. When retrieving anchor I frequently see the locker pile up causing the winch to stall until one manually shoves the line and chain aside to make room. This really causes an issue when one single handed Ned's to retrieve anchor from the helm.

In my opinion the Chain locker is not deep enough to allow the dispersal of chain and line to fall elsewhere and not block the winch egress in the locker

What have others done to solve this issue. Ideally line and chain should be spooled on a drum to avoid this, however there is not enough room room for that.

Going further from this I think the locker should be at least twice as deep and it would not take as much space inside the v-berth to be missed.

 

[Chimo]

R25 here. I wondered about this when I first anchored with the new boat. I am single handing 95% of the time.

If there is little wind or current I go up on the bow and use the controls there to retrieve the anchor. A short burst will get the boat moving toward the anchor without undue strain. As the rode piles up in the locker I just push it off to one side. Once I get to the 50ft of chain I make sure I have a clear spot into which it can pile up. All retrieved I can head back to the helm.

With wind or current I want to relieve the winch so I put the helm amidships and go up toward the bow with the thruster remote around my neck. Leaning through the window next to the helm I can put the boat in gear briefly to have it move toward the anchor. Once it has headway I Go to neutral and move to the bow and the winch controls . A kick to the bow thruster sometimes keeps me headed toward the rode. If the boat loses headway and the rode gets overly taut it is a simple matter to reach through the window and give the boat a bit more forward momentum. Handle the rode as before.

Never tried this in storm conditions but then I would probably be happy to stay safely at anchor if it was blowing that strongly!

 

[captstu]

We have a 2010 R25. Because of mobility concerns I affectively single hand the boat and must recover the anchor from the cockpit.

No problem.

The first week I had the boat I looked at the anchoring system supplied by Ranger and decided an all chain rhode with 1/4 inch high tensile chain was a better set up than the combination chain/roam rhode supplied with the boat. I changed both the chain and the wildcat.

I looked at the load specifications of the chain I was planning to use and the system supplied by Ranger and feel that both provide adequate protection for the type of boating I expect to do.

In addition to the plow normally use, I carry a moderate size Fortress that I occasionally shackle to the front of the plow when I'm expecting a very hard blow. Such a tandem anchor system withstood three hurricanes on my previous boat including one that resulted in a significant loss in our boating area to others on more standard anchors.

The 1/4 inch HT is shackled directly to the anchor without a swivel using a forged Wishard shackle that is rated significantly higher the chain.

The anchor chain recovers into the locker with nothing more than a pause every 30 feet or so to allow to self stack. In about three years of using it almost every week I've never had to clear chain that jammed.

The quarter inch chain is operating well within its safety margins and I feel overall the system provides more anchoring confidence that the older chain rope system that had to be cleared of both stacks and jams where the chain rope splice went over the Windless.

Anchoring is a very personal decision. Whether you stay in the cockpit or go forward is your choice as it is your choice of a snubber and inappropriate claw to attach the snubber to the chain. The system I use requires that I go forward if expecting marginal or worse conditions and every time I plan to stay on the hook at night to attach the snubber and claw. The trip forward is required only after I am completely sure the anchor and the boat have settled to where I plan to have it for the night.

The chain claw I use self detaches when I recover the anchor. This means that should conditions deteriorate while I'm at anchor and I am forced to move for some reason I do not need to go forward before I recover the anchor.




Stuart Bell
Ranger 25: Shearwater
(561) 352-1796

 

[knotflying]

The locker is definitely shallow and presents a problem. I use eight plait rode which flattens out better, but I have also coiled the rode around the perimeter of the locker as best I can and have the chain stack in the middle. If anchored alone I will retrieve the rode as much as I can from the bow and leave enough room for the chain to stack without the anchor releasing. Then I go into the cabin and retrieve from the helm.

 

[baz]

Talking about chain locker size, you have to see the chain locker for the R-23.

It's HUGE and double wide with foredeck hatches on both port and starboard sides. In all honesty it seems to me to be overly large and maybe unnecessary. On the new 2018 R-27 the locker is just one on port side which kind of surprised me thinking it would be similar to the R-23. Because it's just a port side locker this actually means there's more headroom at the V-berth's bow on starboard side that allows a person to sit upright in the bow with their head not being obstructed with the anchor locker. 😀

If you never ever sit/lay in the V-berth with head at bow this aspect/benefit will never occur to you. :lol: It's just another subtle design point for the new 2018 R-27 that can easily be overlooked.