Catalina 350 International Association

Would like to know how others connect their anchor to their chain. We have a Delta and would like to change up the current configuration of a swivel connector. Pictures would also be appreciated.

Wally,

I just spent Sat afternoon re-connecting our anchor rode to the chain with an "elongated splice". See http://www.captainsheppard.com/Elongate ... plice.html and http://johndanicic.com/sailing%20pages/ ... licing.pdf.

At first glance I wonder about it's holding capability as the 3 strands are simply woven through the chain links, and you could be concerned that they could essentially "unweave" under continuous load. To ease my mind, I tied the strands to each link as shown in the last picture from Captain Sheppard.

Previously the rode was connected with a shackle and thimble/eye splice which was too bulky to pass through the windlass. In fact the connection was so large and cumbersome that it knocked out a chunk of the gel coat inside the locker when dropped a few weeks ago.

Our second anchor is connected with a standard back splice. My concern with this approach is the possibility for chaffing as the line goes through the chain.

We haven't tried this new connection yet to see how it goes through the windlass or how it holds up, but I thought it was worth a try.

Wally,

Here's a picture of the new elongated splice I put on our chain. The upper piece is the shackle/thimble/eye splice arrangement that we had previously. Clearly it wouldn't run through the windlass. The second line is our second anchor with a standard backsplice. I think it would probably run through the windlass, but as you can see it is larger in diameter than the elongated splice.

From everything I have read, the elongated splice should be stronger than the backsplice as it does not bend the strands as much when attaching to the chain. My only concern is that between the end of my unbraided 3-strand and the first chain link, the strands are essentially straight independent lines as seen in the second picture. I did add an overhand knot between 2 of the 3 strands in this area that wasn't called for to help in keeping the 3-strand from untwisting all the way up the rope, but it still looks pretty loose to me. Possibly I didn't draw the first weave up tight enough, but I suspect once you put load on it, this area will expand. I don't know.

The Best of Times:

I remembered this post when I was looking at Mantus Marine’s site. They specifically say the splice up the chain (shovel splice) is the weakest of the three. Yours was well done and I admired your marlin spike skills. Your photos date from 2013, how is it holding up? Are you happy with it?

Sea Breeze
Dana and Nancy Vihlen

SeaBreeze,

I don't know how well it would have held up, as I no longer have that chain/rope connection. I don't remember why, but apparently it did not pass through the windlass much better than any of the other connections. At some time, I went back to the standard eye splice with the stainless steel insert. That was probably when I went from 25 feet of chain to 65 feet of chain. With 65 feet of chain, we have less issues switching from rode to chain as we can create a lot more slack in the chain by motoring toward the anchor.