anchor swivels

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redhead78

redhead78

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Dec 30, 2009
680
jeanneau 38 gin fizz sloop Summer- Keyport Yacht Club, Raritan Bay, NJ, Winter Viking Marina Verplanck, NY
Hi all, I ended up getting a lewmar delta 35lb galv anchor, after all your input I think this will work well for me. I am looking at seachoice anchor swivels, do u put this between the ancho and the chain or the rope and the chain. Also this is like a bullet type, I see no place on the bolts for ss wire, do u just tighten securely, or use loctite???..Red
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,701
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
redhead78 said:
Hi all, I ended up getting a lewmar delta 35lb galv anchor, after all your input I think this will work well for me. I am looking at seachoice anchor swivels, do u put this between the ancho and the chain or the rope and the chain. Also this is like a bullet type, I see no place on the bolts for ss wire, do u just tighten securely, or use loctite???..Red
Click to expand
Why do you want/need one? I've got 35+ years without one. A swivel is one thing on a mooring, or if you are anchored for weeks on end, but the choice of purchase should be made based on the QUALITY & reputation of the swivel......
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Maine Sail said:
Why do you want/need one? I've got 35+ years without one. A swivel is one thing on a mooring, or if you are anchored for weeks on end, but the choice of purchase should be made based on the QUALITY & reputation of the swivel......
Click to expand
Because; 1) only a bullet-swivel will clear the tight anchor roller clearance, 2) a Crosby shackle will not pass, and 3) the anchor will not invert and properly stow upon windlass recovery on a chain rode without a swivel.

Red; if you need a swivel to make your system work, get the double swivel for that solid shank hook. The side loads are greatly increased on the anchor and swivel.
 
Don12364

Don12364

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Dec 2, 2003
1,637
Hunter 376 Warsash, England --
Like Maine I have anchored (occasionally) for the last 40 years and never had a problem that needed a swivel. My rode comprises 100' of chain and the remainder is rope.
I have a Lewmar electric windlass on this boat and when recovering the chain I notice that because the windlass gypsy doesn't accept twists in the chain, any turns that were in the chain are unwound as it comes over the bow roller, rotating the anchor to achieve this.
Accordingly I have never needed a swivel.
good luck with yours.
 
njsail

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
I'll toss in my 2 cents. I can't find the picture which would certainly help in this case but....
A couple years back I put on a very high quality swivel for some reason. I thought it can only help keep things untwisted. one day we were anchored and the wind piped up a bit. Typical NJ winds 15kts give or take. nothing bad. the boat was in some chop and swinging a bit. When I raised the CQR I noticed the anchor was bent at the shaft end. yes...bent. The swivel and chain found a way to kink making a lever at the end of the CQR. I was dumfounded and not a happy camper. That is an expensive anchor. I took off the swivel in disbelief and it never went back on. I just thought I would pass along that experience. I'm still amazed it happened...but it did.
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,701
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
If I was to put an anchor swivel on our boat it would be the Ultra Swivel by Ultra Anchor. Course they are pretty proud of it, price wise... Kong and Osculati are also reputable brands.

I would personally be wary of a Sea Choice anchor swivel, or any product, that could be a potential safety issue. At what they sell these claimed "316" SS swivels for it is hard to believe they are even made of SS let alone a good quality 316 SS such as 316L SS. This is the same company that is willing to take your money for a "navigation light" which is not a "navigation" light at all, but clearly sold & marketed as such.

Most boaters with a windlass will use a G40 windlass chain, which is almost always a high test chain. In 5/16" this means a working load limit of 3900 pounds. The Sea Choice swivel has a claimed (no third party testing data to back this up that I can find) working load limit of 2500 pounds or 1400 pounds less than the safe working load of the anchor chain most of us with a windlass & 5/16" chain are using.. I know my own anchor has been tested in a number of sea beds and held to over 5000 pounds.. In just 50 knots of wind a 38' sailboat can theoretically impart 3000 pounds of load to the anchoring system. I have ridden out more than 50 knots at anchor on more than one occasion and hope to not do it again any time soon, but it can happen.

I can't find any sort of data to suggest this product has been tested to a standard like a good quality Columbus McKinnon / "CM"or Crosby shackle has been. I use the Crosby G209A shackle with 5/16" G40 HT chain and the shackle has a 4410 pound WLL but the minimum ultimate strength is 5 times the working load limit WLL for short tons..

These shackles meet meet the performance requirements of Federal Spec RR-C-271F
Type IVA, Grade B, Class 2 as well as ASME ASME B30.26 and can be furnished with proof load certs for ABS, DNV or Lloyds..

There are good anchor swivels out there I am just not confident the Sea Choice is one of them....
 
redhead78

redhead78

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Dec 30, 2009
680
jeanneau 38 gin fizz sloop Summer- Keyport Yacht Club, Raritan Bay, NJ, Winter Viking Marina Verplanck, NY
Thanks for the info, the gypsy on my horizontal windlass is for line on port and looks like 3/8" chain on starboard side gypsy, boat is a 1977 jeanneau (french), can I use 3/8" G-4 windlass chain???... REd
 

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Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
redhead78 said:
Thanks for the info, the gypsy on my horizontal windlass is for line on port and looks like 3/8" chain on starboard side gypsy, boat is a 1977 jeanneau (french), can I use 3/8" G-4 windlass chain???... REd
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My Simpson-Lawrence has a specific gypsy for different chains, so if I changed from my 3/8" BBB, to 3/8" G-4 the chain dimensions change and so does the gypsy.
 
Bill1565

Bill1565

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Jan 22, 2008
1,483
Hunter 37 C sloop Punta Gorda FL
Gunni said:
My Simpson-Lawrence has a specific gypsy for different chains, so if I changed from my 3/8" BBB, to 3/8" G-4 the chain dimensions change and so does the gypsy.
Click to expand

The gypsy on my Lewmar will only accept 3/8 G4. Can't use BBB. I'd be surprised if you could get away with switching chain types.
 
redhead78

redhead78

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Dec 30, 2009
680
jeanneau 38 gin fizz sloop Summer- Keyport Yacht Club, Raritan Bay, NJ, Winter Viking Marina Verplanck, NY
Anybody know which chain for an older jeanneau????REd
 
redhead78

redhead78

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Dec 30, 2009
680
jeanneau 38 gin fizz sloop Summer- Keyport Yacht Club, Raritan Bay, NJ, Winter Viking Marina Verplanck, NY
Is the bbb chain wider, which would also make the next link deeper into the gypsy?? Can I measure the width and length on the gypsy to determine which chain?? Red
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
If your existing chain properly runs the gypsy then take your dimension requirements off of your chain. If should be HT, BBB, or Proof - all different sizes. Here are size dimensions for each (make sure to add 2*chain wire thickness for outside dimensions). Compare the inside chain dimensions to your gypsy chain spacing for proper fit to the gypsy.
 
R

ronbo

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Jan 2, 2009
46
gozzard 44B mkll md
I agree with Maine that the best swivel is Ultra by Ultra Anchor. It's well engineered and quite pricey. I couldn't get the proper set with it as a shackle will occasionally bind. If I was to saw off the big welded link on my 60 lb CQR it would've worked fine. So I went back to no-swivel but keep an eye on chain twist as it does happen and can jump off a vertical windlass.

Ronbo
 
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