Anchors hooked/stowed on bobstays

[marujo.sortudo]

I see this a lot, and it just strikes me as wrong. I imagine the anchor nicking bobstay wire, etc. Of course, some bobstays are chain or have some kind of chafe protection shielding the wire. What is the opinion in the rigging community?

[Ian McColgin]

Since I've never seen an anchor deliberatly hooked on a bobstay, I wonder if there's a terminology issue. Up here, the bobstay is the one that goes from a chainplate on the stem near the waterline up to the end of the bow sprit. Whisker stays or sprit shrouds go from some nice place on the gunnel abaft the stem out to the end of the bow sprit. We do see anchors slung from the latter now and then.

Maybe a picture or a more coherant description will help me understand whatever you are seeing so much of down there, that's so very uncommon up here.

Edited to add - On rereading your post and seeing chain mentioned, I take it you mean a real bobstay. I'm deeply prejudiced against chain bobstays but that aside, I can't even imagine how one would hang an anchor on the bobstay or why it would stay in place.

[marujo.sortudo]

Unfortunately, this is a high-res pic, but you can see an anchor hooked on a bobstay. On second thought, saying that I've seen this a lot is an overstatement, and, for the record, I haven't seen it at all in Maine. It feels like a lot because it just jumps out and grabs me. I presume some tension on the rode would keep it on the bobstay, but I have visions of it sliding up and down the bobstay as the boat pitches.

http://logofthe.files.wordpress.com/...5/img_0082.jpg

[Ian McColgin]

Ah ha. It's clear that at least for short runs this sailor does not want to squiggle the hook through the netting and is using the bob stay to keep the anchor from swinging. Not a practice for me. But then, I'm not a fan of that sort of netting either.

[Stumble]

Looks like a bunch of lazy too me. That much metal swinging around, improperly tied down looks like a repair bill in the making.

I have never seen anyone do something like that on purpose, so I doubt it's that common.

[benz]

Since my Manson anchor doesn't stow on the roller because of the roll bar, when going short distances in quiet water I'll hook it on the bobstay and snug it up so it can't swing around. It beats pulling it over the spritsherd and onto the deck, as long as there's no waves or wakes. However, if there's a good chance of waves catching on it I stow it properly, not because it flogs around (did I mention snugging it tight?) but because it slows the boat down. My bobstay is sheathed in PVC to protect it and other objects that contact it.
It's a good tactic when shifting to another close anchorage, or for close work in quiet water among coral or rocks, when putting the anchor down quick might be highly desirable.

[Ian McColgin]

I suppose the reinforced plastic hose on the bobstay mitigates chafe. I've wondered whether a loose covering like that - so unlike vinal-clad wire such as used on lifelines or served (and slushed) wire that preserves gavli and does not harm to stainless - gives exchange sites for unnoticed corrosion, or whether it's infact a good idea. I hope Brion will mention that.

I'm also wondering about the netting. It might be meant to contain the jib when dropped. The sprit looks smaller than I'd use the netting for actual travel out on the sprit, especially since there appears to be a platform out there.

[John Stone]

Just as BenZ stated this is a tactic to allow the anchor to be immediately employed should the need arise. I think one tends to see this more on boats that are perhaps underpowered or are engineless. In the photo you can see what appears to be a clear plastic hose over the bobstay to protect it from chafe. I have never seen this done on a boat sailing in open water for the reasons stated in the other posts. Normally, as the anchorage is opened, or the boat is sailing in protected water, the anchor is transitioned from the more secured position to the one depicted in the photo. Now the anchor can be lowered and set without a lot of struggle to push it out over the roller and clear the bobstay and all the drama that can occur if there is the need set it "right now."

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
First, snagging the anchor that way doesn't have to be a bad thing; it would only matter, structurally, if the anchor damaged the stay, or if the rode was snugged so tight that it added load to the stay, and/or sharpened the angle at the cranse. So I agree that it is convenient for brief duration, and might do no harm.
But I think there's a bigger picture here. The photo shows an anchor developed long after the anchor rollers were. Those rollers were meant to accommodate an older technology, and trying to house the new version would likely do harm to the bowsprit, and the crew.
Next, those rollers are themselves a relatively recent take on the business of anchor storage. In ye olde days, the anchor was set from a hawse, aft of the stem, and drawn up to just short of it, at which point a fish tackle was used to hang it from a cathead, hence the term "catting the anchor." This system worked fine for a long time. Still does on some vessels. But other methods evolved, using rollers, for one-stop stowage. Rollers on bowsprits are a way to keep the anchor forward of the stem,out of the way. But setting the anchor from there, or from anywhere aft of the cranse iron, results in chafe on the bobstay when at anchor. That is the only semi-sound reason to have a chain bobstay. Since mounting the rollers at the end of the bowsprit would be impractical -- too much weight, too far forward -- that's why anchor snubbers, on a block forward of the cranse iron, are a great idea. A snubber from the stem also solves the problem, but doesn't work nearly as well to control pitch and yaw at anchor.
As for chafe prevention, a loose covering is less likely to keep air from the wire, but no covering is better by far.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss
ps
Isn't the forestay cotter pin in that picture a little too straight? And is that a toggle, or a fixed jaw on the turnbuckle?

[Stumble]

I love when I learn stuff. What I saw as lazy, seems to have both a practical and historical justification.

Thanks everyone