Splicing anchor rode around a thimble

[ris]

A week or so ago I learned to splice a loop in three strand nylon rope. So today we decided that the anchor road needed to be swapped end for end. Cut the rope off the thimble at the rope/chain junction and put the end of the rode that had not been in or under the water on the thimble. Now the end that had been under water when we anchored will be in the boat rope locker,(on a X all that will fit in the anchor locker is the rope).



We also made a new bridle for towing the dinghy. The old bridle has about 9,000 miles on it and no longer floats. We love the floating rope so we do not get the rope down in the prop. The Float is there to hold up the stainless ring were the rope from each side comes together.



Richard

[chipveres]

Looks good from here.
Chip V.

[NiceAft]

So, when are you opening shop

[ris]

Don't have time to open a shop right now. In 3 days we are starting a 6 day canoe trip down the Suwannee River starting at its source in the Okefenokee swamp in Ga. Then in January we are spending 5 to 9 days going up the Kissimmee River from Lake Okeechobee to Kissimmee Fl in the Mac. There is a lot to see and we only have such a short time to see it. November thru April is the best time to boat here in Florida unless you have A/C and want to spend a lot of time indoors. The Kissimmee River can get so low that only airboats and small fishing boats can use it. When its that low there is hardly room for the gators much less a boat. If we go we will take video of the gators and there are a lot of them. Its nothing to see from 5 to 15 at one time on the bank in a long straight away (maybe 50 yards max) Its a wonder there are fish and turtles left with so many hungry gators. Its always best to bath on a shallow sandbar in the afternoon not the evening on a wide section of river.

Richard

[NiceAft]

Rich & Jill,

Not all of us can do what you do. Some can, some can’t. Some don’t.

In the words of Cole Porter; “ Do, do that voodoo that you do so well.”

[Russ]

Rich, that is some fine work splicing. Wow!

If you won't open shop, at least post some of your journey in the trip logs section so we snowbound folks can live vicariously.

[Tomfoolery]

See? I told you that you were 95% of the way to an anchor splice, though I was referring to the kind without the thimble.

[Be Free]

Those are both beautiful jobs. I'd never know that was your first anchor rode and thimble.

How did the shackle bolt on the chain look? That's actually where I saw the most wear on mine when I rebuilt it earlier this year.

[BOAT]

Man, that looks absolutely perfect. I would not trust my own skills to the anchor line - would you do mine for me?

[ris]

Thanks for your kind comments. Russ I will post some pics when we get back. Tomfoolery Is the anchor splice without the thimble better or just another way to complete the attachment? Maybe I will try the anchor splice on the backup anchor and rode. Be Free the bolt looks fine on the shackle.
Richard

[Tomfoolery]

Tomfoolery Is the anchor splice without the thimble better or just another way to complete the attachment?

It’s just another method, but with the very sharp turn the strands make, it’s going to weaken the line more than using a thimble will. I think the thimble is superior, but I’ve used the straight splice on things like stainless rings for specialty applications. You pass two of the three strands through the loop in one direction, and the third through the loop the other way, then back-splice them to the rode like you did with the thimble.

It makes a very clean splice, but it’s better suited (IMO at least) for things that don’t go bump in the night. Like a small spare anchor for beaching a boat and keeping the stern pointed into the wind or wakes. Like in the pics 2/3 of the way down this page, just above kurz’s Jambo anchor pic. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28053

Or the spring line I made for my other boat with a big stainless ring on it that I would grab on the way into my slip (34 ft keel boat) and hook to another length of line with a heavy carabiner, for holding the boat against the engine while I tied it up, but that’s all it was for. I don’t have the big boat any more ( ), but I think I still have that bit of line with the ring ( ).

[Be Free]

You are better off using the thimble on a large (for us) anchor. I used an anchor splice on my small "lunch hook" navy anchor in place of a thimble but it is never put under much of a strain and is never for long periods of time where it could begin to wear.

[OverEasy]

Hi Ris,

The eye splice you made is great!
Well Done!

If you are concerned about frettage of the splice going around the eye you could always wrap it.
Wrapping is taking a small diameter cording line and , well, wrapping it around the rope and eye as a sacrificial chafe surface material.
That way the structure of the rope is protected.
It used to be more popular back in the Days of Sail to protect the core rope of an eye but isn’t so popular nowadays with metal eyes and thimbles.

On the splice side one can also use thin cording line to mechanically compress the splice further ensuring it won’t unravel in the future under repeated high load stresses.
https://www.samsonrope.com/docs/default ... 61e7aa95_2

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Tomfoolery]

I used to whip such splices back in the day, but I’ve gotten a bit lazy about that sort of thing these days.

[OverEasy]

Something to do on those long cold frozen snow bound near arctic nights close to the sputtering fire by the light of a candle’s flame…