Snubber arrangement and technique

I am having trouble arranging a wishbone style' snubber for my 31. Photos below show my arrangement. The problem I am currently having is that my snubbers do not stay on the chain with the chain hooks, and I have great difficulty in attaching the snubbers to the chain because I cannot go to the end of the bowsprit because of the rolling furler. Currently I pull the chain up with the boathook and struggle to hook the chain over a cleat. Then I try to quickly attach a little seizing wire to the hooks to hold them on the chain but they come loose anyway. This is difficult when the boat is moving. It is also a good way to lose a finger. I have one quarter inch chain. Notice also that I have a bail over the end of my bowroller. So it does not allow me to attach the snubbers before I deploy the chain anchor. I used a small open hooks for the quarter inch chain as I could not find anything else. What I am hoping is that someone can describe not only the materials but the technique for attaching safely and quickly. The other problem is that The chain in snubbers catch on the Bobstay which of course is bad. The last picture shows a couple of other items that might be used to quickly attach the snubbers to the chain, they will have to be smaller ones to fit in the chain. Strong enough? So in summary I am concerned about the arrangement pulling on : the bobstay and also using something to quickly attach the snubbers that are strong enough. Please help!

Ok, I got lots of help on sailboatowners.com

We use one of these...Mantus chain hook. Check out the video:
No affiliation!

Thanks for the replies, and good point about two vs one Hayden. I wanted to use two to spread the load between both bow cleats

I checked out the mantis hook, and it looks like a better hook than I am using. The second night I ran both snubbers through the bow roller and like it much better.

I bought a couple of these Wichard chain hooks that have a pin to keep the hook from falling off the chain, although Hayden's comment about paying out extra chain is used by many boaters I know. The problem with the Wichard hook is the pin getting stuck. Need to keep it lubricated.
Randy

Interesting randy, I still need to choose a mantis hook, or the wichard chain hook. A couple of weeks ago we we anchored off Cumberland island and in the calm both chain hooks came off the chain. It seems that happens easily if the snubbers go slack.

Try using a rolling hitch with no hook.

My two cents

We had used a rolling hitch on the snubber for the last six years, it worked great and stayed on. Then last season I bought a fancy Wichard snubber hook - and as stated elsewhere, the retaining pin is a problem - gets bent. A bad product for us, so back to the rolling hitch. A chain hook will fall off the chain if the snubber is long enough to protect the boat because it will drag on the bottom in shallow water/light air conditions.

We have always hooked the working snubber to the starboard bow cleat and run it over the bow roller with the chain. We use a 5' anti chafe piece of plastic tubing to protect the snubber from the other anchor. (The anti-chafe is cheap flexible black PVC? plastic washer hose from Home Depot and has worked well for 5+ years). On the port bow cleat we use a very short safety snubber which is about two feet long. It is double braid with a chain hook spliced on one end and a spliced loop on the other end for the port bow cleat. The safety is short, the hook doesn't even reach the bow roller, and its only function is to protect the windlass if the working snubber breaks.

As an aside, we have a very nice/robust chain stopper that we don't use at anchor any more after having a very bad experience with it in storm conditions. We discovered that if the wx is terrible, and the waves are coming over the bow as you pull up the anchor, the thrashing chain slack will open the chain stopper and chain will jump off the windlass. You would think that you wouldn't be dumb enough to try to grab it - don't bet on it - it is the natural reaction.

On another point, after attending a presentation from an anchoring expert? from the US Naval Academy, we have been using a long (40 foot) snubber. He recommended that the snubber should be as long as the boat - at a minimum. Chain rode goes iron bar tight all at once in about 40 knots and the catenary is lost. So you need a long snubber to provide shock relief to protect the boat. His position was that a short snubber is just a fair wx rig to provide noise control for the chain. Here is a link to an interesting article about catenary which makes the point. - www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-anchors/catenary.php

The Mantus Hook looks like it might stay on the chain when dragged on the bottom, plus it costs less than half what I paid for the Wichard Hook...........

George
S/V Delicia

I made a bridle to use with the Mantus chain hook. I shared photos of it with Mantus and they now offer one. Theirs has eyes spliced at the ends for the cleats, but mine is without eyes as I use it at various lengths for various conditions. The line is 5/8" and I feel very secure knowing that the Mantus hook will not fall off.

Hi,
I follow all your posts old and new because I usually have the same questions as you do and I can get answers or at least further direction specific to the IP-31.

I'm a fairly new IP-31 owner (3-years) and always looking to improve my single-handling set-up and learn more.
Thanks
Judith

Reading this post, I have always used similar technique to what Hayden has described - snubber over bow roller, onto chain hook), never had problem in 17 years, including 4 full winters in Bahamas. I have had a Mantus hook on board for several years, and have not yet put it into service... The galvanized hooks are rated so much stronger than the stainless Mantus...
A concern with bridle was getting sideways pressure on the bobstay when the boat yaws at anchor... Also, the snubber is always led inboard to the bow cleat (super easy recovery) and even though there is a slight angle at the aft pulpit stanchion, again never a problem.

I tried a similar bridle, for me it was too much of a hassle to quickly undo in a get outta Dodge storm situation. Tried all the hooks, some worked quite well. Finally settled on a 40' piece of 5/8 using a rolling hitch. Never failed in 12 Caribbean seasons, numerous Keys/Bahamas. Liked the simplicity.

I agree completely with the rolling hitch arrangement. I would add another feature to this solution.

We use 40' of 5/8" three braid with a loop spliced in the end, we slip it over the starboard bow cleat and tie it to the chain. We also us a short length of single braid ( about 2.5') with a loop spliced in one end and a chain hook on the other. The hook fits the 5/16's anchor chain. This short line is an anchoring aid and safety. When we anchor we use the short piece of double braid from the port cleat to the chain to set the anchor when we back down. The port line holds the chain while we tie the snubber and put its loop on the starboard cleat. Then we release the chain hook and drop more chain until the snubber is fully loaded. Finally we put the chain hook back on the slack chain still attached to the port bow cleat. This line lays on the bow sprit and protects the windlass if the snubber breaks. Remember to leave a lot of slack in the chain, the snubber will stretch about 1/3 before failure. If you don't have enough slack the load will go to the windlass. The chain hook safety line protects the windlass in extreme conditions.

Thanks
George
S/V Delicia

George, I Agree with the backup snubber technique. I always carried a second snubber rig while cruising and set it up in challenging conditions. Tried the rolling hitch for a while, it tended to slip on the chain... also recently read an article in Practical Sailor where they tested rolling hitches versus hooks. They found the slip problem also, and when they added an extra half hitch, the knot would be super tight to remove. They point out (and we've all heard this before) that the knot weakens the strength of the line at that point by 50%, making that the weak point in the whole rode.

Now the hooks aren't a whole lot stronger, making your backup a great idea.

Jesse