Anchor Swivel

[delmarrey]

If you look at the picture real close you will see a WE casted onto the shackle.

World Enterprises

If you call them up, I'll bet their shackles are made in China just for them. No way would I buy China products especially when it comes to security............_/)

[GMac]

Euro Cruiser, yeah they had some issues with spreading cheeks (Oh so tempted to add a comment here :-) ) but have solved them from what I hear. The old ones while looking quite bad sometimes were still strong though.

billangiep - there is 2 issues there. 1 being the use of a high tensile shackle in a shock load situation - you just don't do it. 2, NEVER leave stainless under water or that exact thing will happen. In and out on a anchor is fine.

delmarrey - that is actually a WL as in Working load of 1000kg (at 6:1 margin for anyone interested) but your correct as to the country of manufacture. And you would probably be very surprised how much 'brand named' gear you already have made in the same place.

Found this for your viewing pleasure:
16mm in size. Loaded to 4500kg which is the proof load (proof load is twice WLL and 1/2 break load) of 12mm Italian made chain.



Scary...

Now this is a 16mm swivel. 7kg of sexy stainless beast. WLL 6000kg @ 4:1

[CaptainK]

Hey GMac.

I have to say that 16mm swivel is impressive. Compared to that 12mm Italian cheap piece of crap !!

[CSY Man]

Found this in my e-mail in-box:
----------------------------------------------------

In 30 years of cruising, we have had two complete rode failures on our boats, both occurring in light to moderate weather when such an event was the farthest thing from our minds.


In the first case, a highly-polished stainless steel double-jaw swivel (read "expensive") simply broke in half. It was less than six months old and showed no signs of crevice corrosion. When we hauled up the chain, one half of the swivel was still wired to the end with a nice, round hole where the swivel pin had previously resided.


We never found the anchor, the pin, or the other half of the swivel on the soft mud bottom. Read on...

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/a...leid=woodto052

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Most of the time when I retreive my anchor, it comes up the "wrong" way and need to be twisted.
I just grab the chain, lift it off the gypsy and twist it 180 degrees, then pull it "home" over the roller.
Being a 55 lbs anchor it is still managable, but I am not sure if it is doable with a 88 lbs hook, especially if the chain is slimy or covered with mud.

[delmarrey]

delmarrey once whispered in the wind:
If you look at the picture real close you will see a WE casted onto the shackle.

Ooooopss, Never mind

[GMac]

CaptainK once whispered in the wind:
Hey GMac.

I have to say that 16mm swivel is impressive. Compared to that 12mm Italian cheap piece of crap !!

Both are 16mm swivels. One is made in china and one is made in NZ. Can you guess which is which :-)

The 12mm Italian referance was to the chain loads that were applied to the chinese swivel i.e the loads we put on the swivel were the same as are applied to the 12mm chain during its testing process.

[CaptainK]

No GMac.

I'm afraid I don't know which ones which?

You're going, to have to tell me!!

[NoTies]

I hope like hell the second one is made in NZ otherwise I'm going to start learning Mandarin.

[CaptainK]

Well.

All I can say is this.

That one swivel, that looks more boxy looking would be my choice. Over the one that looks skimpy looking.

The skimpy looking one, is the one that looked like it went through world war 3.

[swagman]

But I would not even consider the style shown in the pictures above which resembles two shackels through bolted together - and I'm not sure many others would either.

The other style machined from solid steel is simialr to those we've used to hold a past 42 footer and our current 46 footer with no issues at all.

With a 45 kg anchor off an anchor launcher perhaps 1 foot from the plumb bow - having a swivel to help store the anchor right way up is more than just useful - it saves getting a hernia or worse!

Newer versions of the same swivel are available with one longer bent side, ensuring it does swivel to drop the anchor down ok. I hope the one that was taken off and thrown away was not one of those beauties..........

Cheers
JOHN

Around here most everone uses a swivel but maybe the tides here are bigger than most. Between inconsistant evening breezes and a whopping 20 foot tide, your rode can get twisted into knots otherwise. The worst gale I've had to ride out at anchore was 50 kts of wind but in relitively sheltered water. Little fetch so no huge sea but the rode was drawn as tight as a guitar string!!
This was in my 16 ton, 40 foot ketch. Rode was 3/8 chain with 45lb CQR in good holding mud and yes... with a swivel. A GOOD one.

In the latest copy (issue # 17) of my publication that you can download free from the web site www.thecoastalpassage.com Alan southwood describes a cyclone that he rode out at anchor on a 40 ft MV that killed some of his mates nearby.
If it's good you are OK and if it's not.....

Cheers
Bob

[eyschulman]

It's not the use of a swivel that is the only problem it's the type of swivel that has fixed none toggled jaws that attach directly to the anchor that are most likely to go-You know like rigging that is not toggled " snap " Ed

[Dune]

The WASI Powerball tests are pretty impressive.
WASI Anchor Chain Strength Tests
They are very proud of their product, as the price shows.

[rcassano]

I understand the weak link issue and believe this has been true up to now, however, things change and quality increases and previous problems are engineered to solve weaknesses. In the case of anchor swivels some I see on the market now look unbelievably strong. One model has a 12,000 lb SWL for 5/16 - 3/8" chain. If true, I could almost lift the boat with it. Now, I don't have any experience with anchor swivels since I don't have one in the system at this time, but have been looking at adding one to keep the chain from twisting as it is brought in with the windlass.

The mantra about swivels has always been not to use one because they are a weak link but I wonder if this is still true today after looking at the construction of the new models.

[FraidNot]

I am using a swivel - it is very handy, allowing the anchor to enter the rollers at the correct angle each time.