I broke an anchor chain!

[Scooter980]

I was chartering a 42 Lagoon in Greece a month age and we got our anchor snagged in 40 meters while stern to shore anchoring near Kioni. We motored slowly (barely 1 kt) towards deeper water to try to free it and i waited with anticipation to feel it jerk or break free. I felt nothing and was informed by my 1st mate that the chain had broken about 10 meters under the surface! The kicker is we had the bridle attached at this time because the windlass had jammed and we were trying to pull chain in with 4 crew. (We were having problems with windlass because the alignment tooth (guide) had been installed backwards and was catching the chain on the way out! (see pic) Also, a bolt was stripped on the left side of cover plate where the chain exited the hold. Two mechanics looked at the windlass. One said it was junk and should be thrown overboard but he reversed the guide and got it functional. The second at Lefkas Marina did not understand us "Americanos", never fixed the bolt an told us it was ok to go. Later we found out the remainig 50m of chain was extremely twisted in the hold as well). Needless to say, the charter company said a chain could not break this way and insisted we cut the chain. Of course they charged us $1150 for this. Anybody ever heard of a chain breaking like this? The chain was 1/4" or 5/16", 12 years old and in good condition. Maybe a joining link had bent open in the malfing windlass?

[hellosailor]

"and insisted we cut the chain."
I'd start by naming the company and calling them out as simply bullies and thieves on social media. My Evil Twin Brother would say don't bother, just torch their boat and offices. (He's heavily into karma.)

Chains break. They always have. If a credit card was used, file a protest, mention extortion and ask for a chargeback.

Twelve years old? In the salty Med? Roll the dice.

[sailorboy1]

Well this is the first story I’ve ever read of a chain breaking. I don’t feel breakin* a chain with a normal sailboat is even possible unless the chain had a big problem

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Scooter980

The chain was 1/4" or 5/16",

Sounds very small for a 42 ft condomaran

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Sounds very small for a 42 ft condomaran

Or even a large dog.

[JPA Cate]

Good one, 44' cruisingcat!

Old, wasted chain certainly does break. Knew of an impoverished French Canadian couple who bought used chain from a Mexican fisherman. First time they used it to anchor, the chain broke just a little way from the anchor shackle. The guy then cut off about a foot of the chain, and the next night, the chain broke again, and the boat on the beach. It was a ferro boat, and it got a squashed bit on its stern quarter. Later patched, and left. Never heard of them again. Had a kid aboard, too.

I think Scooter980 got the fuzzy end of the lollipop on that one! Someone from the charter outfit had to have installed that stripper the way they found it, and it had been removed for a reason. Don't know what was going on. But must say very convenient for the charter company to have Americans finance their upgrades.

Ann

[BillsWife1]

I wish I could go back and share this story with all of those that have asked if purchasing a brand new boat and putting it in charter was a good idea.

Charter companies simply do not care for the boat the way most owners do. I would be willing to bet that the previous charter clients stated that the gypsy was acting up...or maybe they didn't for fear of being charged for something they didn't ruin.

Either way, what a way to sour a vacation.

[a64pilot]

Ann, good chain doesn’t break.
I have stretched far too much chain on the farm, what happens when you put too much force on a chain is every link stretches, it will stretch so bad that it doesn’t even fold up on itself, you can hold it out straight, if you keep pulling on it, it breaks of course.
So if you break a chain, the rest of the chain is so stretched out it’s not usable anymore, it certainly won’t go through a windlass etc.
Anyone can look at it and tell it was pulled way beyond its limit load.

There is more to this, a weak joining link or similar broke. Or I guess there is some incredibly inferior chain out there where every so often a weak, brittle link is in it.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ann, good chain doesn’t break.
I have stretched far too much chain on the farm, what happens when you put too much force on a chain is every link stretches, it will stretch so bad that it doesn’t even fold up on itself, you can hold it out straight, if you keep pulling on it, it breaks of course.
So if you break a chain, the rest of the chain is so stretched out it’s not usable anymore, it certainly won’t go through a windlass etc.
Anyone can look at it and tell it was pulled way beyond its limit load.

There is more to this, a weak joining link or similar broke. Or I guess there is some incredibly inferior chain out there where every so often a weak, brittle link is in it.

Thats about it,

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ann, good chain doesn’t break.
I have stretched far too much chain on the farm, what happens when you put too much force on a chain is every link stretches, it will stretch so bad that it doesn’t even fold up on itself, you can hold it out straight, if you keep pulling on it, it breaks of course.
So if you break a chain, the rest of the chain is so stretched out it’s not usable anymore, it certainly won’t go through a windlass etc.
Anyone can look at it and tell it was pulled way beyond its limit load.

There is more to this, a weak joining link or similar broke. Or I guess there is some incredibly inferior chain out there where every so often a weak, brittle link is in it.

That boat's chain wasn't "good". It had been used so long on the fishing boat that the fisherman was afraid it was no good. It was an act of desperation to have bought it, and the fisherman probably had a sudden glimpse of heaven when it happened. The boat had been dragging with its rope rode, but hadn't gone on the putty. Disaster waiting to happen that did.

I totally agree that most of us are unlikely to break our chains. And, I have no idea how long that Greek charter company's chain had been in use, nor of if it had ever been re-galvanized.

What I have seen is chain that is extremely wasted, so that the links have lost a great deal of their strength.

Actually did know another boat that broke its chain, but no idea of the chain's history, and in that case, it was a snatch load (no snubber being used), during a cyclone. They blew out of our anchorage.

So I disagree with the statement that chain never breaks, because there are things that can break it: wasting from rusting away, and very heavy snatch loads. This isn't 2nd hand for me: we were there, in the anchorages, both times. It could have ripped the windlass out of the deck, but didn't: the chain broke instead.


Ann

[RaymondR]

In the circumstances you describe a sound chain should not break in fact I doubt you could either get up enough speed to jerk-break it in a cat, they are generally on the light side and don't develop a great deal of momentum.

It's chain, what did you cut it with, the bread knife?

Write a letter to your credit card company explaining the circumstances and see if you can get the bludgers black listed.

[Tillsbury]

I bet you anything the charter company is simultaneously writing to the owners with a bill for the new chain, because it’s needed replacing due to wear and tear.

[noelex 77]

Reports of anchor chain breakages are rare if you exclude cases where there is significant corrosion. However, anchor chains have become thinner and thinner on modern yachts. The main argument for using thinner chain is that reports of chain breakages are rare, but most of this experience is based on thicker chain, so it will need some time before we know if modern anchor chains are cutting the margins too fine.

Greek charter boats will generally have metric chain. If it was 6mm chain (the closest equivalent to 1/4”) it was very thin, if it was 8mm (the closest equivilent to 5/16”) it was still thinner than would normally be fitted, even by modern standards. However, as you indicated that the chain broke so easily, I think it is more likely that there was a C link join that failed, or some other defect.

The good C link joins are close to original chain strength, but many of the no name C link joints weaken the chain considerably. If was 6mm or even 8mm chain, the C link will also be this size and it would not take much for a Lagoon 42 to snap one of the no name 6mm or 8mm C link joints.

[jannw]

bad chain link at a join between two pieces of chain seems the most obvious contender.

either a c-link or a bad weld.

dispute the charge with your creditcard provider

[Scooter980]

Thank you all for your replies. I think I was off a bit on chain size estimate and it was at least 5/16 if not 3/8" 9 (or 8mm+). Anyway, I too think something was amiss when we got the boat. There were other things needing attention on this boat as well. It seems that they only have a few hours to get boat ready for the next clients and how could they possibly give it the attention it needs!? I am in the process of contesting the charge.