Keep the Kellet?

[RainDog]

My boat came with a 20lb (?) Kellet.

My system is:

Primary anchor: 45 lb Manson Supreme
Primary rode: 150' 3/8'' BBB backed by 200' 5/8 3-strand
Backup anchor: Fortress FX-37
Backup rode: 50' 3/8'' BBB backed by 200' 1/2'' 3-strand
Stern Anchor: 16 lb Danforth
Stern rode: 10' 1/4 BBB backed by 200' 1/2 plait

My question for those experienced in a wide variety of anchorages: is it worth lugging around the Kellet? Or is it 20lbs I will carry for years and never use?

[Factor]

Ditch it

[Charlie]

I used a 56lb kellet two months ago. First time in 30 years of sailing and didn't even use it for its intended purpose. Used it to help dislodge a stuck anchor. I can think of four different situations in my sailing career where I would have used one if I had had it. 1) Blowing 40 knots steady with 60 knot gusts in Italy. 35lb CQR, 75 feet of 3/8 chain, and 150' of 5/8" 3 strand. I would have loved to have one there. 2) A consistent 25+ blowing in Mexico while doing the Baja Bash, 3) Coramandel (sp?) in Sea of Cortez with wind speeds not recorded but boat bouncing like a rubber ball, and 4) Tied to the feet of anyone who hurts my family. If you have room I would keep it.

[giant]

I would keep it.

Have only used one once when anchored tight in coral with bullets coming off the hilly island sharing a tight space with a couple of other boats.

Reasoning was there was not much swing room and using the kellet allowed us to feel secure and have a reduced scope/swing so we wouldn't bash into the other cruisers or the nearby reef edge.

In a really big blow it would't hurt to deploy the thing either for extra security, I think it would help to steady the boat and take some of the bouncing force off the bow as well as improve the angle of the chain pull in relation to the anchor set.

Now if you want to spark up some debate ask for opinions on where exactly it is best to set the thing on your chain, some say closer to the bottom and some say in the middle. My intuition says closer to the bottom but my mind is too lazy to figure out why.

Just store the thing down low in the bilge in the middle of the boat.

[MarkJ]

20 pound that even if used will be useless.

I had a bucket of concrete I made myself and it was heavy to lug around and in a decent wind was flung around the anchor chain like a ping pong ball in the Chinese Olympics.

bloody useless.

And calculate 20 pounds in chain length.... about 10 feet? So just bung out another 10 or 20 feet chain.

[rebel heart]

I have a few kettlebells for exercise on board, the biggest being 54lbs. They work great as kellets if you ever need one. Regarding the Coromueles... come on, they're not that bad.

Badda bing, badda boom.

[giant]

20 pound may be pretty light.

If you put the thing in the middle of the chain it probably is more likely to bounce around but if it is down near the bottom I think that bouncing would be less likely.

Putting out more chain is usually a great idea but you may be restricted in doing so for one reason or another at times. The poster I believe has 150 feet of chain which is a decent amount but not as much as I would like- ideally anyway. I would personally not like to rely on any kind of rope in my anchor system apart from the essential length of nylon snubber, and to date having cruised with about 20 different boats/skippers I have never been on a boat with any rope in the anchor system it has always been all chain.

A compact lead kellet seems less likely to bounce around than a relatively bulky bucket of concrete perhaps, just guessing.

Kellet or no kellet you will be fine either way.

Of course Mark has a lot more experience cruising than me. And if you own a cat you would be more weight conscience than a mono owner.

[colemj]

Kellets of any size are mostly useless if you have decent ground tackle (which you do).

A 20lb kellet is completely useless. You would be better served loading a bucket with rocks if you needed a kellet at all. Or looping your extra chain, or using your backup anchor, etc.

Toss it, or sell it to someone with a lot of faith in kellets.

Mark

[noelex 77]

Kellets help at low wind strength, but their effect disappears at the sort of wind strength that are likely to cause anchor holding problems.
They can be useful reducing swing, or dropping rode below a fouling level.

They are a very poor substitute to increase holding. Extra scope , or much better, a corresponding increase in anchor size will result in better performance.

[colemj]

But the big question is do they help catch more anchor octopi?

If not - toss!

Mark

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Regarding the Coromueles... come on, they're not that bad.

Badda bing, badda boom.

Maybe I have the name wrong. They are the ones that come up at night and disappear when it is time to sail. Probably the worst anchoring experience I've ever had. The bow was jumping up two or three feet in the air. I got tossed out of my bunk and ended up on anchor watch all night. Not sure that a Kellet would have helped though.

[Stu Jackson]

Keep it. If you ever anchor in wind over tide, it'll keep your rode down.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by colemj

or using your backup anchor

Great idea. Consider the Kellet gone!

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

[LIST=1]They can be useful reducing swing, or dropping rode below a fouling level

This is why I was considering keeping it. Especially the second.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

They can be useful reducing swing, or dropping rode below a fouling level.

This can be done on the spot and only when needed with a plastic soda bottle filled with sand.

Mark