Overlooking your anchor hardware can be a costly mistake.
By Pierce Hoover
With the summer boating season in full swing, it's time to seek out a quiet cove where you can anchor and relax. But to ensure peace of mind, you might want to take a few minutes before your next cruise to do a bit of midseason inspection and maintenance on the round tackle. Anchors and their associated hardware are too often overlooked until they are needed.
You're probably thinking anchors don't require much in the way of service beyond rinsing off harbor mud upon retrieval. For the most part, you are correct. But both use and disuse can create potential weaknesses that will require your occasional attention. Rust isn't a major concern with galvanized and stainless hardware, but it's still a good idea to pull the entire length of the rode out of the locker every so often, give it a good rinse and maybe a brushing. As you re-stow, look for signs of corrosion in individual links, and pay special attention to the shackles and attachment hardware.
If your rode includes a swivel, you should inspect it for distortion and proper operation. You should also check shackles for distortions such as bends, twist or spread, and inspect surfaces for sings of gouges, crack or corrosion. Worn shackle pins should be replaced, and it's a good idea to give those pins a few turns back and forth every so often to keep corrosion from building up and locking the threads. If this is allowed to happen, you'll have to resort to a hack saw the next time you want to change out hardware.
If all or a portion of the anchor rode is rope, a simple cleaning and occasional bout of drying on deck will prevent mildew. You should inspect lines for signs of damage, which can take the form of frayed or "fuzzy" sections, discoloration, variations in diameter or glossy or glazed surface areas.
Other Boatkeeper tips featured this month:
- More Electronics from past issues.
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