Or, Do as I say and not as I did!
Most people who know me know
I have figured out a number of strategies to compensate for not having the
strength of a 25-year-old linebacker in his prime along with the coordination
of a cat burglar. Too bad I don’t always use those strategies …
Today is a Friday. A week ago
Wednesday I had to put down the hook in the Manatee River. When it came time to
pull it up … I couldn’t muscle it up. So what did I do? Did I use the strategy
I had not only figured out but methodically tested, guaranteed to treat an old
body gently?
Of course not.
I tried to force it up. And
then I tried harder to force it up. After all, I’m only 67, and everyone knows
women are stronger than men …. Wait … what?????
I’m the person who has told
so many people about the nifty system I came up with for using snatch blocks to
free your anchor easily. But did I do it that day? No … I hadn’t actually set
the system up permanently, and it seemed like “too much trouble” if I could
just pull the thing up.
Now, I already knew that
those three words – “Too much trouble” – can cause chaos. Many people don’t
reef when they should because it’s “too much trouble.” I didn’t just hear
about an efficient reefing system – I had it installed on my boat. I’ve used
it. It works.
But I hadn’t actually installed
my alternate system for raising the anchor. I would have to stop and find the
parts, and then put them on. It was too much trouble when all I had to do was pull
a little harder.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Well, I’ll tell you what’s
too much trouble: having to go back to the doctor because the nuclear-strength
anti-inflammatory drug she put you on made your feet swell up like
watermelons, first sign of a rare but dangerous side effect of that drug.
Setting your phone to go off
at 2:30 AM to take your Prednisone – and eat something so it won’t cause an
ulcer – is a bit of bother.
And I brought it on myself because
I really banged up my left shoulder trying to force that anchor out on
muscle. I couldn’t “drive up on it” little by little because the wind had
kicked up to about 20 mph. I’d move the boat forward, but by the time I’d
gotten to the anchor rode, the wind had pushed the boat back, and the rode was
tight again. That’s a game of tag you never win if you’re on the boat by
yourself, which I usually am if I’m just moving the boat from home port to
BCYC.
So what is my really good
plan for freeing a strongly-set anchor? My boat has a perforated aluminum toe
rail. That means I can put these nifty things called “snatch blocks” anywhere on
the toe rail.
I use two snatch blocks to
guide the rode back to the cockpit. Then I just put the boat into forward with
no forward throttle, which inches the boat up, and pull the rode into the
cockpit. If that’s moving the boat too fast, I simply “goose” the engine by
moving it between neutral and forward, and then I have complete control of the
forward speed. There’s no need to steer; an anchored boat will swing into the
wind. If she swings off to the side, just give her a couple of moments to
center up. Bringing in the anchor this way, there’s no chance the rode can get
wrapped around the propeller. Then I lock
it off at the bow, and THEN I can drive the boat forward over the anchor, free it, and
pull the chain and anchor up pretty easily.
Now, my forward cleats are on
this very sturdy toe rail, so I don’t worry about ripping out a cleat. If your
cleat is mounted to fiberglass, put a good backing plate on it – and don’t
delay doing that because it’s “too much trouble.” Ripping a cleat out – now that’s too
much trouble!
So why didn’t I put the
snatch blocks on when I finally had to admit that my imitation of a gorilla in
its prime had failed and I wouldn’t be pulling it up? Simple – the “gorilla” had
already made spaghetti out of her shoulder. I was in a lot of pain and needed
help raising that anchor. So I called Boat US. They put a tow line on the front
of my boat. As they towed my boat forward, I easily pulled the rode in (no strain on the rode). When the chain
was vertical, I locked it off on the cleat, and they pulled me forward again.
It took three tries, but the anchor finally popped loose. I only had about 7 ft of
chain and the anchor to pull up then, and I managed to do that.
The doctor hopes to clear me
for full activity by May 1. That’s nearly four weeks of limited use of my left
arm – and I’m left handed. The upside is that I’m getting to know the medical
staff at my new doctor’s office pretty well.
LESSON LEARNED: Be smart. The applied uses of
the simple machines – wheels (includes blocks), levers (ex: hammer), and inclined planes (ex: wood
splitting wedge and screws), are tools
our ancestors used to move us out of the stone age and into the industrial
revolution. We should be smart enough to use them to help us do things like pull
up anchors.
I probably dodged a bit of a
bullet here. I have full range of motion in that shoulder, and they don’t think
the rotator cuff is compromised, but I was foolish.
Don’t you be foolish. I have
twice bought a set of snatch blocks by getting to marine flea markets early.
They’re out there, and they’re useful. They’re also very inexpensive at flea
markets – I recently paid only $20 apiece for them. My shoulder was worth $40! New,
they start at around $160. I’m going to put them permanently on the toe rail,
with badly applied seizing wire (on purpose) so it will take wire snips to
remove them (and have a backup set in case one of these older wonders breaks or "takes a walk" to someone else's boat).
On your boat, you may have to
install a couple of pad eyes (with backing plate) if you aren’t lucky enough to have a perforated
toe rail (put backing plates on all your deck hardware),
but none of this is hard. And, on my boat, it works. I’ve done it. Wish I’d installed it, oh, about 11 days ago …
Sorry I don’t have a picture
of the actual system up yet, but I have to let that shoulder heal some more
first. I’ll do it in a week or so.
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