Most of us have seen the short video clip - I came across another link for
it today - but does anyone know the story behind it? Was the guy who fell in
the water OK? How much damage to the smaller vessel? Surely an anchor is
never intentionally dropped that quickly?

Charles

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

====

I think I remember seeing the picture you are referring to.. I don't
remember the whole story..

However, the standard procedure for "dropping the anchor" is just that.

I spent many a cold and dreary hour or so on the anchor detail of several US
Navy ships.. The anchor chain is held fast by a pelican hook and the anchor
windlass brake.

The procedure is to insure that the pelican hook is in place with the safety
pin holding it closed, disengage the anchor windlass motor from the
'wildcat' or gypsy, all hands stand clear of the chain. Then upon direction
from the officer of the deck (OOD), on the bridge, to drop (release or let
go) the anchor, the seaman with a sledge hammer pulls the safety pin lanyard
from the pelican hook and knocks the latch off the pelican hook. The anchor
drops and the chain rattles out of the 'chain pipe', over the deck and down
the 'howse pipe'. The person in charge of the forecastle detail will count
markings and report the amount of chain that has been released. He can also
tell when the anchor has reached bottom and will report this. The brakeman
will begin slowing the chain with the hand brake on the 'wildcat'. Once the
chain is under control, the ship will back down while the brakeman lets out
more chain until the OOD is satified there is enough scope and the anchor is
set. Scope is then adjusted by either letting out more chain or by engaging
the windlass motor and hauling in chain.

You might wonder why the anchor is dropped rather than lowered, under
control.. The windlass motor is gears so low that it would take more than a
few minutes to reach bottom and if you lower it 'on the brake', it would
over heat and burn up in short order. It is important to get the anchor to
the bottom quickly, while the ship is in the desired position.

Ships have 'dropped anchor' for hundreds of years and most private boats do
the same.

Oh! Yah! Maybe someone should look over the bow to see if some work boat is
under the bow. Not in the SOP (standard operating procedure), but worth
while considering..


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Not sure of the reason for the letting go of the anchor (accidental or
intentional) but, luckily, no one was injured (the guy overboard was
quickly retrieved) and damage to the boat, was supposedly minimal.

Normal procedure on a merchant ship, is to have the anchor on the brake,
when preparing to let go. The wildcat will be disengaged; riding pawl,
flipped out of the way; and pelican hook or wire stoppers removed .....
simply release the brake and let it go.
Depending on depth and whether the ship is slightly moving astern
(preferably), the chain will stop running on it's own, or may have to be
stopped with the brake (hate runaways).

otn

Charles T. Low wrote:
Most of us have seen the short video clip - I came across another link for
it today - but does anyone know the story behind it? Was the guy who fell in
the water OK? How much damage to the smaller vessel? Surely an anchor is
never intentionally dropped that quickly?

Charles

====

Charles T. Low
- remove "UN"
www.boatdocking.com
www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat

====

Subject: ship anchor hitting smaller vessel
From: "Steve"
Date: 11/02/2003 08:41 Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

I think I remember seeing the picture you are referring to.. I don't
remember the whole story..


snip
Navy warships tend to use a vertical capstan for their anchor windlass, whereas
most commercial vessels use a horizontal winch/windlass, which means the
details may vary, but overall, the same.
One of the test during seatrials is to be in deep water, and do a controlled
drop of the anchor, on the brake, to it's full length (hanging free in water
.... @ 11 shots or roughly 1,000 feet of chain and anchor hanging below the ship
..... then heave it all in, keeping fingers crossed).

Shen

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I think I remember seeing the picture you are referring to.. I don't
remember the whole story..

However, the standard procedure for "dropping the anchor" is just that.

I spent many a cold and dreary hour or so on the anchor detail of several
US
Navy ships.. The anchor chain is held fast by a pelican hook and the
anchor
windlass brake.

The procedure is to insure that the pelican hook is in place with the
safety
pin holding it closed, disengage the anchor windlass motor from the
'wildcat' or gypsy, all hands stand clear of the chain. Then upon
direction
from the officer of the deck (OOD), on the bridge, to drop (release or
let
go) the anchor, the seaman with a sledge hammer pulls the safety pin
lanyard
from the pelican hook and knocks the latch off the pelican hook. The
anchor
drops and the chain rattles out of the 'chain pipe', over the deck and
down
the 'howse pipe'. The person in charge of the forecastle detail will count
markings and report the amount of chain that has been released. He can
also
tell when the anchor has reached bottom and will report this. The brakeman
will begin slowing the chain with the hand brake on the 'wildcat'. Once
the
chain is under control, the ship will back down while the brakeman lets
out
more chain until the OOD is satified there is enough scope and the anchor
is
set. Scope is then adjusted by either letting out more chain or by
engaging
the windlass motor and hauling in chain.

You might wonder why the anchor is dropped rather than lowered, under
control.. The windlass motor is gears so low that it would take more than
a
few minutes to reach bottom and if you lower it 'on the brake', it would
over heat and burn up in short order. It is important to get the anchor to
the bottom quickly, while the ship is in the desired position.

Ships have 'dropped anchor' for hundreds of years and most private boats
do
the same.

Oh! Yah! Maybe someone should look over the bow to see if some work boat
is
under the bow. Not in the SOP (standard operating procedure), but worth
while considering..



So how many people are talking about here to drop this anchor?????

garry

"garry crothers" wrote in message
...


So how many people are talking about here to drop this anchor?????


I was on the deck of a Coast Guard Cutter and watched the anchor dropping
proceedure. It involved at least 8 people. There was one guy with the sledge
hammer to knock the paw loose. Another manning the brake. One guy who I
think was counting the markers on the chain. One guy to call out the
response to the command, and another guy who's job appeared to be to repeat
everything the first guy said, another guy with a headset on that I would
assume was talking to the bridge, and a couple more that just seemed to be
watching.

All very precise and by the book. And no, I don't recall anyone looking
over the side to make sure it was clear below.

I also watched a cruise ship drop anchor. They did it with two people on
deck. I don't recall them looking over the side either.


Rod McInnis

Normal on a merchant, is two people .... in a emergency, one.
Looking first, is a highly abused step in the letgo procedure.

otn

Rod McInnis wrote:

"garry crothers" wrote in message
...



So how many people are talking about here to drop this anchor?????



I was on the deck of a Coast Guard Cutter and watched the anchor dropping
proceedure. It involved at least 8 people. There was one guy with the sledge
hammer to knock the paw loose. Another manning the brake. One guy who I
think was counting the markers on the chain. One guy to call out the
response to the command, and another guy who's job appeared to be to repeat
everything the first guy said, another guy with a headset on that I would
assume was talking to the bridge, and a couple more that just seemed to be
watching.

All very precise and by the book. And no, I don't recall anyone looking
over the side to make sure it was clear below.

I also watched a cruise ship drop anchor. They did it with two people on
deck. I don't recall them looking over the side either.


Rod McInnis

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 12:07:00 -0800, "Rod McInnis"
wrote:



All very precise and by the book. And no, I don't recall anyone looking
over the side to make sure it was clear below.

I also watched a cruise ship drop anchor. They did it with two people on
deck. I don't recall them looking over the side either.



CG boats always have a person on watch (remember your 'navrules'), so
would be aware if there was a boat in the area..at least that's the
way the rules are supposed to work

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