Sunk Without Trace by Paul Gelder

Author:Paul Gelder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: A & C Black Publishers Ltd
Published: 2010-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

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LESSONS LEARNED

Even ‘heavy three-eighths-of-an-inch chain from a big Whitstable smack’ could not prevent Thelma from blowing ashore when coral cut through the iron chain ‘as if with a file’. Bob Roberts had felt uneasy about anchoring in Chatham Bay: ‘An open anchorage and no place for rough weather. It was one of those queer fancies of mine that made me dislike the place.’

Roberts considered laying out a kedge as well as the bower anchor, but decided that since ‘our 2-inch tripping line had already chafed through on the jagged bottom in the matter of two hours, it would be useless to use a kedge on a warp’. That was the danger signal he ignored. For if a warp could be chafed through in hours, even a chain might go the same way if left for days. In fact, they left Thelma for five days before returning to find her among the rocks.

Anchoring in coral without careful checks can also run the risk of chain wrapping itself around a coral head, which can cause inextricable problems. Apart from the risk of being ‘trapped’, shortening the scope increases the shock loading, which can cause chain to snap, or put a fatal strain on deck gear.

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