The Snubber

0700, May 22, 2015

So after my chat with Steve Moore last night during a brief interlude in what had been some pretty challenging conditions, another storm appeared in the west. The wind picked up to twenty, then thirty knots with gusts to forty. Rocking and rolling. We actually fixed supper during the early stages of this blow. I had it in my mind that this thing would expire fairly quickly like the first one.

Wrong again. It blew all night long, pretty much at thirty plus.

Now here’s the snubber line story. Our anchoring “ground tackle” consists of the anchor (a very fine Bruce knockoff that has never failed us, never dragged) and two hundred and fifty feet of quarter inch high tensile chain, backed by two hundred feet of rope. Cruisers use chain because it’s strong of course but also because it’s heavy and lays on the bottom thus contributing “holding power” to the buried anchor.

However it’s also rigid so that in high winds when the boat is pointing into the wind and rocking and rolling, the bow can swing through a four to six foot arc so that the chain is alternately loose on the down-swing and on the up-swing all that force is transferred to the bow through that rigid chain. That force is tremendous. Makes for a very uncomfortable motion and, at the worst, a cleat could fail, which could have disastrous consequences.

The solution to this problem is a snubber line which is a ten foot more or less length of three strand or braided nylon rope which runs from a cleat out through the bow roller (the thing on the bow which carries the anchor rode, in our case the chain) and is attached to the chain with a funky and expensive chain hook or simply tied with a couple half hitches. The snubber line is pulled tight so that it then takes the load while a loop of chain hangs slack. This line stretches considerable under tension, acts like a shock absorber and thus dampens the up and down movement of the bow. Makes for a very much more comfortable and safe ride in high winds.

So dutifully this night I deployed the snubber line just like I always do, after we have properly “set” the anchor. Chain and snubber running through the same bow roller on the bowsprit.

So we go to bed, all snug but also apprehensive about our very exposed position.

0430. We woke to loud slamming and banging motion. It seemed like the bow was exploding. Winds very high, but the anchor drag alarm had not gone off. In fact we were not dragging, but the snubber line had parted.

Living on a sailboat is in part all about maintaining your gear, anticipating and being prepared for whatever could happen and learning lessons from your experiences and mistakes. We had sure made our share of mistakes over the past few months and have tried to learn from them.

This one was a biggie!

The snubber had parted because I had run it across the same bow roller as the chain, just like I had always done. But this was the first time we had experienced winds like this. The snubber had worked its way under the chain which ate that snubber in half in a very short time, and the stupendous force generated in the up and down bow movement was suddenly transferred through that rigid chain to the bow, making for a very unpleasant and dangerous experience.

But not nearly as unpleasant and dangerous as what I had to contemplate as a solution and knew I had to do, which was to take my stainless steel artificial knees and arthritic hands forward in this weather to replace that snubber. So we got on our life jackets, thought through the various steps in our solution and prepared for my journey forward. The basic idea was that Emily would drive the boat forward to relieve the stress on the chain and I would deploy a new snubber.  Hopefully the wind would cooperate and calm a little (which did not happen).

With the intrepid Emily (otherwise known as “Your Highness”) at the helm and me (otherwise known as “Mister Potato Head”) providing muscle power, we got it going. I clipped myself onto the boat using a six foot tether attached to my life preserver. Got to the bow and was astonished and frightened by the arcing motion there. Must have been six, maybe eight feet. There were times I was under water to my knees, then the bow would move upward at breakneck speed and launch me up with it.

But somehow, with my trusty high lumen Redline flashlight in my teeth,  I got a new snubber in place and RAN THE NEW LINE UNDER A DIFFERENT BOW ROLLER!

Made my way back into the cockpit and very thankfully hugged my beautiful wife, who had done a superb job at the helm.

Immediately the violent rocking motion calmed substantially. We were cold and soaked to the bone, but safe for the moment. And that fabulous Bruce anchor had not budged an inch.

We didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Up at dawn, winds slightly down, we had our essential and delightful coffee fix, debriefed the night’s experience and thought about what happens next.

And that was a fun and exhilarating motor sail from our anchorage off Reeds Point north of the William B Umstead Memorial Bridge, out into Albemarle Sound where crossed the eastern ICW route that goes by way of the North River to Coinjock and Norfolk. We intersected and joined the western ICW route, the Great Dismal Swamp Canal route, down which we had come last fall, and ran up the Panquotank River, past the tethered blimp and the US Coast Guard Air Base and into Elizabeth City, that bills itself as the most boater friendly town on the ICW (which means of course they are happy to have you spend your money there).

 

 

Every one should have an airship (blimp) parked in their back yard.

 

Of course, you will need an airship hanger. 

 

Monkey Man and Monkey

 

We tied up at the free city dock right next to the town park, where you can stay for forty eight hours, but they are very loose on the rule. Five dollar showers in a city maintained, very clean bath house.

We were met by Gus, who has been greeting boaters here for twenty years. With Gus, you also get Gus’ stories, of which there are many, and they start the very minute you get tied up. They are the same stories we heard back in the fall but somehow they sound fresh and he is very entertaining.

 

The monkey man was there also, same guy, same monkey as last fall. I'm not making this stuff up. This guy is a daily fixture in the park. People, especially kids, are delighted. So were we.

So here we are and here is where we intend to stay. Tomorrow the Elizabeth City Farmers market and all kinds of goodies. We will stay here two nights here they on to Norfolk, VA.

 

Good night to you.