[Public-List] To Gord, Mike, Joe B and the rest of the smart guys

Gordon Laco mainstay at csolve.net
Mon Aug 27 05:26:45 PDT 2018


Good morning friends - 

I’ve sent George a couple of photographs of SURPRISE’s anchor roller set up with the Bruce anchor we currently use in place.  I took the photos last evening after supper.

Anticipating questions about the actual piece of kit I installed… here is a detailed description.

The roller assembly is an obsolete Ronstan fitting which I found in the sale bin of one of the boatyards I supply.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that there are others currently made which I am sure would serve equally well - perhaps better - because I had to modify the one I’ve got in order to make it work.

I had the base extended by four inches by means of a 1/4” thick stainless steel plate welded to the base.  My intention was to give the fitting deeper reach aft so that I could secure it with five studs, which I drove into drilled and tapped holes in my bow casting.  

As I’ve written earlier, I wish I had made the extension one or two inches longer, so that there was no possibility of the anchor contacting the bow when it’s being hoisted that last bit onto the roller for stowage.    As things stand, it rarely touches, but from the marks on the bow I see it has indeed touched three times over the years; and that’s not bad.

I value the way the setup stand mainly because it is very short, so maximizes the strength of the whole deal.  I like how it holds the anchor very securely when we’re sailing, and I also like how unobtrusive it is with regard to aesthetics.

The roller itself is aluminium… in the 18 years it has had our chain running back and forth over it, the chain has worn the softer metal.  I’m thinking of looking for a delrin roller to replace the aluminium one… I expect that will be on this winter’s list.  If I can’t find one off the shelf, I’ll have one made at our local machine shop.

Gordon Laco
Surprise 426




> On Aug 26, 2018, at 11:10 AM, Marcelo D. Gentinetta via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> Good morning,
> My boat’s bow roller and anchor set up is pictured on the A30 website under her previous name Sally B. I felt that the bow platform as built by the previous owner was too long and hence weaker than I would like to be. I ended up cutting 8 inches off the end and remounting the bow roller closer inboard. It has gained much more strength this way. I have a 10kg Rocna on it now. 
> 
> Marcelo
> #441
> 
>> On Aug 25, 2018, at 4:31 PM, George Dinwiddie via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Gord,
>> 
>> Are these the photos you mean? http://www.alberg30.org/maintenance/DeckGear/BowrollerOnSurprise/
>> 
>> - George
>> 
>> On 8/25/18 4:50 PM, Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote:
>>> Hello Gents - ‘
>>> I am of the tribe that believes that the anchor roller needs to be as small and short as possible… for reasons of strength, utility and aesthetics.
>>> The shorter the lever arm you build into the fitting, the stronger it will be where it interfaces with your bow and deck.  We should always bear in mind that when our boats were designed and built, nobody imagined that long sprit-like anchor davits would be cantilevered out there.
>>> With all that in mind, I fitted one to SURPRISEs bow… I wish I had made it one inch longer, which would have made it impossible for the tip of the Bruce we currently carry up there to contact the stem, but no matter… the bow fitting we have is immensely strong and quite inconspicuous… and in 9 anchors aweigh out of 10, the tip of the fluke doesn’t touch the bow.
>>> John, I’ll send photos to you…and anyone else who asks.
>>> Cheers -
>>> Gordon Laco
>>> #426 Surprise
>>> PS - my sons and I are convening a meeting of the Midland-Penetanguishene Cultural Appreciation Society in order to view the remake of ‘Papillon’, reputed by reviewers to be more brutally violent than the original starring Steve McQueen.  Mom is staying home.
>>>> On Aug 25, 2018, at 4:43 PM, John Johnston via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I am in the process of mounting a new  self-deploying bowroller on # 69, and what I have come up with is a 1/2” aluminum fabricated piece that rests on the existing bronze  bow fitting, with a 316 bowroller atop of that, the aluminum extending  aft far enough to attach through a “ bridge” that can be throughbolted through the deck with a mounting plate beneath. At the bow the aluminum will be drilled and then the bowroller will be fastened through the aluminum and into tapped holes in the bronze. There is room for one through bolt to gain purchase. It will certainly be strong enough on Day 1, but am I building a sandwich of dissimilar metals that is doomed to fail?  I suspect that the bolts strapping it together would be bronze, because that would be the material I am threading into, but I have a growing sense that the design might be ill-considered. Perhaps the sandwiched piece between bronze and stainless would better be wood?  Advice would be very welcome, not the least because the aluminum piece is due to be fabricated from a template I made, and the cost of that is not at all negligible. Especially if it don’t work. I look forward to hearing from the Alberg Brain Trust. Thanks!
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>> 
>> -- 
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
>> I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
>> So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
>> So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
>>              'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
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