I subscribe via the Digest, so excuse any overlap with something that might have been said today on these subjects from yesterday. I was first exposed to the kellett concept by my old man and his brother many moons ago. Somehow one of them got a hold of a number of old anvils of all things. My uncle drilled and welded some big eyebolts into the top of one and they used it as a kellett for an all rope rode on a clapped out old sail boat they got for nothing from some widow. I forget what kind of anchor they had exactly, other than my dad found it tangled up in some debris that washed up in the lower delta (CA) where we used to hang out and go scavenging. Gives you some perspective on the economic mindset at work. Anyway we had a big snap hook and would slide the anvil on down the rode until it stopped. All anchor and anvil retrieval duties were my duty and that of whatever young person got suckered into coming along. No windlass, of course. Thank goodness they hadn't found some chain somewhere. We'd stay on the hook for a day or two or three, fishing, duck hunting, goofing off (virtually NEVER sailing! the outboard is another whole story). Current clocks in those parts and it can get dang windy too. Insert relevant sentence here: Our ground tackle system worked like a charm. Back to digression: except once, we started dragging after a shift. We decided just to leave, and I started pulling in the anvil but it was coming in awfully easy. Of course it did, all I was pulling on was a rusted corroded eye bolt and snap hook. Anchor rode came in easy too, all that was left attached was the shank of the anchor and a bent piece of metal. My uncle was unphased. "I got two more of those anvils, and one is really big, let's just use that as an anchor!" Fortunately for me they ended up getting rid of the boat before that happened. So yes, I am a life long kellett advocate. I think their only practical applicability is on a rope rode, where you can slide it down on its own line and adjust as needed. A chain rode serves most of the duty that a kellett does. A friend gave me an "Anchor Buddy" kellett when I bought my boat and he had sold his. Very slick. However in succeeding hundreds of nights at anchor, having a chain rode, I have used it on the main boat once.. Our secondary anchor is on a rope rode with a short slug of chain. I wanted to practice a Bahamian Moor, and the kellett was just the ticket for keeping the rope line well under the boat during deployment and undoing of the moor. Mostly, we used the kellett as a stern anchor for our Boston Whaler when we went to the beach, until I sprung 15 bucks for a little Danforth knock-off that works way better for the purpose and has much less toe-breaking capacity. I am sure my uncle rolled a bit in his grave since I already had a perfectly good "anchor" that someone had given me. Grappling Hooks: I have only seen these useful out west where the "Bull Rail" method attaching lines to docks is used, instead of cleats or pilings. It would have come in handy a few times, but my adult cruising in the PNW and the Delta has all been on charter boats. Saw a guy like my uncle who had fashioned one by welding a couple of pieces of rebar bent into L shapes along with the obligatory eye bolt. He rodeoed his big cruiser onto a dock I had had a heck of a time getting into the wind with an inexperienced crew. Another guy said he used a miniature Bruce anchor with great effect, and it could served double duty on the tender. Makes sense, but didn't see it in action.

About as good of an explanation on the subject(s) I've read. Thanks. Mike -------------------------------------------------- From: "George Hechtman" <ghechtman@aol.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 6:01 PM To: <great-loop@lists.trawlering.com> Subject: GL: Kelletts and Grappling Irons and such > I subscribe via the Digest, so excuse any overlap with something that > might have been said today on these subjects from yesterday. > > I was first exposed to the kellett concept by my old man and his brother > many moons ago. Somehow one of them got a hold of a number of old anvils > of all things. My uncle drilled and welded some big eyebolts into the top > of one and they used it as a kellett for an all rope rode on a clapped out > old sail boat they got for nothing from some widow. I forget what kind of > anchor they had exactly, other than my dad found it tangled up in some > debris that washed up in the lower delta (CA) where we used to hang out > and go scavenging. Gives you some perspective on the economic mindset at > work. Anyway we had a big snap hook and would slide the anvil on down the > rode until it stopped. All anchor and anvil retrieval duties were my duty > and that of whatever young person got suckered into coming along. No > windlass, of course. Thank goodness they hadn't found some chain > somewhere. We'd stay on the hook for a day or two or three, fishing, duck > hunting, goofing off (virtually NEVER sailing! the > outboard is another whole story). Current clocks in those parts and it can > get dang windy too. Insert relevant sentence here: Our ground tackle > system worked like a charm. Back to digression: except once, we started > dragging after a shift. We decided just to leave, and I started pulling in > the anvil but it was coming in awfully easy. Of course it did, all I was > pulling on was a rusted corroded eye bolt and snap hook. Anchor rode came > in easy too, all that was left attached was the shank of the anchor and a > bent piece of metal. My uncle was unphased. "I got two more of those > anvils, and one is really big, let's just use that as an anchor!" > Fortunately for me they ended up getting rid of the boat before that > happened. > > So yes, I am a life long kellett advocate. I think their only practical > applicability is on a rope rode, where you can slide it down on its own > line and adjust as needed. A chain rode serves most of the duty that a > kellett does. A friend gave me an "Anchor Buddy" kellett when I bought my > boat and he had sold his. Very slick. However in succeeding hundreds of > nights at anchor, having a chain rode, I have used it on the main boat > once.. Our secondary anchor is on a rope rode with a short slug of chain. > I wanted to practice a Bahamian Moor, and the kellett was just the ticket > for keeping the rope line well under the boat during deployment and > undoing of the moor. Mostly, we used the kellett as a stern anchor for our > Boston Whaler when we went to the beach, until I sprung 15 bucks for a > little Danforth knock-off that works way better for the purpose and has > much less toe-breaking capacity. I am sure my uncle rolled a bit in his > grave since I already had a perfectly good "anchor" that > someone had given me. > > Grappling Hooks: I have only seen these useful out west where the "Bull > Rail" method attaching lines to docks is used, instead of cleats or > pilings. It would have come in handy a few times, but my adult cruising in > the PNW and the Delta has all been on charter boats. Saw a guy like my > uncle who had fashioned one by welding a couple of pieces of rebar bent > into L shapes along with the obligatory eye bolt. He rodeoed his big > cruiser onto a dock I had had a heck of a time getting into the wind with > an inexperienced crew. Another guy said he used a miniature Bruce anchor > with great effect, and it could served double duty on the tender. Makes > sense, but didn't see it in action. > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com > > To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, > unsubscribe, etc.) go to: > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com