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AQUILA OPERATING MANUAL
NW Explorations
4A2: Anchor
Chain Locker & Anchor Jams
Anchor Handling:
The anchor is forward on the bow pulpit. It is raised and lowered by the electric windlass. The chain goes from
the windlass into the chain lockers through the chain pipe behind the chain wheel (“wildcat”). From here, the
chain goes into a compartment just forward of the bow locker.
Be careful when dealing with the chain! If a crew member is operating the windlass be especially careful to
keep fingers, hands, arms, etc. away
from the chain!
Use the foredeck footswitches, not the helm switch, so you can see where the chain is going and be sure it is
clear of the boat properly when raising or lowering the anchor!
Lowering anchor:
If the chain jams while lowering anchor, it is because one loop of the chain on top of the pile
has fallen inside another loop of chain when the chain pile may have fallen over or shifted. There is no way
the chain can be tangled so that you will ever need to disconnect it! One easy way to disentangle the chain is,
while wearing gloves, grasp the chain on the forward side of the windlass, and, while lifting it above the wildcat
manually, rapidly yank it up and down. This will usually free it.
If, on the other hand, this “yanking” technique fails, look into the chain locker to un-overlap the layers of chain
in the pile.
Hauling anchor:
Be careful when dealing with the chain! If a crew member is operating the windlass while a
person is accessing the chain locker, be especially careful to keep that person’s
fingers,
hands, arms, etc. away from the chain! Use a windlass handle or broomstick to deal with the
chain.
4A3: Anchor Chain Measurement
The chain is measured by marks on the chain. The markings are as follows:
10’
Red-Yellow-Red Strip
50’
Yellow Stripe
100’
Red Stripe
150’
Yellow Stripe
200’
Red Stripe
250’
Yellow Stripe
290’
Red-Yellow-Red Stripe
