Marathon - Broken anchor swivel

A few jets overhead?

Broken!

The day started out very warm but then the clouds came and we had a few sprinkles - followed by more sun and warmth. The chore of the day was to replace the anchor swivel that broke after 8 years of use.The swivel goes between the anchor chain and the anchor itself. It allows the chain to "uncoil" itself from boat motion which happens when the wind changes direction often and the boat goes in circles. The anchor stays put but the chain moves around. If there's no swivel then the chain can get a kink in it requiring manual intervention to undo before hauling aboard. Alarmingly, the Suncor swivel I installed in 2004 broke. It still retained the anchor but part of the nose broke off (see photo). Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty - we'll see about that on Friday. I ordered a new one from Defender Marine and tried to install it today but with no success. Suncor redesigned all their swivels 4 years ago and now a 3/8" BBB chain link does not fit their swivel - it used to. The BBB type of chain has a smaller link size in order to add weight per foot to the catenary of the chain, an advantage in anchoring. Well, the smaller link length is not long enough for the redesigned swivel. Calling Defender Marine, there's no problem returning the unit for a full refund but now I'm out of a swivel. I'll use a couple of shackles for now until I can get a new swivel.

After the adventure with the swivel, we settled down for our usual wine on the back of the boat to watch the sunset and to dine on a Cobb salad that Ann put together, a great way to end the day. The weather ahead looks somewhat uncertain so we're not sure when we'll leave for Newfound Harbor on the way to Key West - but we'll be in Key West on Wednesday for sure!