Safety@Sea (Aust) Parachute Anchors

Click here to read an important pdf file on the Pardy method for using Para-Tech sea anchors (requires Adobe Acrobat).

We are pleased to provide the following information to assist seafarers from around the world. However, neither Safety at Sea (Australasia)Pty Ltd nor its agents will have any responsibility or liability for any inaccuracies, falsehoods or errors in the information. For further information please see our disclaimer notice.

Good seamanship is the essence of preparedness and no small, independent craft should venture offshore without the peace of mind afforded by a sea anchor. Listed below are a number of articles which will help to understand the issues:
Contents

Like to know more about Parachute anchors and Drogues? Read this in depth article from Ocean Navigator by Earl R Hines

Purchase a copy of Victor Shane's DDDB book at US$40 (NZ$90). The cost of the book is refunded on a parachute purchase from Safety at Sea Ltd.
The book is freight free anywhere on South Pacific seaboard

We’re alive! Thanks to the parachute [Sea] anchor which secured us for 53 hours in Cyclone Justin

The sea anchor definitely saved the boat and I’m sure our lives. It operated flawlessly on those two days [985mb storm] and the other three days during the other two gales . We did what should have been done and came through a very violent storm and survived with no damage. Thank you again for everything. My parachute [Sea Anchor] is one of the few items I purchased which performed as advertised and no defect or surprises. I appreciated the quality and performance more than I can express. Wouldn’t leave port without it, ever!

I consider your equipment the most important safety item on my boat ... I will never make an ocean passage without one on board. People must realize that ocean cruising can be safe if you go with the idea that you will go into a defensive position before the seas build too high.

Commercial fishermen have been using parachutes at sea for decades ...on long excursions the parachute is indispensable for sea layovers, for heaving to and for otherwise maintaining station on fishing grounds.

With the engine shut off, drift is reduced up to 90% with the bow pointed comfortably into the seas ...other vessels went into port with broken trips ... we stayed, and in this respect the [Sea] anchor paid for itself.

The time for taking all measures for a ship's safety is while still able to do so. Nothing is more dangerous than for a seaman to be grudging in taking precautions lest they turn out to have been unnecessary. Safety at sea for a thousand years has depended on exactly the opposite philosophy. Admiral C.W. Nimitz

For shorthanded sailors, exhaustion is just as dangerous as the sudden gale. Set the Sea Anchor, get some rest, and THEN get up to fight again, with your brain back in working order.

Sometimes it doesn’t pay to beat into heavy seas. The wear and tear on the crew and boat do not justify the handful of miles gained upwind. It may be wiser to lay-to a Sea Anchor and wait for better conditions. Even to heave-to without one, may mean losing in a few hours what you have spent days gaining.

Many boats are lost annually when - initially disabled - they drift out of control and run aground. A Sea Anchor will enable you to hold your position and keep your boat off the rocks long enough for help to arrive.

With sails down or engine out your boat will become unstable - SIDEWAYS - rolling sickeningly, rails buried in the troughs. A Sea Anchor will keep holding the bow back into the seas and restore stability allowing you to go about the business of pumping out, making repairs, or going up the mast if necessary.

"Land is a mixed blessing," to quote Webb Chiles, and Lord knows how many boats have arrived at night and gone on reefs because the skipper couldn’t wait set foot on dry land. If you make the landfall at night and the entry is a difficult one ... Lay off a safe distance and lay-to your Sea Anchor until daybreak. Better late than never.

Most yachting organisations has recognized the value of a true Sea Anchor aboard multihulls and keelers

PARA-TECH® Sea Anchors are made from high strength NYLON fabric having weight and strength more than four times that of surplus parachutes which have been used as Sea Anchors for many years.

Seams are reinforced with Nylon webbing. Nylon lines with a minimum strength of 1,500# are joined at the rode end to a shackle with a strength of from 17,000# to 52,000#.

A correctly sized PARA-TECH® Sea Anchor will likely never experience the loads it is capable of taking.

PARA-TECH® Sea Anchors are designed to be "failure tolerant." If the full system is over stressed the Sea Anchor is designed to blow a panel before anything else fails. The Sea Anchor will still hold the boat like this but with increased drift. It will function properly even with some broken or damaged lines.

Thanks to input to the DRAG DEVICE DATA BASE by Victor Shane, the Deployable Stow Bag (now a standard feature) eliminates the tendency for a parachute Sea Anchor to "catch air" and inflate on deck. The bag is simply tossed overboard with the Sea Anchor inside. The Sea Anchor automatically deploys IN THE WATER from the bag, away from the effects of the wind.

Sizing is first based on length overall, then the with weight, keel configuration and windage are taken into account Note that generally the greater windage of power boats equals the greater draft (wetted surface) of sailing craft, hence the same size Sea Anchor. When in doubt go to the larger size

All components used with your Sea Anchor MUST be suitable for storm anchoring and bow attachments (cleats, Sampson posts, etc.) MUST have backing plates.

Rode MUST be NYLON and 10 to 15 times the boat’s overall length. A stainless steel swivel is essential

Multihulls also MUST rig the rode to a bridle with EACH leg being 2½ times the beam of the boat and rigged to the OUTER HULLS. Adding a length of chain somewhere between the boat and the Sea Anchor will create some catenary in the system to help reduce shock loads, making the ride more comfortable.

The Sea Anchor relies very heavily on the stretch of the long NYLON rode for yielding to the seas (and not standing up to them). Even in moderate conditions, pay out at least 300' of rode or 10 to 15 times the boats length.

Head into the weather to "stall" the boat.
Toss trip line, float line and Sea Anchor into the water on the WINDWARD side of the boat, followed by the rode. Drift back on the Sea Anchor, paying out the required scope.
Make fast the rode and employ chafe gear.
Secure the rudder amidships.

The easiest way of retrieving your Sea Anchor is by the use of a Trip Line. There should be a float at the end. Trip Lines are available in their own stow/deployment bag for rapid, easy deployment. ¼" polypropolene (floating) line in a red heavy duty bag with its own built in float. Available in 150 or 200' length.

PARA-TECH anchor rode is unique, combining the advantages of double braid - strength, ease of handling - with the advantages of three strand twisted - high stretch - and adding abrasion resistant yarns in a NYLON rode with good abrasion resistance and bite. All this and the added or no loss in overall strength.

3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" 7/8" and 1" diameters carried in stock with larger diameters and very long, continuous lengths available.

Easily spliced - splicing tool and instructions are included with any order of 250' or more.

Designed for organized stowage of your anchor rode and easy deployment. The rode passes through the bottom of the bag and is secured by a strap. The top opens like a sea bag. Rode is attached to the boat and the Sea Anchor and tossed overboard with the Sea Anchor providing a clean, orderly deployment of the rode.