Eternal Vigilance is the Price for Finding Things that Broke

Pieces of the old Bow Roller

Actually in this case it was just washing the anchor chain! I had anchored out in Cambridge MD. When I picked up the anchor I also picked up a lot of mud. When I got to Solomons I hosed the mud off the chain only to find a couple of big chunks that were not mud but rather pieces of the anchor roller.

I got a replacement roller and took time yesterday to install it.

One of the lessons I have learned in my full time cruising experience is that things break. They seem to break a lot more frequently then when I was just socially cruising. Of course this is a function of distance and wear and being in salt water rather than fresh.

The new Roller

I sail a great deal more than I did when I was a weekend warrior. I have learned to go over Reboot very carefully before departing on a long voyage. I also pay attention to what has fallen on the deck. I use tie wraps a lot. They are very prone to failure from UV. When I find one on the deck (broken of course) it sets off the quest to find out how many others are on their last legs. Cotter pins are another area of concern. They hold in the clevis pins - and they rust (no matter what brand I buy) pretty frequently.

Fair winds and following seas :)