Next message: John Ford: "T&T: (no subject)"
I have a drag chute from an F104 for my sea anchor. Its about 8 feet in
dia. and very heavy. I've used it on my 40 ft sailboat (Morgan OI41) as a
test and it seemed to act as I expected it to. Surplus and cheap. The
cargo chute would make a nice awning though.
Harry
----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2004 5:58 AM
Subject: T&T: Re: Cargo parachutes as sea anchors
> In a message dated 10/28/04 11:01:53 PM,
> writes:
>
> << I have obtained a military cargo parachute which I plan to use as a sea
> anchor (not drogue). I would use it in moderate seas to keep the bow into
> the waves in the event of an engine failure on a 70 foot steel motor
barge.
> Has anyone done this already, do I need to add anything to the parachute
> apart from a long nylon warp, swivel and trip line, e.g. weights? Can I
run
> the trip line directly from the parachute centre back to the boat instead
of
> away from the boat to a float then back?
> >>
>
> This used to be quite popular a few decades ago. But the parachutes used
were
> small ones, no more than 8' in diameter. The load on that a 70' steel
trawler
> would place on a standard sized cargo parachute might rip out all the
shroud
> lines unless the parachute was designed to drop tanks. Remember that water
is
> 800 times denser than air and the lines need to be sized accordingly.
>
> The reason the trip line is lead to a float and then outside the chute to
the
> boat is to minimize the chance that it will get tangled in the shrouds or
> wrapped around the swivel. If you can't trip the chute, you will have to
cut it
> loose.
>
> I'm not dismissing the idea of using a cargo chute as a sea anchor
entirely.
> Buy a surplus chute and try it out before using it in the ultimate storm.
If
> it works, fine. If it doesn't, you can always use the material for
awnings.
>
> Larry Z
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