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| Light breeze between la Gomera (Canary I.) and Ilha do Sal (Cape Verde I.) |
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Francophones,
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There is a great deal of folklore about the right choice of anchoring components, as well as the right way to operate them. As for dance or music, this folklore varies significantly according to the countries. Besides, skilled sailors claim anchoring is rather an art than a science, in which luck plays quite a part.
Nevertheless, it is not a reason to give up the search for a rational solution, if only because the physical laws that rule the behavior of the rode (line and/or chain) are quite simple and relatively easy to simulate with a personal computer. To convince yourself anchoring is not on the verge of paranormal, have a look at Tuning an Anchor Rode.
On most sailboats, low voltage (especially 12 V) cables are undersized. Actually, most boat owners - and, sadly, many shipyard engineers - have no idea of the voltage drop in a cable with given gauge, length and intensity, nor of the trouble it causes to the connected equipments. Answer to the latter question can be found in the relevant installation manuals. Answering the former simply needs applying Ohm's law - not so difficult with a spreadsheet! See Sizing Electric Cables.
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