Nothing on board the yacht, after the sails and ropes, should receive such attention as the "ground tackle," as it is called. On the anchor and its appurtenances rests the safety, often, of all on board; and yet there is nothing so often neglected, or left carelessly out of order, or the cable in a snarl, as the anchoring gear in a small yacht.
Every yacht over twenty-five feet in length should be fitted with three anchors, or, at the very least, two. If three in number, two of them should be nearly of the same size, and one quite small and handy, which is called the "kedge-anchor." We will suppose that the yacht is fitted with three, and, if so, their uses will be as hereinafter described.
In the olden times hemp cables were wholly used, even for vessels of large size and men-of-war; but in these latter days they have been replaced by iron cables in large ships, and by manila hawsers in small yachts. To be sure there are some advantages in favor of a chain-cable for even small yachts; but as a rule the pliable, soft but strong manila rope is the favorite. Small iron cables are, for some reason or other, distrusted; and they are also heavy to get back again, even if of small size, when the yacht is anchored in many fathoms of water. They are useful when the yacht is likely to lie at anchor in a sea-way for a long time, for then they would not chafe; whilst a manila cable might become seriously injured. Some use a few fathoms of iron chain, and then manila above that, so as to keep the end near the anchor from fraying on rocky bottoms. It is to be remembered, then, in a long piece of chain cable, that the _one imperfect link_, or one that is weak in any way, _determines the utmost strength of the cable_. In other words, the strain necessary to part the weakest link makes the stronger ones useless. Perhaps it is the fear of this weakness lurking in some unknown link that deters yachtsmen, as a class, from using chain-cables, and makes them prefer the clean, handsome manila rope, that they know is just as strong at one part as another throughout its entire length.
_Wire cables_ have commenced to be talked of, made in the same shape as wire rigging, only more pliable; and these, perhaps, will, in time, come into use, as they are of uniform strength, and take up less room than the cumbersome manila rope cables.