时差N小时 锚应该抛多远？

Anchors away, me boys-but how far?

抛锚了，锚究竟该抛多远呢？

On this moment of science.

又到了科学一刻的时间了。

What happens if you throw your anchor overboard and there isn't enough chain to reachthe bottom?

如果你将锚抛出船外，但锚还不够长，没法触底固定，

Does the anchor haul you down with it?

那么锚会把船拖下水吗？

This sounds a little bit like something that would happen in a cartoon.

这听起来像是动画片里才能看到场景，

But for sailors it's nolaughing matter.

但对水手来说可不是开玩笑。

It's unlikely the whole ship would be pulled under, but there could very well be damage to the hull¹ caused by not having enough chain-including a sudden hole where the anchor used to be.

发生这种情况时，整艘船被拖下水可能性不大，但船体很有可能受到大的破坏，比如船上原本固定锚的地方会被突然扯出一个洞。

That's why the nautical² rule of thumb is to use three times as much chain as is needed to hit bottom.

所以，对于航海有条黄金法则：使用比触底所需的长度长两倍的锚。

That extra chain piles up around the anchor and provides added stability.

多余部分的锚链会在固定锚的周围盘起，从而加强船的稳定性。

Still, what if you don't know how deep the water is?

但要是不知道水有多深，

Or what if you just make a mistake?

或者不小心失误了怎么办？

The navy has prepared for this by building what is called a weak link into their anchor chains.

为了解决这个问题，海军设计了有弱环链接的锚链。

The weak link is the last link in the chain, and while it's strong enough to hold together in general,it's weak enough to break if the whole weight of the anchor and chain is put on it.

弱环是锚链的最后一环，通常它可以紧扣锚链，在受到整条锚链的重力时才会断裂，

The weak link there is as a safety valve.

就像一个安全阀门。

Because it's the very last link, under normal circumstances it never getsplayed out at all; you always want to have some chain left on the ship.

正因为它是整条锚链的最后一环，一般根本受不到力，因为总有一部分链条还留在船上。

But, if the anchor is still zooming³ down full speed at the point where the entire chain runs out, the abrupt⁴ jerk will cause that link to snap.

但要是在整条锚链已完全抛出，锚还在急速下降，猛然的拉动还是会扯断弱环。

Without the safety valve of the weak link, sailors might routinely drop more than their anchors.

如果没有弱环作为安全阀，恐怕被抛入水底的就是那些水手了。

1 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

2 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

3 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。