Anchor chain

sailingdog · Mar 24, 2009

5/16" is stronger and a bit heavier... so it provides more of a catenary curve for a given wind strength.

If you have a windlass with a chain gypsy, you would be wise to get whatever chain is designed to fit the gypsy.

MacMikey · Mar 24, 2009

The main difference between the two is that without a windlass one will only give you a hernia (60ft) while the other (90ft) will give you a heart attack.

Ron20324 · Mar 24, 2009

BSmith, what size anchor comes on the Bowflex?

If you look at the sizing charts, you would see 1/4" is sufficient for your boat. Since you are retrieving by hand, for only another 1/10 pound more per foot, get the HT (high test) and get double the strength. 5/16 shackles.

Stu Jackson · Mar 24, 2009

Ron's right. Another way to say it is

that YOU need to size your anchoring SYSTEM. This includes the anchor, chain, rode and all connectors. The system is sized based on the strength of the wind you anticipate and the size and type and freeboard of your boat. Calder's Cruising Handbook has a good sizing system, as do many other anchoring books and reference material.

Ross · Mar 24, 2009

Re: Ron's right. Another way to say it is

The weight of the chain only becomes a factor in very deep water. Even if you have 200 feet of chain if you anchor in 20 feet of water that's all you have to lift. The rest is either on the boat or on the bottom.

RickS · Mar 24, 2009

Why not use a three strand nylon braid or Megaplait line rode spliced into a shorter length of chain, 15-20 ft? The weight savings in the bow will be significant.

sailingdog · Mar 24, 2009

IMHO, the minimum amount of chain for most boats and anchors is a boat length.

catsailor · Mar 24, 2009

The smaller winlasses, the one you may choose...

bsmith said:
No windless....maybe someday but I did buy a Bowflex and am working on building up my strength for anchor retrieval .

will probably require 1/4" G4 chain. I would take a quick look in a catalog and see. With a windlass you will need to splice the line to the last link of the chain every year or 2, but it's a 10 minute job. Even if the rope looks OK, I have found the chain under the splice gets serious corrosion.

Guest · Mar 24, 2009

Chain

It depends upon the chain grade. Quarter inch grade 70 is about as strong as five sixteenth inch grade 40 (high test). Grade 70 is also more resistant to corrosion than the lower grades. So lots of factors to consider.

I've been very happy with the 40 pound Danforth, 50 feet of five sixteenths inch grade 40 chain and 250 feet of three strand nylon rope. I also always use a 20 pound kellet to help with catenary. Our boat weighs 30,000 pounds and we anchor mostly in mud or sand mix in PNW waters.

Terry Cox

Ross · Mar 24, 2009

Guest said:
It depends upon the chain grade. Quarter inch grade 70 is about as strong as five sixteenth inch grade 40 (high test). Grade 70 is also more resistant to corrosion than the lower grades. So lots of factors to consider.

I've been very happy with the 40 pound Danforth, 50 feet of five sixteenths inch grade 40 chain and 250 feet of three strand nylon rope. I also always use a 20 pound kellet to help with catenary. Our boat weighs 30,000 pounds and we anchor mostly in mud or sand mix in PNW waters.

Terry Cox

By your standards my ground tackle is way over sized. My 30 foot boat weighs about 9500 pounds and I anchor with a 35 pound CQR, 30 feet of 3/8 chain and have 300 feet of 5/8 three strand nylon. By my calculation that is adequate for anchoring in up to about 40 feet of water.
Mainesail considers my ground tackle marginal.

Benny · Mar 24, 2009

Carry the heaviest ground tackle that can be practical to deploy and retreive as wind strength is a fickle variable. You can always deploy a much lighter "lunch anchor" in calm conditions to save your back. Do what works for you, a coastal cruiser may not need to carry a storm anchor or all chain rode.

Echo Gulf · Mar 24, 2009

Anchor/chain weight can be a major factor. I've been caught in an anchorage where I've had to pull and redeploy the anchor half a dozen times before it would get a secure bite. Considering the 33lb Bruce, 30 feet of chain, and my age, this task would have been beyond my capabilities in anything but ideal conditions. I urge caution in having to much chain without a windlass.

EG

Stu Jackson · Mar 24, 2009

Echo Gulf said:
Anchor/chain weight can be a major factor. ...this task would have been beyond my capabilities in anything but ideal conditions. I urge caution in having to much chain without a windlass.

Amen to that.

The picture shows our old Bruce with 1/4 in. chain and the new Rocna with 5/16 in. chain. Bad picture, but the Rocna has the cleaner chain and the old smaller chain is tucking into the anchor locker. They are visually diffetrent in size even with this poor picture.

With our anchor SYSTEM designed for 42 kts., 1/4 in. is all we needed and I subsequently removed the 5/16 and used new 1/4 in. on the new Rocna.

Size your SYSTEM as noted earlier for what winds you expect (which may well be LOTS more than I sized our system for) so that there is no guessing involved in finding the lightest and strongest rode.

Anything less than the boat length of chain in feet is asking for trouble. Just read ANY anchoring guide. C'mon, it's Anchoring Basics 101.

Ross is right about the depth thing -- it's the length, not the size of the components, that come into play there.

sailingdog · Mar 25, 2009

Probably because of the anchor more than anything else. To give you an example, my boat is 28' LOA and weighs about 4500 lbs. I'm using a 33 lb. Rocna, 75' of 5/16 G43 chain and 200' of 5/8" octo-plait nylon for my primary rode.

A really heavy, inefficiently designed anchor is not as useful as a lighter anchor of a more efficient design. I'd say that the Rocna, even though it is 2 lbs. lighter than your CQR, will outhold it by a significant margin in most bottom conditions. It has considerably more fluke area than does the CQR.

Ross said:
By your standards my ground tackle is way over sized. My 30 foot boat weighs about 9500 pounds and I anchor with a 35 pound CQR, 30 feet of 3/8 chain and have 300 feet of 5/8 three strand nylon. By my calculation that is adequate for anchoring in up to about 40 feet of water.
Mainesail considers my ground tackle marginal.

sailingdog · Mar 25, 2009

There's an advantage to the newer anchor designs, like the Rocna or Manson Supreme. They tend to set far more reliably, reducing the need for retrieving and multiple set attempts. One of my crew complains that the Rocna is a PITA to retrieve, always coming up with 20+ lbs. of bottom mud/sand/weed. I point out that it sets on the first try every time we've used it... and the fact that we haven't had to retrieve and attempt to reset it more than makes up for the PITA factor in my book.

Echo Gulf said:
Anchor/chain weight can be a major factor. I've been caught in an anchorage where I've had to pull and redeploy the anchor half a dozen times before it would get a secure bite. Considering the 33lb Bruce, 30 feet of chain, and my age, this task would have been beyond my capabilities in anything but ideal conditions. I urge caution in having to much chain without a windlass.

EG

DougM · Mar 25, 2009

I'm curious as to why you use so much chain. Most recommendations I've seem call for six inches of chain for every foot of boat length. Besides I hate to carry all that weight in the bow.

Capt. Kermie · Mar 25, 2009

I too have heard one foot of chain for every foot of boat length, but what I have not heard before is "Kellet", someone (Guest) uses a kellet. I don't know what that is but I am going to guess that it is some sort of weight that connects where the chain meets the nylon rode to hold the chain along the botttom, am I guessing correct? Sounds like a good idea, can anyone comment on it?

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