correct anchor chain

[sunwindsea]

Is 1/4 heavy enough?

I am on the verge of buying a windlass for my C-30 (1979). I am trying to chose a windlass with all chain, and I need to decide on either 1/4 in. chain or 5/16. I would feel better with the 5/16 but I can save a lot of money if the 1/4 is adequate. What is your experience with 1/4 in. chain (on an all chain rig)? Is it adequate generally? (Of course I would always keep my rode as a backup for severe conditions.)

 

[Lost Parent]

What windlass are you looking at

 

[sunwindsea]

Anchorlift barracuda or dolphin

 

[oldnewf]

I installed a Maxwell vw500 Windlass on my 1991 cat 30. Its a vertical windlass but I installed horizontal as per Catalina instructions. I use 70 ft of 1/4 G4 chain and 200 ft of 1/2 in 12 strand brait. It works fine with my 15 kg ( 33 lb) Bruce anchor. The boat spent the winter of 2008/2009 in the Bahamas and we anchored out most of the time. I would like to use more chain ie;130 ft but I was worried about the weight in the Bow. Last summer we cruised in the North Channel and Georgian Bay and again anchored out most times. The only problem is the chain doesn't feed in the anchor well cleanly, I have to guide it down with my foot.

 

[sunwindsea]

Thanks, Oldnewf, that is helpful... Has anyone used a Powerwinch freefall windlass on a C-30?