Simple Anchor rode markings

[PK123]

In theory yes, look at the depth, add the freeboard, adjust for tide and weather and conditions, set the scope and call out a rode length. Interested to hear what others do though in practical terms. Ive found for my humble sailing adventures I don't need anything too complex. Ive got a combined rode of 190ft on my small Mirage 27 (30' chain + 160 nylon line). In practical terms I tend to shout out just one of three markings rather than have length markings at every 10' or 20' . These are at 90', 120' , and the last at 165' (detailed break down below for anyone interested). I always look for a spot thats a comfortable default mooring depth of 20' and may shout 'set at marking no 2' and then snug up so as to reduce scope in a very busy bay thats sheltered and calm. The downside is that the crew have to pay attention as to when the marking flashes up rather than doing a 'count down' every 10ft . I do make the markings really obvious though and there's no frantic decoding of what multiple marking on the rode are.

Breakdown:
With my 190' max rode, I have a 'working range' of about 20' between my max and minimum mooring depths:
1/.My maximum mooring depth at high tide Ive worked out to be about 30' (33' including freeboard) . Thats my "end of range" mark which is a rode of 165' (Ive got about 20' more line in the locker if I need it) and so on a falling tide it initially sets at 5:1 - the scope increases to 6:1 as the tide drops by 6' in PNW. If it's 30ft at with a rising tide then typically I'll look for a shallower spot (or if its calm, sheltered and not crowded I'll let out everything Ive got about - just under 5:1) .
2/. My minimum mooring depth at low tide is 10ft (13' with freeboard). That 'minimum mooring depth' marking is for a 90ft' rode. That gives me a 7:1 scope at 10' low tide and around 5:1 after a 6' rise.
3/. My default 'comfort zone' mooring depth is 20' (23' incl. freeboard) with a marker at 120' rode If it's high tide that gives me 5:1. If its low tide at 20' then Ill put out to marker lll i.e. 165' which gives me a scope of a bit over 5:1 after a 6' rise.

 

[Michael Davis]

I do much the same: start at 100 feet, then every fifty feet to 300 feet. I usually drop/ raise the anchor while Bev runs the boat.

 

[jon hansen]

https://defender.com/en_us/defender-anchor-rode-marker-set-41357?utm_id=146308134413&utm_campaign=19735474070&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_content=649561297602&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2BBR65NEQVwypfdHx4zEP1_dtwvk7noYSNxCL-hSTuK1ymXr8w8vFAaAoifEALw_wcB

$4.99

 

[JBP-PA]

I use a different mark every 20 ft and a distinct mark every 100 where I start over, e.g. 3 orange marks means 60 ft. or 160ft.

 

[PaulK]

What do you use to mark the rode so that it's visible before it disappears over the side and distinctive enough to see what mark (50'/100'/150'...) it is?

 

[dlochner]

What do you use to mark the rode so that it's visible before it disappears over the side and distinctive enough to see what mark (50'/100'/150'...) it is?

On my all chain rode I have tried spray painting, little plastic doo hickeys that sit in the chain, and brushed on paint to mark the chain. None of them seem to last very long. This year I'm trying something new, a short length of thin line woven between the chain links at 50' and 100'. We'll see.

 

[JoeWhite]

I cut strips from old sail and mark with permanent marker

 

[Davidasailor26]

Where I anchor is usually pretty shallow- usually about 7’ or less. At those depths even 30’ of rode makes a big difference in scope, so I try to be more precise than that. At 6’ of water plus 4’ of freeboard 70’ of rode is plenty, but 40’ would be way too little and 100’ would be way too much. The plastic tags from Defender are marked in 30’ increments, which don’t really fit my usage. Instead I spaced them out closer, just knowing the numbers don’t match up. But then I need to do lots of math to go from depth shown on the sounder to true depth to depth + freeboard to appropriate scope to proper marker. The solution- I 3D printed a handy placard for the anchor locker to show the right marking to stop at depending on what the depth sounder shows.

 

[thinwater]

Yes, many sailors over-mark the rodes. We're not the US Navy. Just a few markings will do, since most of us anchor in similar depths most of the time and there is a minimum we will use. I anchor to the same mark 80% of the time. Same on my last boat.

PS. I find red latex paint by far the simplest on rope. Ribbons and such can snag in the windlass. Now that paints are so much better, ditch tradition, which started when paint was white wash or not much better. Yes, the surface will wear, but ...
a. If the surface is that worn maybe the rope is too.
b. The sub-surface stains remain visible forever. Obviously. It's not like paint clothes ever come clean.

 

[dkinzer]

Before my trip to the San Juans last year, I marked my anchor chain and rope every 25 feet using four different colors of zip ties. The 100 foot marks have two zip ties identifying which 100 foot section it is. The zip ties are inexpensive, easy to attach, easy to replace and easy to see since the tails are left on. I only have 100 feet of chain and 180 feet of rope - this was the setup present when we bought the boat two years ago.

 

[PaulK]

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Terry Cox]

Our boat has 50' of chain, which has no marks and 150' of 5/8" nylon three strand rope. Found and salvaged a free hunk of orange nylon twine (maybe 1/8") and cut from it short (5") pieces and single wrapped each around one of the rope strands at 30' with about one inch of twine protruding on each side. Did two pieces at 60', three at 90' and so on. In all the years of anchoring, except twice, I normally drop in under 30' of water with 110' of rode (chain plus rope) in normal weather and 140' in snotty weather, unless really snotty, then more. That orange twine has kept its color after at least 15 years of use and they stay in place. Once I set the anchor, I slide on the rope a 20 pound lead ball down about ten feet with a lanyard in order to improve catenary.

P.S. Paint wears off and zip ties break.

 

[thinwater]

The OP has a rope rode. Paint does not wear off of rope unless the rope is chafing hard on the bottom ... which it better not be. Rope floats up and there is no pressure on the bottom. Paint soaks into the rope. Chain is different.

 

[JBP-PA]

I use scrap bits of brightly colored ployester knitting yarn because it's free. I don't have a windlass though.

 

[Bob S]

I have 100' of chain and 200' of nylon. We usually anchor in 15' plus 5' of freeboard so it's pretty easy to guess a 5/1 scope. I have painted the chain every 25' but almost always pay out all my chain. We chartered in the BVI and told me their windless pays out a foot per second and suggested we count the seconds as we drop the anchor. I never checked our windless to verify.

 

[dkinzer]

We chartered in the BVI and told me their windless pays out a foot per second .

About a year ago, I timed our pay out and it came to about 1-1/2 feet per second. We use that metric as a confirmation that we're reading the markers correctly.

 

[thinwater]

About a year ago, I timed our pay out and it came to about 1-1/2 feet per second. We use that metric as a confirmation that we're reading the markers correctly.

Windlasses that power down have a list maximum line speed. 20-30 meters/minute is typical on yacht sizes. Even though my chain was marked, I sometimes just counted seconds, for example, between widely spaced markings.

 

[PK123]

Where I anchor is usually pretty shallow- usually about 7’ or less. At those depths even 30’ of rode makes a big difference in scope, so I try to be more precise than that. At 6’ of water plus 4’ of freeboard 70’ of rode is plenty, but 40’ would be way too little and 100’ would be way too much. The plastic tags from Defender are marked in 30’ increments, which don’t really fit my usage. Instead I spaced them out closer, just knowing the numbers don’t match up. But then I need to do lots of math to go from depth shown on the sounder to true depth to depth + freeboard to appropriate scope to proper marker. The solution- I 3D printed a handy placard for the anchor locker to show the right marking to stop at depending on what the depth sounder shows.

View attachment 223492

@Davidasailor26 So at say 10' plus 4' freeboard you'd put out rode to the 90' MRK. ( about a 6:1 scope). What is the significance of the values in the LEN column? Love this idea actually it's so simple!.

 

[Davidasailor26]

@Davidasailor26 So at say 10' plus 4' freeboard you'd put out rode to the 90' MRK. ( about a 6:1 scope). What is the significance of the values in the LEN column? Love this idea actually it's so simple!.

Almost - At say 10’ on my depth meter the true water depth is about 11’ (I don’t adjust the depth meter for the offset). With freeboard that’s about 15’, give or take. With a little less than 6:1 scope that gives me a target rode length of 85’ (the LEN column), and because of how I reused the plastic labels (every 15 feet after my chain) that means I should go out to the marker labeled 90.

The target lengths are rounded numbers and a little aggressive, meant to basically be minimum thresholds for tighter anchorages and calmer conditions. I just pad them a little if I’m going to be overnight in sportier conditions and have the space for it. The same placard approach could be adopted to be more conservative or aggressive depending on the skipper’s preference; I just like not needing to do the math when I’m running up to the bow.

 

[PK123]

Almost - At say 10’ on my depth meter the true water depth is about 11’ (I don’t adjust the depth meter for the offset). With freeboard that’s about 15’, give or take. With a little less than 6:1 scope that gives me a target rode length of 85’ (the LEN column), and because of how I reused the plastic labels (every 15 feet after my chain) that means I should go out to the marker labeled 90.

The target lengths are rounded numbers and a little aggressive, meant to basically be minimum thresholds for tighter anchorages and calmer conditions. I just pad them a little if I’m going to be overnight in sportier conditions and have the space for it. The same placard approach could be adopted to be more conservative or aggressive depending on the skipper’s preference; I just like not needing to do the math when I’m running up to the bow.

Thanks @Davidasailor26 ahhh got it ...so the numbers on the markers are just because thats what comes with them rather than the depth. Makes sense now - thanks so much for this tip!