I have an all-chain rode and use colored zip ties as well.* I keep it simple.* I use blue for every 25 feet.* I use one yellow tie at 100 feet, two yellow ties*at 200 feet, and three yellow ties*at 300 feet.* Easily replaced as they wear out.* I also know that my windlass "powers out" chain at the rate of 25 feet every 15 seconds; one minute per one hundred feet.
glennwhiskey wrote:
What do you use to mark your anchor rode and what kind of marking?
We have all-chain rode.* We used paint originally but it was too much of a bother to remember the color code and the paint flaked off and got scuffed and muddy*and became harder and harder to see.*
After talking to a few people we know with all-chain rode and who do a lot of anchoring we adopted their system which is to put a white wire tie on a link every ten feet.* We don't clip the wire tie tails*so they are very obvious as the chain is going out or coming in.* So if we want 110 feet of rode out we simply count out 11 wire ties.* If we think we need to remember how much rode we have out we write "11" with a*Sharpie*on a sticky note and stick it on*the steering cable chase in front of the helm.* If a wire tie tail*breaks off--- haven't had that happen yet but I know we will--- the clamp end will still be around the chain so we'll just stick on another wire tie.
And while we have yet to deploy the anchor in the dark, our friends tell us that it's easy to tell how much rode is going out even in pitch darkness by placing the palm of your hand on the chain as it comes off the windlass and feeling and counting*the wire ties as they go out.
We like this system a lot but there are other equally effective ways of marking a rode.* It all depends on which one strikes your fancy.
-- Edited by Marin on Monday 23rd of January 2012 07:33:35 PM
I'm currently contemplating how to mark the Coot's chain rode.* Wire ties sound promising although marking every ten feet sounds a bit anal and twenty feet sounds about right.* When the sun's down, expect to use spot light to enlighten.
-- Edited by markpierce on Monday 23rd of January 2012 07:59:37 PM
Painted chain at 25' marks, but have not used them since we installed a chain counter. This is one of the best installs on the boat with a fully automatic up/down to a programed depth if wanted.*
markpierce wrote:
Wire ties sound promising although marking every ten feet sounds a bit anal...
*As it was explained to us, a tie every ten feet is not because we're that critical about exact measurements, it's because it's really, really easy to do the math with 10 instead of 20 or 30 or*whatever.* You want eighty feet out, eight ties.* You want 150 feet out, fifteen ties.* Otherwise you have to start dividing by twenty or thirty or whatever interval you choose.
glennwhiskey wrote:
What do you use to mark your anchor rode and what kind of marking?
I use enamel spray florescent paint. I used 1" blue masking tape and aluminum foil to protect from overspray. Two rounds an inch apart, paint and removed tape. Every 25'. At 50', two rings (tape three rounds), 75 then 100 for me was plenty.
Marin wrote:
And while we have yet to deploy the anchor in the dark, our friends tell us that it's easy to tell how much rode is going out even in pitch darkness by placing the palm of your hand on the chain as it comes off the windlass and feeling and counting*the wire ties as they go out.
*Knowing me, my hand/fingers would get caught up in the windlass mechanism, to my painful*loss.* No, I'll use spotlight or flashlight instead.
markpierce wrote:
Okie dokie, Marin.* Still, multiplying is easy.
*Right,, but you don't want to be multiplying, you want to be dividing.* So first you have to figure out the square root of your anchoring depth and then divide that by 4.356 times the total length of your rode and then count out that many*35 link sections of chain, adding an extra link every three sections.* Then you'll* know exactly how much rode you have out.
Marin wrote:markpierce wrote:
Okie dokie, Marin.* Still, multiplying is easy.
*Right,, but you don't want to be multiplying, you want to be dividing.* So first you have to figure out the square root of your anchoring depth and then divide that by 4.356 times the total length of your rode and then count out that many*35 link sections of chain, adding an extra link every three sections.* Then you'll* know exactly how much rode you have out.
Or you can divide by ten :-)
*Won't admit I "gotchya."**Right?* But that's OK.*
Marin wrote:markpierce wrote:
Okie dokie, Marin.* Still, multiplying is easy.
*Right,, but you don't want to be multiplying, you want to be dividing.* So first you have to figure out the square root of your anchoring depth and then divide that by 4.356 times the total length of your rode and then count out that many*35 link sections of chain, adding an extra link every three sections.* Then you'll* know exactly how much rode you have out.
Or you can divide by ten :-)
*Hmmmmm???* * :frustrated:
Way too complicated for my simple mind!
I look at the water depth and add 5 ft for the bow pulpit height.* 20 ft of water + 5 ft = 25 ft times 3 or 5 or 7 for the conditions gives me my desired rode length.
My chain rode is 120 ft, marked every 30 feet with white long wire ties...1 at 30 ft, 2 at 60 ft and 3 at 90 ft.* My rope rode starting at 120 ft and continuing to 350 is marked with West Marine markers every 30 ft.* All markers are easy to see day or night.*
If I know I need 125 ft of rode, I let out all the chain and tie off on the rope.* If I need 200 ft, all the chain and tie off at the third color on the rope.* Easy and close enough!
-- Edited by FlyWright on Monday 23rd of January 2012 11:25:18 PM
When I have had an all chain rode, the wire ties didn't last very long because the wildcat would eventually cut them off.* Painted chain was what I went with most of the time, but required annual remarking.*
At one time, I had a galvanized chain rode using (2) 50' lengths and a 100' length.* Intentionally placed the two shorter lengths nearer the anchor and connected them with SS shackles.* Very noticeable.
Current boat has 300' SS cable rode.* For marking, I insert a brightly colored nylon string under one of the strands.* This doesn't cut like a wire tie.
Any white is 25', any blue is 50', any red is 100'.* Marked every 25'.
Another way to estimate rode deployed with a wire rode, is to be knowledgable of how many feet on in a wrap of wire on the drum.* This works good, but can become confusing because every wrap has a different length.**Colored string is better.
-- Edited by Jay N on Monday 23rd of January 2012 11:30:54 PM
Jay N wrote:
When I have had an all chain rode, the wire ties didn't last very long because the wildcat would eventually cut them off.*
I can see how that could happen.* When we put the ties on our rode we fastened all of them to the*upper bar of links that are vertical in the wildcat and we keep the chain oriented that way.* So the ties actually never come in contact with the wildcat. Where the tails can come off eventually is in the pile of chain in the locker if one gets pinched between other parts of the chain and then gets snapped off when the link it's attached to is hauled up by the windlass.
-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 24th of January 2012 12:04:14 AM
For 17 years I have been painting about a meter of my chain every 10 mts (30 ft) Yellow, then red then blue and then repeat it again.
The paint only lasts about 12 months and after that it gets a bit difficult especially in the dark.
My next job is to install a chain counter and do away with all this old tech stuff.
* :frustrated:
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