Anchor Rode Poll

@ bow all chain, @ stern chain + rope. 50+ meters each, 8 / 24 mm diam.
Was sufficient so far for our 40' / 18 tons.
Yes, we are normally anchoring only at fair weather. But was also tight once at surprising 40 knots wind over night ...



best regards / med venlig hilsen
wadden

45' of 5/16" G4 with 600' of 5/8" nylon (after I installed my windlass). Average anchoring depths where I travel are 60-120', sometimes as much as 150-200' and the tide range can be as much as 30' between high and low (average range of 15-20'). Pre-windlass I pulled by hand and had 20' of 5/16" G4 and 400' of 5/8 nylon (70 lbs). A Rocna 15K is my primary and storm anchor, biggest and best first My secondary is a 10K Rocna and the 400' line with 20' chain I used before I got the windlass. It's enough bow weight that my shower drain needs help, since it's in the stern side of the shower and the bow weight moves the water away from the drain. Most of the really deep anchorages have smaller tide ranges, most of the shallow ones have the most.

Good discussion -- I have 150' of 5/16" chain, nothing else. Talked a lot of folks, who in turn, told me I need to add another 200' of rode in 7/8" range for a 25T boat. What do ya think guy's. Thanks, Tonto.

Tonto--- The answer I think lies with the conditions under which you anchor. How deep, what the bottom typically consists of, what the anchorages tend to be like in terms of exposure to wind and waves, etc.

As a single data point for you we have a 30,000 pound, twin-engine cabin cruiser. Our rode is 200' of chain. Were we to buy new chain for the boat we would go with 250' or even 300' because our anchorages can be pretty deep, particularly farther north. But so far 200' has proven to be adequate.

Marin said:

Tonto--- The answer I think lies with the conditions under which you anchor. How deep, what the bottom typically consists of, what the anchorages tend to be like in terms of exposure to wind and waves, etc.
.

Click to expand...

That's the key IMO. In calm, smooth ... condition even our 180' chain have been sufficient so far for us (40' / 40'000 pound). But: we don't have to consider tides / currents in the Baltics when we're anchoring over night. I guess we would need much more rode if we would anchor in regions with significant tides or currents ...


best regards / med venlig hilsen
wadden

300' of 3/8" galvanized BBB, or 495 lbs of chain, a Sea Dog swivel, and a 55 lb Delta.

105' of 3/8 BBB and 100' of 5/8" 3 strand nylon. I added the nylon after finding the unmarked chain was not tied to anything! It worked for the PO's for 30 years, but I know I'm not that lucky.

Here is an interesting look at the effect of increased scope.
Anchor Scope Illustrated Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com
My take from this is that there is little to be gained in going beyond 6:1 scope.

Primary is 350' of 7/16" G4 chain. Secondary is 100' of 7/16" G4 plus an unknown amount of nylon rode.

Richard

HopCar said:

Here is an interesting look at the effect of increased scope.
Anchor Scope Illustrated Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com
My take from this is that there is little to be gained in going beyond 6:1 scope.

Click to expand...

Parks, thanks for that. Very good article.

The thing with anchoring is there are so many variables that it is difficult to make hard and fast rules. Example: There is not much of an angle difference between 6:1 and 10:1 but there is a difference in how the boat will ride in a blow depending on how long that 6:1 rode is. If you are anchoring in 7' of water which we do many times the weight of 72' of chain (7' of water + 5' bow roller height = 12' X 6) will allow the chain to straighten out with less wind and wave action than 10:1 which is 120'. Change the water depth to 20' and it is a whole different ballgame because now 6:1 scope is 150' of chain.

About 10' of 3/8 chain, the rest is three strand nylon. Fortress anchor.

I have no windlass and I like to keep the boat light for planing running. I have to pull up by hand, so this rig works just fine.

HopCar said:

Here is an interesting look at the effect of increased scope.
Anchor Scope Illustrated Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com
My take from this is that there is little to be gained in going beyond 6:1 scope.

Click to expand...

Another advantage to chain is that you can shorten scope up a couple of factors; we consistently anchored at about 3:1 at anything less than about 20 knots. Adding a long "lazy loop" of chain behind the snubber helps things further and make movement more kindly.

FlyWright said:

Before I had a real windlass, I had nylon 3-strand rode with about a boat length of chain (30 ft). Lots of work and a mess on the deck every time.

After I installed the windlass, I went with 120 ft of 5/16 G4 chain with 240 ft of 8 ply 5/8 nylon Brait spliced. Since much of my fishing anchoring is in 20-35 ft of water, I'm often hanging on all chain.

Click to expand...

Al,
After you added all that chain did you reduce the anchor dragging or gain some other tangible performance increase?
I but all my rode in a box on deck. It goes in the box as I pull it up. Not much mess that could be considered mess except when the anchor comes up muddy. Since I have been storing anchors on deck a full cleaning is mandatory. You probably don't have the black stinky compact stuff that's up north.

This pic was several years ago in Alaska. The box holds 435' of 5/8" Brait w plenty of room to spare. No stink in the berth area as it's all on deck. On the left is the rode end attached to the port mooring cleat. In the box one can see how nice the Brait snakes around. No snags or tangles .. ever.

Marin,
Here's the winch. A small capstan. It's powerful enough (pulled up a tree branch that could have been bigger than the boat) but it's very noisy.

Good point. Thanks.

HopCar said:

Here is an interesting look at the effect of increased scope.
Anchor Scope Illustrated Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com
My take from this is that there is little to be gained in going beyond 6:1 scope.

Click to expand...

Good info.

Thanks everyone what a water-shed of good information. Thank you all. I believe, because our boat is so heavy, I will add another 200' of rode the bow. I'm still in the learning stage here. May change my mind again because I can. Thanks again.

I would think the needs would be very different depending on the size and weight of the boat and the area where it is operated.

I have 30' of chain and 150' of nylon line. I probably would have had more line but for a mix up at West Marine. This has worked fine for me, I can find protected anchorages and usually less than 30 depth.

I can see where someone cruising in deeper waters and less protected anchorages with a larger boat might select more chain and/or line.

I have 100' of 1/4" G4 and wish I'd bought 150' (My anchor locker can accommodate 150' of chain but not rope.)

Currently I've got a Rocna 33 pound on the bow and a 16 pound Hydrobubble in the cockpit as a stop anchor. That's got 16' of plastic coated chain and 55' of 3-strand. I've only had to use it once as a Stop.

It was my primary before I went to a 25 pound plow. Problem though: a friend gave me 25' of 3/8" chain. The chain was so heavy it pulled the plow over and I couldn't get it to set. I swapped out the big chain for my 1/4" and all was well.

Bigger heavier chain was not better. That surprised me.

Addition: One problem with Hydrobubbles is electrolysis. It's part aluminum and part stainless. The solution is easy. Grab a zinc left over from a bottom job and bolt it on the shank. Replace as necessary.

manyboats said:

And my philosophy of light is better came partly from the fact that most of my time w our 30' Willard has been spent w/o a winch so all of my weighing anchor has been by hand. .

Click to expand...

Same here....No windlass. When you start handling all that by hand your perspective changes. I rarely anchor in more than 15' of water. 10' chain and the rest rode attached to a 7kg Trehorn (bruce replica). If I had a "Real" trawler I might change my mind on this. My 10K lbs boat is like a runabout to some of you guys..

manyboats said:

Al,
After you added all that chain did you reduce the anchor dragging or gain some other tangible performance increase?
...

You probably don't have the black stinky compact stuff that's up north.

Click to expand...

Eric, I lived with the old Powerwinch (much like yours, but older) and short chain for 3 years with limited anchoring since it was such a chore. I never had much problem with the anchor holding so I cannot attest to any performance improvement. But I can say that it's much easier and cleaner now with a real windlass.

You're right, our mud doesn't seem as sticky as some other places, but I have a RW washdown at the bow for the task.

I have 110 feet of 5/16" chain and 328 feet of ⅝" nylon rode with a 40 lb anchor for my 13K lb boat.

This gives me 3:1 scope in my deepest fishing spot, and >7:1 at any of my overnight anchorages.

Al,
With our smaller boat (Albin) I guided the line back down the hole in the deck. What a PITA. And on the way back form Alaska our berth got stinky from wet line in the open locker. And the big box is a lot easier to feed the line in than the little hole. Chain must be better at not stinkin as I've not heard others complain'in about it and I know there are one or two complainers here.

After my hernia operations I may need to go get a gypsy winch and some chain.

2/3 of a shot of 3/8 HT with 300' of 5/8 8-plait, anchor in < 15' most of the time so mostly chain over the side and enough line to be the snubber.

160 ft. Chain plus 200 feet NYLON.

Virtually never get into the NYLON.

Eric, I use lots and lots of chain for the following reasons:

1 - Chafe protection. I can niether see or control what sharp objects are present on the bottom that might cut my rode. I cannot control a careless motorboat operator that may cut my rode. I enjoy not having to bother with onboard Chafe protection if I am feeling lazy.

2 - Deployment and retrieval is faster and more convenient via windlass and all chain.

3 - Boat movement at anchor is greatly reduced with all chain. Also, because nearby boats are likely to be on all-chain, matching rode style will help keep the boats separated.

Last summer I was perfectly anchored amongst a tight group of boats. When the very light wind shifted, the (only) boat with non-chain immediately drifted down on me necessitating my moving. In no way am I faulting the non-chain vessel - I just want to minimize this activity.

Steve

Steve,
That is the biggest advantage of chain IMO and it could be a good rode for me now that we're down here in civilization w crowded anchorages. Just my luck I'd get chain and go into an anchorage w a lot of long liners. I've not had a chaffing issue.

Eric,

My father lost his/Panope's primary anchor during one of those hot, dry, 60 knot offshore Mexican Baja wind phenomena. Enough fetch to cause violent pitching of the boat. Dad spent many hours on the foredeck fighting Chafe. Ended up looking like some sort of salt monster as each wave that sprayed aboard instantly evaporated leaving him totally salt encrusted. Eventually, he lost the battle and the rode parted at a hawse hole.

Yes, a proper chafe-proof segment on a good snubber will eliminate this problem. Lots of people rig a section of dynema to thier snubbers for this purpose. I personally have a small length of chain that can be attached to a snubber and positioned such that the chain will be the only part that touches the boat (for when I must use the NYLON portion of my rode). Crude, but it provides %100 Chafe protection.

As a further example of my Chafe paranoia, I have terminated my rode with a short chain segment. Just to clarify, my primary is 160 feet of chain, then 200 feet of NYLON, then another 15 of chain. This bitter end is lashed (cutable) to a STRONG point in the anchor locker. This provides for a instantly deployable (let go the anchor and run) set-up for emergencies. No need to belay or add snubbers. Just let that final segment of chain grind away at the boat and the 200 feet of nylon will provide plenty of shock absorbsion.

Steve

janice142 said:

I have 100' of 1/4" G4 and wish I'd bought 150' (My anchor locker can accommodate 150' of chain but not rope.)

Click to expand...

If that was based on trying 3-strand... you might find that brait would only take up about the same amount of space as chain (or not much more).

-Chris

350' of 3/8" chain on the Rocna as a primary and 200' of 3/8" chain on the Bruce for the Secondary.

Ted

caltexflanc said:

Those commercial fishing guys rarely anchor, for one thing, and rarely for more than a day, if that.

All chain is chosen for several reasons, all of them practical. To name but a few:

1) the weight makes for a heavier catenary and thus a more gentle motion at anchor under normal conditions. 2) the chain is not subject to chafing on the sea bottom and the various hard object thereon; between that and stress a rope rode will be more short lived 3) the chain can bury and settle into mud and sand deeply; it is not uncommon for the boat to lie to the chain, not the anchor (ever wonder about one reason why an anchor may come up backwards sometimes?), again making for a gentler motion, and less horsing.
Heck, I see this phenomena on the short lengths of chain we use on the Whaler.

If you are a weekend warrior or rarely anchor, I don't see the necessity of an all chain rode. But for full time cruising across a variety of geographies, involving multi-day anchorages and the inevitable sporty conditions I wouldn't be without it .

Click to expand...

Mr. Caltexflan, if that's really your name , you miss the point of my remarks. I'm not trying to start another unproductive "chain vs. nylon" argument. But if you start a poll entitled "Anchor rode poll for those with captive reel winches" then I'd bet you get a whole different world of feedback. Then it would turn into a "nylon vs. wire rope" argument! Of course, there are much fewer guys cruising this forum with drums on their boat's nose rather than windlasses.

Steve,
GREAT IDEA about the chain on the boat end of the rode. With a long rode another short chain section would give the option of a shorter rode that may be necessary in a smaller anchorage.
Your dad must have been at the end of his rope (so to speak) and literally so as it seems he didn't have line to pay out a foot or two at times to keep the rode intact.