Take it out, take it all out...

To paraphrase the late Freddy Prinze: "Chain on you, chain, chain, chain." While on our club raft-up on Memorial Day week-end, we had trouble deploying our anchor. The chain kept gettin' stuck in the chain locker and we had to break it loose. Got out about 1oo feet but that's all. When the week-end was over, we got back in the slip, dropped the anchor in the water and proceeded to pay out chain until it got stuck again. Got to work on it with a 12" spud and managed to it get all out but that last 15 feet that had turned into a solid blob of rust. Got out my 3" cut-off grinder and cut free the good chain from the blob and started breakin' the blob loose. All told, we lost about 20' of rusty chain with 215' left of somewhat rusty chain. Moral of the story: if you don't anchor out much(we don't) let out all your chain now and then to keep it from settin' up.

Washing the chain and locker with fresh water really seems to cut down on rust. We usually flush our chain locker with fresh water anytime we know we are going to be in a slip for a week or more.

There are a couple of products to be mixed with fresh water that are supposed to dissolve, neutralize and wash off salt. (Salt X and Salt Away) maybe others. I have used them on fishing tackle, hard to say if they really help or not. Maybe mixing up a gallon and pouring it down the hole over the just retreived anchor chain in the locker might help. I'll be replacing my anchor chain in the next month or so. I plan to do this on the new chain whenever I start cruising again.
Anybody tried this?

Hotter the water seems to be the track...maybe a couple drops of detergent to help...

The salt away and similar products never seemed to do much more than that from my experiences.

After a period of anchoring.....I pull all my chain out on deck (usually before a good rain)....hose it down...then give it a good look. Also hose out the locker.

Let the rain rinse too, then dry and re stow, touch up if a link is showing more than a spot of rust.

Sounds like a lot of work but it's all bite sized pieces except for the first flaking of the chain so it is all visible.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but a related question is, "How long does anchor chain last with regular use?" We cruise full time so our anchor chain is in the water a lot. We end for ended it after 5 seasons, and are now in year 8. It does get regular fresh water wash down.

Our 3/8" anchor chain is 30 years old. Might be time to replace it. How can I ascertain whether it is BBB or whatever? I don't want to buy a chain that does not fit the gypsy.

ancora said:

Our 3/8" anchor chain is 30 years old. Might be time to replace it. How can I ascertain whether it is BBB or whatever? I don't want to buy a chain that does not fit the gypsy.

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take the gypsy off, it might be stamped.

What kind is ir...my manual discusses what chain can be used.

Take the gypsy to a place with the different sizes as types of chain.

Often the key to determining the correct chain is a marking on the gypsy. Most mfrs put a code on the gypsy that can be traced back to identify the chain. If you are in doubt, always buy a 2 foot length of chain and test it in the windlass before you buy it in bulk.

tadhana said:

I don't mean to hijack the thread but a related question is, "How long does anchor chain last with regular use?" We cruise full time so our anchor chain is in the water a lot. We end for ended it after 5 seasons, and are now in year 8. It does get regular fresh water wash down.

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I think there are so many variables that it is no an answerable question other than what works for that particular skipper, boat and usage.

Another big question is how about repairing....often one or several links are suspect. Willing to cut them out and use a connecting link?

Also how much wasteage are you willing to accept?

I would not use those connecting links. They cannot possibly have the same strength as the original chain. No point in adding a weak link to the chain.

tadhana said:

I would not use those connecting links. They cannot possibly have the same strength as the original chain. No point in adding a weak link to the chain.

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Riggers seem to think differently...

Plus....for how long were you cruising with compromised chain, and now here is a fix that brings you back to or near original chain strength?

And for me...I hope to never anchor in conditions anywhere near chain breaking strength.....been lucky/ good enough so far at 50 years.

Sure if much of the chain is older or compromised...but I gave seen 1 to 3 year old chain where one or two links are pretty well eaten up from some unusual situation.....I would have a hard time replacing the whole thing because of some weird link action.

That's why I pull, inspect, clean and touch up frequently, usually once done anchoring for a month or more.

Here is a link to some testing on these links. It looks like there are some good suppliers of these connector links, and some bad ones. If you are sure you are getting forged, heat treated links, the strength is close to original, but the standard off the shelf links have a SWL of less than half the SWL of the chain. https://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Clinks.aspx

Chain, Chain Supplies, Binder Chains, Lifting Slings and Hooks has link measurements to help identify different types of chain.

Went on-line to the windlass manufacturer, Lighthouse, and found their gypsies are all fitted for BBB chain.

I cut some "Dri Dek" tiles to fit the bottom of my chain locker to help drainage and maybe keep it a bit drier down there.

I use dry deck there too. It keeps the chain out of the water and allows some air flow under the chain.

Steve said:

I cut some "Dri Dek" tiles to fit the bottom of my chain locker to help drainage and maybe keep it a bit drier down there.

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Great idea. I think I will use that.

dhays said:

Great idea. I think I will use that.

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It can work even better in some cases if you double stack the Dri Dek.

Capt.Bill11 said:

It can work even better in some cases if you double stack the Dri Dek.

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Another good idea. I have two storage compartments on the front of the pilothouse that are really handy. The aren't waterproof however and do have a good drain. I was planning on putting the Dri Dek on the inside of those so now I have an additional reason to buy some.

Once again, a forum member comes up with the answer to a vexing problem.

dhays said:

Another good idea. I have two storage compartments on the front of the pilothouse that are really handy. The aren't waterproof however and do have a good drain. I was planning on putting the Dri Dek on the inside of those so now I have an additional reason to buy some.

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I've installed this in all my exterior lockers. Works great

ancora said:

Went on-line to the windlass manufacturer, Lighthouse, and found their gypsies are all fitted for BBB chain.

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Ancora: Call Lighthouse. Their windlasses have different size chain gypsies. We have a Lighthouse 1501 windlass and we use 3/8, G4 High-test chain. BBB will not fit our gypsy.

Wilco. Thank you.

av8r said:

Chain, Chain Supplies, Binder Chains, Lifting Slings and Hooks has link measurements to help identify different types of chain.

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I'd buy a $15 digital micrometer to measure the existing chain and compare it to the specs linked above by av8r.

http://www.1st-chainsupply.com/technical/43chainspecs.pdf

I'll be bringin' my dial Vernier calipers to the boat tomorrow and comparin' the dimensions. There is a definite difference betwixt BBB and G 4.

After much measuring, I came up with triple B. Now to find the best price.

Is galvanizing consistent among all chains? Are there some chains that have better galvanizing than other chains? If one chain is less expensive than the other is the galvanized coating equivalent? I'm getting close to replacing my chain, but would like to get the best coating possible, but I do not know if there is a difference or is all galvanizing the same?

tadhana said:

Is galvanizing consistent among all chains? ...

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I think there is a big difference in the galvanizing and who knows on the quality of the links them selves. Here's what some chain from China looked like that we priced. It was $2.38/ft vs Acco chain at $4.58. We went with the Acco even with the $2.20/ft premium. Here's what the description says:

Two-year guarantee against rusting. Made in the USA of high-carbon steel, it resists wear...

Ancora...

You're not the Lone Ranger...

Here is what I found at the bottom of my chain locker...

A bit interesting down in there. The stainless U-bolt looks brand new while connected to the rusty 3/8th chain.

How much chain do you plan on purchasing?

It looks like your chain is shackled to the SS U bolt? It might be a good idea to secure the bitter end with a piece of rope. If you ever have to slip your chain, you can easily cut the rope and be free of the anchor. If the piece of rope is about 40 feet of yellow polypropylene, then when you cut the rope, the rope tail will float up to the surface and you can retrieve your anchor later.