Do you Rub Your Body With Oil or Rub Your Balls With Grease?

We are going to lay out our chain on the dock and spray paint at 25 feet intervals later today. Clearly the fore deck crew needs an easy way to remember the depth out given that we do not have a counter.

The US version of the color code is Rub Your Body With Oil, or Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Orange, then repeating.

My concern there is that the repeat with have orange followed by red. After a bit of fading these may start to look the same.

So I am thinking of using the Royal Navy version of Rub Your Balls With Grease. With the G being Green. So less chance of confusion.

I did clear this with the usual anchor crew this morning, and she said "OK, but don't be loudly reminding me every five minutes in quiet anchorages!"

Who, me?

I do all one color.


Every twenty five feet.


First 10 multiple short dashes
25 one stripe one ribbon
50 two stripes two ribbon
75 three stripes three ribbon
100 long stripe long ribbon woven not tied to link
125-200 repeat with dashes before yellow poly line
parachute cord secures poly line in case I choose powering away in emergency instead of cutting


But catchy phases have their place too....
I would wait for WifeyB's catchy phrase...I am sure it will stick...well don't go there but it will be memorable...

Given those two choices what "feels" the best and is the easiest to remember? Tough decision.

Getting the paint to adhere for any length of time is the real problem.

And with that subject line you had my attention!

Interested to hear how parachute cord does in the water.

When I was looking at painting my chain this last summer I was concerned about being able to differentiate the colors in low light conditions such as anchoring at night or weighing anchor early in the morning. I chose to do something similar to psneed above.
I painted the first 10 feet of chain so I would be able to know when the anchor is about to break the surface. I the. Used 3 paint colors, flour scent yellow, fluorescent green, and white.

At 25' I painted a 12" yellow band bordered by a small band of white (just a few links). At 50' I painted two 12" bands, bordered and divided by the white. The same was done at 75' with three bands of yellow. At 100' I painted a band of the green, bordered by white. Then I repeated the pattern of yellow only adding a narrow band of green on either side of the yellow marks. At 200' there were two 12" green bands and then then the pattern above was repeated only using two narrow green bands on either side of the yellow marks.

In practice I found that this has worked very well. The white bordering the yellow and green marks help set the off against the grey chain.

Some of you (ex pilots and Navy personnel most likely) may question why I chose yellow and green when I was concerned about low light visibility instead of green and blue. Blue-green light is more easily seen in low light conditions and red is the worst. We are most sensitive to green-yellow light in daylight. I went with the yellow and green because most of my anchoring will be done during daylight hours and those colors are easily seen. During low light I found I can still see the marks and since for the most part am simply noting the number of bands.

My only regret is that I should have taken more time doing the painting. I got impatient. A second coat of the yellow and green would have been beneficial.

I prefer to use less colors and designate the color by length. Then it's a simple matter of math.

Red = 25 ft.
Black = 50 ft.
Yellow = 100 Ft.

25 ft = 1 Red
50ft. = 1 Black
75 ft. = 1 red & 1 black
100 ft = 1 Yellow
125 ft = 1 Yellow & 1 Red
150 ft = 1 yellow & 1 black
175 ft = 1 yellow & 1 Red & 1 Black
200 ft = 2 yellow

Key: Red is a shorter word (25 ft). Black is a longer word (50 ft).

Our first mark is at 50 feet..we never use less than that.

Islanddreamer said:

And with that subject line you had my attention!

Interested to hear how parachute cord does in the water.

Click to expand...

The para cord never even sees the light of day...let alone water.

One thing I was planning to do is to mark length using colored plastic tie wrap set in the chain link every X feet (or meters for me). I will try to find some yellow fluorescent tie wrap so they can be seen in dark, but knowing that I will mostly anchor during the day I think red ones may be enough.

25' RED
50' WHITE
75' BLUE
100' RED, WHITE, BLUE
Repeat
Easy to remember ..... well maybe if your from USA

We went super simple on our chain painting.

White every 100'. That's it.

I can count and remember (at least for now) how many white stripes have gone over. And between the 100' demarcations, I can estimate it close enough.

I think laying out +/- 25' is close enough. The only time I can see wanting to get even that precise is in very shallow water, so at most I would only ever mark smaller increments on the first 100'. But I still think estimating is plenty good.

Lou_tribal said:

One thing I was planning to do is to mark length using colored plastic tie wrap set in the chain link every X feet (or meters for me). I will try to find some yellow fluorescent tie wrap so they can be seen in dark, but knowing that I will mostly anchor during the day I think red ones may be enough.

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I had colored ties on my anchor chain (still do) but found that they were hard to see while the chain is running out or in.

I tried cable ties. They are easy to put on but don't last long going through the gypsy. Ten or twenty passes and several are distressed or missing. I am too simple and short of memory for all your colour combinations. White paint and or white cable ties (zap straps), one at 25, two at 50, three at 75 and a long one at 100. Short stripe of paint is about 12 to 18 inches, long is about 3 feet. Over 100 feet I start over with 1 at 125 feet and so on, two long stripes at 200. When I had zap straps on there I used a 6 inch one for "short" and 10 or 12 inch, heavier size for a long marker. Much happier with paint than zap straps. Very happy with just white paint and less cleanup or cans of paint to buy and store. Paint seems to last three or four years, deteriorating more from sitting in a wet chain locker than by running it through the windlass. Mind you, I just spray it right onto the galvanized chain with no prep other than a fresh water wash.
I would feel lost without my marks at less than 100 as I play out my chain vertically 'til the anchor arrives at the bottom, then start backing down. Without the 25 and 50 marks I have little idea how close to bottom it is or how much of a pile of chain I just covered the anchor with, fouling it before I back down. I commonly anchor in close quarters so don't want to be backing down as I'm lowering the hook or I could be long off my mark and too close to a hazard.(Rock wall I'm stern tied to.)

I don't use paint on rope. Coloured thread or light line woven through with long ends sticking out.. Harder to see than the painted chain.

I like the idea of having the first 10 feet painted but it isn't far from that 25 foot marker. I might try it on my next boat.

Nobody has ever put a length meter on the anchor bow roller? that would be nice! (yes I know I am a gadget guy)

psneeld said:

But catchy phases have their place too....
I would wait for WifeyB's catchy phrase...I am sure it will stick...well don't go there but it will be memorable...

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Wifey B: No comment other than that mine would involve colors not mentioned above.

I do red - white - blue and repeat at 50' intervals.

If it's the Admiral who must remember and recite the ditty in her head while deploying, I'd suggest RYBWO.

I like the idea of a chain counter, but more 21 century. How about a little device that takes a coin size battery, velcro mounts to the windlass, counts the turns of the drum from a simple decal attached to the drum, and is bluetoothed to a smartphone app. It doesn't exist yet, but I've conceptualized it, now some one needs to engineer it and build it.

Ted

O C Diver said:

I like the idea of a chain counter, but more 21 century. How about a little device that takes a coin size battery, velcro mounts to the windlass, counts the turns of the drum from a simple decal attached to the drum, and is bluetoothed to a smartphone app. It doesn't exist yet, but I've conceptualized it, now some one needs to engineer it and build it.

Ted

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That is exactly what I mean in my previous post #15
We are great mind aren't we?

I'm confused for the moment at least as I read comments on wanting chain counters or length meters, since many windlasses have chain counters and there are counters that can be added to virtually any windlass. Now, I understand there's a price consideration and it still makes sense for many to paint or tie colors.

FlyWright said:

If it's the Admiral who must remember and recite the ditty in her head while deploying, I'd suggest RYBWO.

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Where's the fun in that!

O C Diver said:

I like the idea of a chain counter, but more 21 century. How about a little device that takes a coin size battery, velcro mounts to the windlass, counts the turns of the drum from a simple decal attached to the drum, and is bluetoothed to a smartphone app. It doesn't exist yet, but I've conceptualized it, now some one needs to engineer it and build it.

Ted

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Maxwell offers this as an option for their windlesses. It's not bluetooth, but is a magnetic counter that counts rotations of the gypsy. You calibrate it once for your chain size, and that's it.

I really like it. You just push a button and the anchor starts paying out and the counter tells you how much is out. I start to deploy while I'm getting into position, and stop when the anchor is about 10' off the bottom. Then when I'm in position, it's a short drop 'till the anchor is on the bottom and I can mark the spot with my anchor alarms. Then continue paying out while I creep back to lay out the chain.

On retrieval, it will haul in the whole anchor with one touch of a button, stopping when there's 6' left to go. The final haul and park you need to do manually.

O C Diver said:

I like the idea of a chain counter, but more 21 century. How about a little device that takes a coin size battery, velcro mounts to the windlass, counts the turns of the drum from a simple decal attached to the drum, and is bluetoothed to a smartphone app. It doesn't exist yet, but I've conceptualized it, now some one needs to engineer it and build it.

Ted

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The CruzPro isn't bluetooth but its just a couple of thin wires from the sensors to the helm, and a small magnet in the gypsy. Some cost, but basically just beans for most of the boats owned here. Easy to DIY.
CruzPro CH55 Chain Counter

Yes I still have some old paint on the chain but much prefer to now glance at the meter instead of staring at chain going over the bow roller, not daring to look away in case I miss a marker. Painting isn't just like phones pre-cell phone era, its back further - carrier pigeons?

I understand how the current ones work, I was trying to avoid drilling a hole in the drum, sealing in a magnet, and having to snake wires up to the windlass. Clearly all the technology exists for what I described. Really don't want an automatic anchor retrieval system as I need to stop and start to clean the chain as I recover it.

Ted

OK, can't help with avoiding the magnet and snaking wires. The latter can be a PITA for sure. But its just time, and maybe some lost skin.....

The CruzPro isn't automatic, at least the basic model isn't. It just counts turns of the windlass, calibrated by running a known length of chain out. I did not modify my existing windlass controls at all, and can start/stop from helm, flybridge or foredeck. I only have one meter, at the helm. So the final setting anchor step, ensuring scope is what I want, I do from the helm. Retrieval is mostly from foredeck for washing the chain.

FlyWright said:

If it's the Admiral who must remember and recite the ditty in her head while deploying, I'd suggest RYBWO.

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I just rethought this - in fact might be the way to go!

Well we completed the job today. Afterwards I asked her to repeat the ditty. She said:

Rub Your Body With Grease!"

Sigh.

My first mark is 25 METERS or 82 ft, I never use less than that even if only a few ft under the keel.
2nd is at 164 ft and 3rd at, you can figure it out.

I can count to 3 so no need for any other colour than red.
I use cheap 6mm poly rope fed back and forth through chain, goes through chain wheel fine and lasts a lot longer than paint plus I can replace on the job, no need to remove chain to do it.

Simi 60 said:

My first mark is 25 METERS or 82 ft, I never use less than that even if only a few ft under the keel.
2nd is at 164 ft and 3rd at, you can figure it out.

I can count to 3 so no need for any other colour than red.
I use cheap 6mm poly rope fed back and forth through chain, goes through chain wheel fine and lasts a lot longer than paint plus I can replace on the job, no need to remove chain to do it.

Click to expand...

You need to come visit the Caribbean sometime and charter a boat.

It Will will be orgasmic heaven.