Rope/chain rode adequate???

[jnvoss]

Thanks for all the great info on windlasses. However, I am now rethinking if I need an all chain road. My 35' CHB is 27,000 lbs. I boat on a large inland lake on Texas/OK border. I usually anchor in about 20-30 ft of water, little wind and very few wakes (jet skiers) My thinking is now toward a rope/chain road. My question is: will a rope/chain hold me at that boat weight. On my Pearson 34 I only had rope/chain but the trawler weights so much more. Comments and hints? Thanks in advance.

 

[caltexflanc]

Yes, properly sized it certainly will, and for where you boat it makes a lot of sense. One thing nice about virtually all of Texoma is that it is one very few, if not the only reservoirs in Texas and adjoining states that was cleared of trees before it was flooded. Much larger boats than yours use chain/rope roads.

 

[Xsbank]

What's it got now? Either is good. I prefer all chain but it won't fit on my drum so I have 300' of rope and 100' of chain. All chain is best, no worries about chafe etc. All chain is heavy, though.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Chapman says use nylon line w a small amount of chain.

And that's what I do. Not because Chapman says so but because I think it's best.

Having all chain is kinda like having a keel three times as big as the naval architect designed into the boat.

Before the development of windlasses that pull up both chain and line all chain had a case but no longer IMO.

 

[FlyWright]

Yes, it'll hold that no problem. I upsized my rode to 5/8 (from 9/16) with the 8-ply Brait at the recommendation of Lewmar.### It grabs better in the gypsy designed for 9/16 3-ply. Slipping is never been a problem.

I typically anchor is 20-40 ft in my 34 Californian with 120 ft of 5/16 chain and the rest line. It makes tying off to the sampson post a piece of cake. No snubber required. In shallower waters with less room to swing, I use all chain at 60-120 ft and tie off with a snubber.

###EDIT: It was Defender that recommended the line size upgrade, not Lewmar.

 

[Edelweiss]

37' California LRC 30,000 lbs - Usually anchor in 20' - 40' of water - 125' of 5/16" chain and 100' of 5/8 line on a Danforth anchor.

The 5/8" line has never been out of the anchor locker, other than for inspection.

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

50 of chain and 200 of line on primary and 15 heavy chain and 300 line on storm

 

[Moonstruck]

30' chain and 200' 3/4" nylon rode. Very seldom anchor in water deeper than 30'.

 

[dimer2]

120 ft 3/8 chain and 150 ft 3/4 Nylon on a 34,000# boat. Anchor in 10 - 40 ft water and so far have only needed the chain.

 

[gwkiwi]

At 27000 lbs a chain / rope ride is fine, just inspect the whole rode on an annual basis to check for damage. We use 300' of chain so as not to worry but we weigh more than twice your weight.
More the issue is the links between the anchor, chain and rope. Have you also checked to see if the end of your rope is attached to the boat. It should be via a cutaway, but better to check before you feed it all out like others have and watch the end go over the pulpit.

 

[Edelweiss]

I've also gotten in the habit of attaching 40' of 1/2 line and a large bright yellow float to the anchor when we're in a crowded anchorage or have a questionable bottom. Serves many purposes, but mainly keeps people from anchoring over the top of you.

It can also help you recover a lost anchor or clear the anchor if it gets fouled.

 

[High Wire]

At 27000 lbs a chain / rope ride is fine, just inspect the whole rode on an annual basis to check for damage. We use 300' of chain so as not to worry but we weigh more than twice your weight.
More the issue is the links between the anchor, chain and rope. Have you also checked to see if the end of your rope is attached to the boat. It should be via a cutaway, but better to check before you feed it all out like others have and watch the end go over the pulpit.

We came about 5 ft from finding out the hard way that the 200 ft of chain in the listing was a little shy of that. Like 95 ft shy! I took a look in the anchor locker after anchoring on the delivery run to see the end of the chain just hanging free! Glad I had put a snubber out.

 

[Bay Pelican]

Different perspective. Either rope/chain or all chain will work fine given your protected conditions on an inland lake thus give some thought to convenience of anchoring.

Using all chain my anchoring is very convenient. Typically I drop the chain using a power down windlass while still inside the pilot house. Lifting the anchor is done standing at the bow with remote in hand watching the angle of the boat to the chain for purposes of signaling the admiral in which direction to point the boat. Never touch the chain, it drops into the locker by itself. My second anchor has rope chain and it is not as convenient as the tailing is more difficult on the rope.


Don't know if any of this matters to you, but there are differences between all chain and rope/chain that have nothing to do with whether or not both will work.

 

[dimer2]

Marty, "never touch the chain".

Do you just use the chain lock, or is your windlass beefy enough to use without snubbing off? Mine isn't so I have to use a snubber. Easy enough but still a bit of a pain....

 

[Bay Pelican]

Marty, "never touch the chain".

Do you just use the chain lock, or is your windlass beefy enough to use without snubbing off? Mine isn't so I have to use a snubber. Easy enough but still a bit of a pain....

You are right, forgot all about attaching the bridle which in my case is done several minutes after the chain is dropped and we settle in, before power setting.


In the conditions in which we anchor the bridle is essential. Either the windlass or the deck would be ruined in short order if the force coming from the rode was not captured by the bridle. That was how I broke my Maxwell in 2005.

 

[FlyWright]

...Don't know if any of this matters to you, but there are differences between all chain and rope/chain that have nothing to do with whether or not both will work.

A lot of those differences are dependent on the type of gypsy you have on your windlass. Some require you to move the rode from the chain gypsy which feeds directly into the anchor locker to the line capstan on the other side of the windlass and then you have to keep tension on the line as you feed it into the anchor locker manually.

Others can handle chain and line seamlessly and automatically feed both into the anchor locker without hands-on. I have found that the 8-plait Brait stays pliable and lays flat it the anchor locker minimizing rode pileups below the windlass. Occasionally, I'll have to clear a 'rode pile' in the locker, but it's more of a issue when I let out 200 ft or more.