How Much Rode & Chain For New England?

With a new boat on order, one of the many decisions to be made is anchor rode.

200 ft. of chain comes standard. Helmsman advises its not wise to add more chain in the bow, for weight. I can of course add rode, which adds little weight.

My use will be east coast, Maine to Florida and over to the Bahamas, and home port in the Chesapeake. From the Chesapeake south the issue is often too little depth, not too much. I don't perceive any real issue in the Bahamas.

But I have no experience from Long Island Sound to points north up into Maine. Looking at charts and just scrolling up various rivers and coves it seems in a lot of places its pretty deep. Especially into Maine. With a big tidal swing.

So a basic question: from practical experience from anyone who knows the waters, how much chain plus rode do you find you actually use? Yeah, more is better for options. How much do you find you actually use?

Or in practice, is it just cruising from marina to marina, or mooring ball?

Thanks in advance.

With my 200 feet of chain and a five-to-one scope, figure I'm good for anchoring up to 35-foot depth, considering the rode begins five feet above waterline.

Marketpiece, how did you mount your anchor ball? Any special fittings?

OldDan1943 said:

Marketpiece, how did you mount your anchor ball? Any special fittings?

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Attached to the bow flag pole, a part of the bow railing.

I'd probably add 200 feet of line behind the chain. You won't need it in most places, but it gives the option of taking a deep anchorage that nobody else wants. Being able to anchor basically anywhere is nice.

Wait...

The manufacturer does not recommEnding adding any more chain?

That makes little sense. A couple hundred more feet oF chain is like a good size guy standing on the bow.

rslifkin said:

I'd probably add 200 feet of line behind the chain. You won't need it in most places, but it gives the option of taking a deep anchorage that nobody else wants. Being able to anchor basically anywhere is nice.

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Yeah, there is always the "you never know" logic. Something to that, for sure. But I guess I'm trying to cut through that at the moment.

I'm asking for help because all I have to go on now is just studying charts online. I spent a few hours on it last night. I could not find anyplace in Long Island Sound up into Cape Cod where more than 200 ft would be useful.

But then I skipped past that into Maine, and saw in Bar Harbor there were two marked fields with 70-90 ft depths. An area that also has big tidal ranges. Wow. And so you go from 200 being plenty, to 400 ft maybe not enough. Or just accept that in those waters its marina or rented moorings.

Hence my request for local knowledge.

Short answer is as much as you can. Depends upon your style of cruising. We like to avoid towns, marinas, mooring fields and established anchoring fields. We also like Maine. 200’ is barely adequate in many places. Like 300’ but would have more if I could. Switching from chain to rope is a PIA in my view and all chain means no chafe worries and having catenary. Don’t trust any chain links to be as strong as continuous chain. So as much as you can.

Hippocampus said:

Short answer is as much as you can. Depends upon your style of cruising. We like to avoid towns, marinas, mooring fields and established anchoring fields. We also like Maine. 200’ is barely adequate in many places. Like 300’ but would have more if I could. Switching from chain to rope is a PIA in my view and all chain means no chafe worries and having catenary. Don’t trust any chain links to be as strong as continuous chain. So as much as you can.

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Thanks!

Hippocampus said:

Switching from chain to rope is a PIA in my view

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This one is windlass dependent. If you expect to use both often, get a windlass that will pull rope with the gypsy and splice it to the chain. My Maxwell HRC 10 handles the transition pretty nicely, just need to slow down sightly when the splice comes through on retrieval in deep water when there's some tension on it.

I figure the ideal is enough chain to cover most situations and allow a decent depth without line reaching the bottom in anchorages where bottom chafe is an issue. But then add line after the chain (assuming it'll fit in the locker) to allow deeper anchoring. There's not much reason to carry around additional heavy chain if it'll only get used once or twice a year.

You’re exactly right as with so many boating things -it depends. Have had it both ways through the years and still prefer all chain. Exception being a boat where weight or distortion of the gyradius would impede performance or safety. Don’t like kellets. Like having the kellet effect built in with all chain.

Wifey B: Chain needed for New England.

Using google maps I came up with 1455 miles of chain. That would wrap it all in one package and then could be moved wherever one chose. :lol:

Leave out Conn. save a few bucks. They’re all yankee fans anyway.

Hippocampus said:

Leave out Conn. save a few bucks. They’re all yankee fans anyway.

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Wifey B: Ok, but this is my stat of the day.....my hso. :lol:

American League East Standings

Tampa Bay 89-53
Boston 81-63
Toronto 79-63
NY 79-63

Payroll
NY $203 million
Boston $183 million
Toronto $149 million
Tampa Bay $70 million

BandB said:

Wifey B: Ok, but this is my stat of the day.....my hso. :lol:

American League East Standings

Tampa Bay 89-53
Boston 81-63
Toronto 79-63
NY 79-63

Payroll
NY $203 million
Boston $183 million
Toronto $149 million
Tampa Bay $70 million

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Moneyball.

Hippocampus said:

Leave out Conn. save a few bucks. They’re all yankee fans anyway.

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LOL

I have a house in CT.

Yankee fans down in the southwest corner near NYC. Boston fans to the east and north.

As small as it is, its really two states. At least. Which is not unusual. MD is really 3 states.

rslifkin said:

There's not much reason to carry around additional heavy chain if it'll only get used once or twice a year.

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Precisely my quandary, and even more so. With more focus south than north of the Chesapeake for me, more than 200 ft of anything is likely to be no more than during one or two trips in a 5 year period. For that small frequency, heck there are marinas.

The more I ponder this, the more I think go with the 200 ft of chain, period. No decision is permanent, even if more easily done up front.

Just teasing. Grew up ( to the extent I did) in Manhattan. Lived most of my adult life in MA. Still a Yankees fan even though root for the pats and bruins. Son in law the same. Those grandkids wear Yankees or Red Sox depending upon who dressed or took out their clothes for the day.

FWT said:

Precisely my quandary, and even more so. With more focus south than north of the Chesapeake for me, more than 200 ft of anything is likely to be no more than during one or two trips in a 5 year period. For that small frequency, heck there are marinas.

The more I ponder this, the more I think go with the 200 ft of chain, period. No decision is permanent, even if more easily done up front.

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That's my logic in going for rope for extra length. Much cheaper and lighter than chain, so the penalty for carrying extra is much smaller.

Just to argue the other side Using times in NE more 200’ would have been helpful. So you go to Block in season. All the slips are full. You don’t have a reservation. Forecast says it’s going to be snotty that night. You want at least 5:1. You can’t find a spot that allows enough swing except in 40’+ .
You left P’town heading for SW harbor. You get in and just want quiet and sleep. No couples fighting, rap music or listening to drunks being loud and laughing. Everywhere you drop is ledge. Need that extra but don’t want rope rode. Wind has dropped and is shifty but going to be sporty later.
rs is right. You’ll lug around that chain and use the first 100’ the vast majority of time. Sure you can reverse it every couple of years and get more life out of it if you’re carrying a lot of extra. But if you didn’t bring it with you you ain’t got it. And never skimp on ground tackle decisions. Have had times even in LI sound where going 3:1 would have meant a sleepless worrying night and was happy for the mostly unused part. Our routine is one side with all chain and the primary. Other side is chain and rope for a mud anchor. Cut out the good part of the all chain and move it to the chain and rope side or use off the stern or as a lunch hook as needed if the secondary still looks good.

Hmmm.

Carry around more rode, or put up with drunks for a couple of nights in a 5 year period.

Your point is valid and thanks for that. I'll check those charts in those spots. But not sure that's the tradeoff for me. At least yet.

Builder us chain to balance the ship fore and aft.
Adding a significant amount of chain, you will travel bow down, raising the propeller closer to the surface, reducing its efficiency.
So if the builder discourages the owner from adding more chain, there must be a good reason ie. trim fore and aft.
The old N46 had water tanks in the keel and were used for ballast and trim.

OldDan1943 said:

So if the builder discourages the owner from adding more chain, there must be a good reason

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The builder knows the boat better than any of us. I'm taking their advice.

Chapmans book recommends nylon line and “a few feet of chain”. The book is written mostly for cruisers but many have as much windage as a trawler. I’ve used 15’ and as little as 5’ of extra heavy 3/8ths chain. (30’ boat) I view the chain weight is to hold the shank end down for setting. After the anchor is at least partly set then some tension on the rode will pull the shank down. You can set w lots of line out and shorten up. If you need more scope to gain rode angle as wind increases .. pay out more line.

My anchoring in mostly SE Alaska has been very successful mostly adhering to the above.

One of the main reasons I do this is I like the extra length for the possibility of having an engine failure several hundred feet of shore w an onshore breeze/wind and rocky beach. The long rode limits how far the boat will drift.
Ground tackle has always been a safety feature.

OD makes the key point which I said “as much as you can”. Limit is weight that will decrease performance or distort gyradius. That’s the fixed upper limit. After that it’s rope rode if you need address length.
Cruising in NE has changed. We’re blessed with innumerable lovely harbors a very short distance apart. But available areas to anchor has decreased and density of folks on the water has increased. Whereas in the past you could feel fairly comfortable you could cruise without reservations and never run into a jam now a days getting there early maybe wise. Look at this decision as a matrix.
How much anchor/chain weight can I carry.
Where and when do I cruise.
How do I like to cruise. Meeting a schedule. Marina to marina. Town to town. Reservations. Or not.
To what degree do I want to avoid rope.
Windlass set up.
Belief all chain is safer.
Believe this list is a hierarchy.
Respect everyone has different priorities. Personally like to pick a direction and a destination as a goal not a fixed requirement. Find boating as one of the few remaining areas where you can fool yourself into believing you’re free to wander. Avoid Block, the Islands, Sag, Newport Greenport and other places on weekends when school’s out. So I opt for “as much as you can”.

I’ve been looking at some of the places we anchored in Maine as well as some noted Active Captain spots. The deepest we anchored in was 24’ and many places less than 20’ low tide, 10-12 ‘ range. I think the most chain we put out was 250’ and we have 7’ from roller to water.

If you get a towing eye near the water line and attach the snubber there as many do, you can eliminate that height from your rode/scope calculation. If I were to do that, I’d be putting out 35’ less chain for the same 5:1 scope. I’d consider getting as much chain as the builder would allow, then attach and use the waterline snubber when you go to NE.

Since the manufacturer is not recommending then I'd take their advice. However my advice would be to cut 50ft or 100ft off that bow chain, store it in the lazarette for a backup or stern anchor, and put that saved weight into a much heavier prime anchor. You might look silly with a 100+ pound Rocna up on your nose, but you'll sleep soundly at night on a 3:1 scope, while those around you are drifting away towards Merry ole England.

Personally I think it's good form to carry at least 4 shots of rode if you're planning on travelling far and wide. Say, 100ft of chain and 300ft of nylon plait, would serve you well.

BTW, I grew up boating on the Long Island Sound and we didn't need anchors, because we were always running aground

Hi Mako,
3-1 scope is fine and despite what you read more or less the norm in the PNW.
But Rocna isn’t the best short scope anchor. They are awesome at long scope but the Manson Supreme bests them for short (normal) scope IMO and in a big comprehensive anchor test. But see them perform here in TF on Steve’s anchor vids.

My spare anchor is an aluminum danforth with mud attachments. The size, ..... (I am not going outside in the rain to get the #) but I do know the boat is almost too much for it. I will rely on 9/16 inch nylon joined in lengths with bowlines. Yea, yea, I know, it is not THE CORRECT knot for joining two lines together but, it will work perfectly as a stern anchor.

Porgy said:

I’ve been looking at some of the places we anchored in Maine as well as some noted Active Captain spots. The deepest we anchored in was 24’ and many places less than 20’ low tide, 10-12 ‘ range. I think the most chain we put out was 250’ and we have 7’ from roller to water.

If you get a towing eye near the water line and attach the snubber there as many do, you can eliminate that height from your rode/scope calculation. If I were to do that, I’d be putting out 35’ less chain for the same 5:1 scope. I’d consider getting as much chain as the builder would allow, then attach and use the waterline snubber when you go to NE.

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This is great info. Exactly the sort of local knowledge I have been looking for. Many thanks.