Chain nightmare and storing new rode

[TrawlerDavid]

When I purchased my 1976 GB 36 2 years ago, the survey noted some rust on chain and recommended regalvanizing. As that was not possible and the rode was old I decided to replace it with new 200 ft. 3/8 BBB and 150 5/8 3 strand nylon. Good thing I did. In pulling the old rode yesterday, discovered that the last 25 feet of chain in the bottom of the locker had rusted almost all the way through and melded into a mass of metal. See photos. Had I used that rode at full length, it would have broken and been a disaster. A good lesson to check the entire rode if buying an older boat and relying on the existing rode.
A question about storing the new nylon-chain rode. Since the 150 feet of nylon is only for when the 200 feet of chain won't provide enough scope, unlikely that the nylon portion of the rode will be used much. But if coiled under the chain portion it will be continuosly compressed and in any water draining from the chain. Have others coiled the nylon portion of the rode and hung it on the side of the chain locker so it can be avbailable if needed, but stack the chain directly on the floor of the chain locker? This seems to be a soution unless there is a reason not to do this .

 

[Frosty]

Survey "recommended regalvanizing." Ha ha. Guess you know they didn't pull the chain all the way out! Good catch on your part.

I haven't done what you are thinking of, but that's only because I've always had either all-chain rode, or rode with relatively little chain (meaning the rope will always be in use every time). I like your idea though. Perhaps some sort of Phifertex pouch?

Or alternatively a septum in the anchor locker wherein the rope sits on one side and the chain feeds to the other (obviously set up in such a way that the chain would "want" to go to one of the sides.

Both of these would mean you'd have to manage feeding the the rope back in if/when you use it, but I can't think of a way that would avoid that (probably not a huge problem though).

If you find you regularly use X feet of the rope section, you could just mark to that point and stow that bit in the chain area too.

Be interesting to see what ideas others have.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Yes, glad I made that call to replace.Not certain but could be original chain from 1976.

 

[O C Diver]

Rinsing with freshwater as it goes through the windlass makes a hge difference. End for ending the chain (reversing the rode) every year also makes a big difference. I would annually pull all the rode out and soak it in a tub of freshwater, vacuum the locker, and reverse the chain. In addition to wearing the chain more easily, it also gave you a hands on perspective of condition.

If you don't use the rope frequently when anchoring, you may find that salt permeates it and renders it near impossible to work with. Soaking the rope to get the salt out makes a huge difference.

Ted

 

[Comodave]

I would make a grate for the bottom of the rope locker so that the chain will be up off the bottom of the locker and will let the water drain out of the locker. That way the chain isn’t sitting in saltwater continuously. Some people try the plastic tiles but usually the chain will crush it flat. I would make it out of some hardwood and make it out of two levels of strips. The bottom strips should run towards the drain and channel the water to the drain. The top layer of strips should run perpendicular to the bottom strips with gaps between all of the strips to allow water to run out. Then you can flush the stack with freshwater. Not as effective as continuously flushing while it is being retrieved but better than nothing.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Brilliant idea. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Shrew]

A good lesson to check the entire rode if buying an older boat and relying on the existing rode.

The very first thing I do when I buy a new boat is replace the anchor and rode, all the boat/dock lines, fire extinguishers, PFD's and smoke detectors.

 

[Comodave]

Forgot to mention that you should seal all the wood before you assemble it with epoxy.

 

[rslifkin]

The very first thing I do when I buy a new boat is replace the anchor and rode, all the boat/dock lines, fire extinguishers, PFD's and smoke detectors.

I mostly agree. That stuff all falls into the same category as tires and brake pads on a car. I go in expecting they're either going to be crap or something I don't consider adequate. If they turn out to be serviceable and something I'm happy with as-is, that's a bonus.

 

[tiltrider1]

I pull out my chain and lay it on the dock every April. I inspect it for damaged links and I repaint my shot markings.

 

[BruceK]

I found 2" or so high industrial diamond pattern rubber mat in the anchor locker of a previous boat( a redoubtable Masters 34), submerged in mud due to frequent anchoring and lack of cleaning by PO (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia). Cleaned up, and anchor well water blasted clean, it was an easy non rusting way to keep the rode off the bottom of the well.

 

[heysteve]

We have a similar setup with 200' 3/8 BBB and 100' of nylon rode. Despite our locker being decent sized, when retrieving all the chain it would tend to stack up and require some nudging near the end. As we don't use the nylon rode much, I just coiled and zip tied it to the side of the locker. The resulting extra chain fall really helped the situation.

 

[Bmarler]

My chain locker is divided in half. There’s a piece of netting running fore and aft, top to bottom. I keep 400 feet of nylon rope on the starboard side, and 400 feet of chain to port.
The nylon line needs to be hand through the deck pipe but is hardly ever used. This separation has worked well.

 

[Caballero II]

When I purchased my 1976 GB 36 2 years ago, the survey noted some rust on chain and recommended regalvanizing. As that was not possible and the rode was old I decided to replace it with new 200 ft. 3/8 BBB and 150 5/8 3 strand nylon. Good thing I did. In pulling the old rode yesterday, discovered that the last 25 feet of chain in the bottom of the locker had rusted almost all the way through and melded into a mass of metal. See photos. Had I used that rode at full length, it would have broken and been a disaster. A good lesson to check the entire rode if buying an older boat and relying on the existing rode.
A question about storing the new nylon-chain rode. Since the 150 feet of nylon is only for when the 200 feet of chain won't provide enough scope, unlikely that the nylon portion of the rode will be used much. But if coiled under the chain portion it will be continuosly compressed and in any water draining from the chain. Have others coiled the nylon portion of the rode and hung it on the side of the chain locker so it can be avbailable if needed, but stack the chain directly on the floor of the chain locker? This seems to be a soution unless there is a reason not to do this .

One thing you might try that I found helpful was to use plaited nylon for the rope part of your road. It doesn't hockle, stores very neatly, limber and flat. This not solving your drainage problem, but really helps with storage.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

 

[rslifkin]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

I could put a setup together if I needed to, but unless I were somewhere with a high risk of fouling the anchor, I'd never use one. It's a risk of it getting run over, snagged, and the anchor pulled out. Plus having anchor buoys out significantly reduces the capacity of an anchorage as each boat takes up significantly more space.

 

[sunchaser]

I pull out my chain and lay it on the dock every April. I inspect it for damaged links and I repaint my shot markings.

This! And provides the opportunity to clean out anchor locker.

 

[slowgoesit]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

I've used one once, and woke up in the morning to find a 20ish foot Bayliner moored to my anchor buoy!

 

[Frosty]

I've used one once, and woke up in the morning to find a 20ish foot Bayliner moored to my anchor buoy!

Wow, a 20' anchor marking ball

**********
I was thinking about using one this summer; mostly just to easily look out and see how I'm moving around the anchor (curiosity). But what I noticed is that a few times my chain has actually overridden the anchor on the way to a new pull direction (say the next day the wind shifts so my chain kind of makes a loop that eventually comes back in the new direction, and may either go past alongside the anchor -- or if the loop happens to be pulled back just right/wrong, then it could ride over the anchor on it's way to the new direction).

The "empty" chain override seems to work itself out, but I didn't have such a great feeling about what might happen if the chain had to override the anchor AND a line and float. Seems like that might fetch up the anchor and set me adrift. Or tangle in some non-good way.

That doesn't mean I'd never set one. Maybe with a loggy or rocky bottom and a wind/current that won't be shifting. But definitely not on the regular.

(I do mark the anchor spot on my plotter and of course if I leave it on I can watch my track; but I often don't leave it on, plus it would have been kind of fun to be able to just look out and see the float; however, I won't be doing that.)

 

[O C Diver]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

I used one often. The line was tied to the anchor, passed through a pulley (attached to the float) and clipped to a two pound dive weight. I had a couple different line lengths to cover different depths. Because of the weight and pulley, the float was always over the anchor. While I never needed the line to pull the anchor out from under a rock, that was the original reason for it. Later it was to know where the anchor was, exactly. It was also helpful to tell others anchoring, where your anchor is.

The top picture was with a small fender that I later changed to a small ball fender.

Ted

 

[Shrew]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

UUUGGG!!! Not only do we not use one, we grumble profanities under our breath when we see it. We'll smile and wave as we pass, but know that we despise you.

Using one is a bit like taking 2 or 3 parking spaces. Then there is the fun of watching someone foul their anchor marker when the tide and wind go slack. We watched a boat struggle for an hour to unfoul his anchor maker this past July.

 

[Mac2]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

I got tired of other boats hooking my anchor Andrews Bay in Seattle-very busy in the summer. I marked my white anchor bouy and wrote “Anchor” on it in two locations. Sure enough, it took about an hour before someone tied up to it. That was the last time I used it . I have since collected two anchors that stayed snagged on my chain and my wife watched a guy last month have to cut his anchor line after snagging me. Apparently he couldn’t pull up the 600 lbs of gear I had out-yes I warn them, but they can’t grasp what 200 feet is. Based on the anchoring I see, with the small ski boats, they think they are fishing and let the anchor out and stop when it hits the bottom and then they go back and forth trying to set it, and lo and behold it sets beautifully right in front of my boat

 

[Comodave]

I see lots of newbs dropping anchor and when it hits the bottom they make it fast, and then drag. Some years ago I was patrolling Desert Storm on Lake Havasu. We were keeping boats off the race course where boats were running 160+ mph. One boat dragged his anchor at least 10 to 12 times and dragged out onto the race course. We would tell him to get back and even after repeatedly telling him he still acted like he didn’t understand.

 

[porman]

More on Andrews Bay in Seattle. I had a white fender with anchor painted on it for an anchor marker. While eating dinner we felt a hard jerk. I came out to see a small boat with my fender tied to his stern cleat, trying to drive off. I yelled at him and he just said he thought it was his fender. I've also had one marker stolen (line obviously cut) and one run over. I don't use one anymore.

 

[BDofMSP]

Our experience is different. We always use one, and it's been helpful when people are about to drop above or very near to my anchor. When informed that the bouy marks my anchor they usually say they've never seen that before and move further away.

We originally started doing it because our dock neighbors had their rode cut on a rock overnight. Their ball allowed them to retrieve their anchor (after they changed their pants from the terror of discovering they were drifting free).

Thinking about adopting Ted's solution though. Will certainly try it.

BD

 

[Mac2]

More on Andrews Bay in Seattle. I had a white fender with anchor painted on it for an anchor marker. While eating dinner we felt a hard jerk. I came out to see a small boat with my fender tied to his stern cleat, trying to drive off. I yelled at him and he just said he thought it was his fender. I've also had one marker stolen (line obviously cut) and one run over. I don't use one anymore.

Pretty amazing. It is surprising that anchoring is not covered as part of obtaining a boating license. It’s a huge safety factor when anchors are getting dislodged, or two boats become tangled and adrift.

 

[BDofMSP]

Wait. I need a boating license?

 

[Mac2]

Wait. I need a boating license?

Takes about an hour online. More importantly, it’s another revenue source for the state.

 

[BDofMSP]

There's no such thing here. There is a boater safety course that is either optional or required depending on your age. But it's not a license.

 

[Patemey]

How many of you guys use an anchor bouy? Marking the location of the anchor in crowded anchorages popular with less aware boaters feels worthwhile, but so does the additional insurance against bitter end type failures.

I've used an anchor buoy in the past, but only when stern tying. Just anchoring and swinging brings too much risk of fouling when you drift across it. Imagine fouling at 2am and pulls your anchor free, so your drifting and unable to start the engines...