8mm Stainless Steel Chain for anchor

[MapisM]

My number one reason is flaking - I have real problems and runaway chain situations caused by flaking problems

Paul, fwiw I agree with FullCircle when he says that "it has everything to do with how the chain falls into the locker". Which in turn depends pretty much on the shape and size of the locker itself: the narrower and deeper the locker, the less problems you'll have.
Imho, it's as a common an idea as it's a wrong one, that a s/s chain can reduce such problems, because they have nothing to see with how slippery the chain material is (which in this respect is the only difference between s/s and galvanised).
What happens is that when the chain is recovered it builds up a sort of "pyramid" inside the locker. Now, such pyramid can fall laterally and lock the chain below its own weight, either immediately when recovering a lot of chain in one shot, or while under way due to the boat movements.
My boat suffers this problem when more than 50m or so of chain is deployed, so I did consider s/s for at least one of the chains some years ago. But after talking to a fellow boater who actually went that route with no improvements at all, I abandoned the idea.
Luckily, I mostly anchor in places where 30 to 40m chain is more than enough. But when I do need more, up to the whole 100m I've got, there's only one way to avoid problems on the next anchorage: swmbo goes in the bow cabin, from where the anchor locker can be accessed, and she spreads the chain evenly while it's being recovered. Which btw has a side advantage, because there's a shower inside the locker and she can rinse the chain with fresh water, particularly when we're not going to use it for a while afterwards.
I guess it sounds as a nuisance, and of course it is - particularly 'fiuask swmbo , but not that much. And well worth it anyway: the chains are still as new after a decade, and we never had any flaking problems since we're using this technique.
Btw, CraigSmith is correct when he mentions Maggi as a top quality chains maker. And it's not by chance that among their products, the best one is an hot dip galvanised chain. Which I guess might be the one (8mm G70) he mentioned in his last, very sensible, recommendation.

 

[Gludy]

Thanks for the advice.
We have no access like you have to the locker- we can only access from the top but we do have a shower in the locker.

It has always seemed to me that s/c chain slides easier and flakes better - after your points I am going to return to Grenada and take another look at the locker to see if I can solve the flaking problem another way.

 

[MapisM]

We have no access like you have to the locker - we can only access from the top

I see. Well, in principle what I suggested should be feasible also from the top, but surely much less convenient - depending also on how deep the locker is.

Mind, I didn't say that s/s chain doesn't slide better. It definitely does, as anyone can tell just by handling one piece of it by hand.
Trouble is, whenever the chain gets tangled badly enough to not be able to deploy it, because even the winch can't pull it out, it's more a problem of weight than of sliding between each ring.
If what happen is what I tried to explain, the only way out is to access the locker and move by hand the parts of chain which fell above itself. That's what we had to do before using the above trick, anyway.

 

[Bajansailor]

I would never use rope when anchoring where coral can easily cut through it.

Why would you want to anchor in coral, when there is bound to be a nice big sandy patch to anchor in not too far away?
Anchors and chain mash up coral very easily, and it takes a very long time to grow back.

Re the chain not flaking properly in your cable locker - could you not just lift the hatch and use a boathook to flake it manually as it comes in? Or, if ergonomics allow, sit on the side and kick it occasionally?

Re using 8 mm chain - I would use it happily on your tender, but most definitely not on Suliere's bower anchor. Add up the difference in weight of the same lengths of 8 mm and 10 mm chain, and compare them against the weight of a couple of crew members sitting on deck up forward.

 

[Gludy]

We do not anchor in coral and would always try to avoid it but a swing may be possible when say a squall passes through. May cruisers share my view of chain only.

We do use the boat hook and kick buy lesley is only 5 feet tall and finds it very difficult - even I would find it difficult so we are looking for a better solution.

The right 8 mm is stronger than the 10mm I use and other cruisers use it. I appreciate that the 100 kilo saving is just a heavy crew member but I already have too heavy a boat and I am on a campaign to cut the weight down. The chain locker is in the centre of the boat not at the front - the chain travels back to it. The weight saving is not the prime reason for considering 8mm stainless - if I could solve the flaking I would settle for what i have,

I am now going to take a long hard look at other ways to solve the problem. I have to import the chain anyway and the next time I am home will be in April so I have some time to come up with another solution before heading back to the chain route.

The thread has been very instructive.

 

[SHUG]

Like this?
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn14/hectou/ChainBoy.jpg

 

[Gludy]

There has to be enough chain hanging below the windless to provide the eight to stop the chain jumping out of the windless. I am back on the boat next week and will take and post photos of the problem.

 

[MapisM]

chain jumping out of the windless

Ops, probably I misunderstood what your problem really is.
If the chain "jumps" (out of the gipsy, surely?), then I suspect that a s/s chain, which as we said is indeed more "slippery", might make things even worse!
Looking forward to seeing those pics.

 

[Gludy]

No- it only jumps when there is not enough chain hanging on the windless because of the pyramid below it. The S/S chain would not make it worse and it would flake better.