Anchor chain is 50m enough?

[Seven Spades]

My anchor chain is worn out and as with most boats it has 50m of chain. However considering the tide off the Channel Islands is 50m sufficient or borderline?

I have never dragged off the Channel Islands but I cannot say that I am completely relaxed. I have just bought a Rocna for this season so I will be much more happier than the CQR it replaces, should I buy 60m or is that overkill?

How much chain would you carry if you had to start again?

 

[sarabande]

how long is your boat, and how heavy ?

 

[Poignard]

My anchor chain is worn out and as with most boats it has 50m of chain. However considering the tide off the Channel Islands is 50m sufficient or borderline?

I have never dragged off the Channel Islands but I cannot say that I am completely relaxed. I have just bought a Rocna for this season so I will be much more happier than the CQR it replaces, should I buy 60m or is that overkill?

How much chain would you carry if you had to start again?

The tidal range at St Malo is around 13 metres at springs, so I carry 5 times that, i.e. 65m.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Supplement With Warp

I have a 41', 12 ton boat. I carry 75m of 10 mm chain and sail on the Firth of Clyde and West Coast of Scotland, so not exactly channel islands tidal ranges.

I have rarely used all the chain. The bulk of 75m is not actually all that much fitting into a space 3'x3'x2'. The weight on the other hand does present quite a lot of mass up front.

I have anchored on other boats in very deep water but used warp to supplement the chain rode. As a planned activity this is my preference because it is much easier to handle a lot of warp and some chain, compared to just very long chain.

The long chain kinks more, pyramids in the locker and fouls the hawse requiring frequent intervention, produces a lot more strain on the windlass, takes longer to haul in. I would clarify this statement by sating that my electric windlass is old and probably not that efficient anymore.

I would recommend that you maintain the 50 m and use warp to supplement the length for very deep anchorages.

 

[Twister_Ken]

My view - 50m is enough for a decent catenary in the sorts of conditions you're going to want to be anchoring in, but put some warp on the end for the bigger tidal ranges in the CI.

 

[RichardS]

I have 50m of chain and after a couple of seasons with the Delta I decided to get a Rocna and 25 more metres of chain. However, I bought the Rocna first and, after a couple of seasons use, that seems to solved the problem of getting the anchor to bite so I never bothered with the extra chain.

You might find the same.

Richard

 

[Rigger Mortice]

This is not meant as a criticism.....

You say that your chain is worn out which implies that you have used it a lot, but you are asking a question which is pretty basic (nothing wrong with that). You have also given insufficient information, (size of boat, size of chain, length of warp etc etc) for people to give a really useful answer.
I would have expected that somebody, who had spent so much time at anchor that their chain had worn out, would be telling us what to do.

In a roundabout way I am coming round to asking if you are simply worrying too much about the "problem". You have never dragged, so your existing set up has proven itself.

You say that you are never completely relaxed.........join the club. I don't know anyone who is genuinely completely relaxed when at anchor, and the tidal range in your neck of the woods is greater than most of us have to contend with. There's always a bit of apprehension which, if anything, is no more that a simple recognition that anchoring is not perfect.

Get more chain by all means but, if your current set up has proven itself, all you are doing is buying a bit more insurance and increasing weight at the bow. I would also ask if your chain really is worn out.

 

[Yacht Castor]

Mine is bigger than your!

Not wishing to boast but I carry 90 meters of 8mm chain and 3 different anchors on my HR 37 she sits OK but nose dives a bit in heavy seas. As a live aboard in the Med having to cope with whatever is thrown at us I believe my present kit is not overkill

 

[snowleopard]

What do you mean by 'worn out'? Have some of the links got thin and distorted, will it no longer go over the windlass or has it just lost its galvanising?

I carry 110 metres of rode and have never used it all but keep it for that one occasion where I might need to anchor in 30m of water. As most of it is rope that's no great hardship.

 

[Seven Spades]

The chair is 13 years old and has lost it's galvanising and has started to rust.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

If it's just a bit of superficial surface rust, check the chain for actual wear. Odds are it will be fine and will be OK for some years. Replace or regalvanize if you must, but it will really be for cosmetic reasons.
Otherwise just put it back in the locker. With the money saved take your wife/girlfriend out for a meal. Do not take wife and girlfriend out at the same time.

 

[snowleopard]

The chair is 13 years old and has lost it's galvanising and has started to rust.

Your chain is not worn out. It still has 99% of its strength and will last many more years. If re-galvanized will be as good as new.

 

[Conachair]

I've got 50m nylon spliced onto my chain. Much cheaper and lighter should it ever be needed.

 

[FullCircle]

I have a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35 with 50m of 10mm chain.

There is loads of room in the anchor locker for more, but.....

This is the maximum weight that Jeanneau recommend, and after 5 years of ownership, I agree with them.
I have another 70m of Anchorplait I can add if required, and I also carry 30m of 10mm on the kedge (stored in the aft cockpit locker) which I could also shackle on if required.

So, be careful of how much weight you put up front, you may unbalance the boat.


Also, I agree with Snowleopard that chain can be regalvanised quite economically, especially if you have chain calibrated for a particular type of windlass!

 

[Searush]

The chair is 13 years old and has lost it's galvanising and has started to rust.

Then get it regalvanised. Much cheaper. My chain is at least 20 years old & was regalvanised a few years back.

BTW, I have never had more than 30m of chain on my CQR & sail an area with 30' tides in a 31', 7ton ketch. I also carry 50m of 20mm Nylon with a hard eye (& a heavy Angel weight) to add to the chain if necessary, but have only used either of them a handful of times.

If you are not nervous when anchored overnight, you will probably get into trouble sometime through carelessness. Use the energy to make sure you have done all you can, set an anchor watch & relax a little.

BTW, I have known a few boats with too short a scope drift off on the tide with the occupants fast asleep. They all tell me that when they woke up, some miles away & realised what had happened, all they did was raise the anchor & sail back (or on). As we anchor downwind of the land, wind & tide will usually carry you out to safety. But no guarantees, of course!

 

[fishermantwo]

I would suggest a metre of chain for every metre lenght of your boat, especially with a modern anchor. All the rest is just wasted weight. 10 meters of chain every 10 years is fairly economic.

 

[DaveRo]

I have a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35 with 50m of 10mm chain

We also have an SO35. It has about 45m of 10mm chain and 10m of warp - which is a bit miserly. We're in the med so no tidal ranges.

The only occasions when we could have done with more is when anchoring back to the shore, either because we misjudged the distance (most likely!) or because we needed to reverse further to get to the quay - or near enough to swim a line ashore - and then had to pull a lot of it in again. And if, as often happens, other boats pull your anchor up then it's handy to have enough out to tighten it up again.

Being aware of the weight problem we considered changing to a longer length of 8mm chain, which would involve changing the gypsy, but in the end we got used to it. (We have a Rocna.)

More likely we'll increase the amount of warp - as I resolved to do 2 years ago ;-)

Dave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7544154@N07/4612493036/

 

[Searush]

I would suggest a metre of chain for every metre lenght of your boat, especially with a modern anchor. All the rest is just wasted weight. 10 meters of chain every 10 years is fairly economic.

Your suggesting 9m of chain would do me? The tidal range is greater than that. Do you mean a metre of chain per FOOT of boat length? That would be reasonable - I have marginally less & no problems.

 

[Shuggy]

Another anchoring thread I'm biting on! We have a 43' 9 ton 40 year old boat (i.e. long LOA but with only 30' LWL). When we bought her she had 50m of 8mm and a genuine Bruce. I struggled to get the anchor to set a number of times in the first season so bought a 25kg Rocna.

(We had previously had a 33' 13 ton wooden boat with a 42lb CQR and 90m of 10mm chain)

I have just replaced the 50m of 8mm chain with 80m of 10mm chain and have no anchorplait. We previously had 100m of anchorplait on the end of our 90m of 10mm chain but having never deployed our warp in 5 years of cruising with heavy use of the anchor decided this was a waste of time.

I hope our set-up is now bullet-proof. Last season we had all 50m out on a number of occasions thanks to very high night-time winds so I don't think 80m is overkill.

Each to his own though. I have never had a sleepless night at anchor as I have a rigorous anchoring technique involving 2100 rpm astern for at least 1 min.

We have dragged only once on our anchor, when we had two boats on the CQR in hard sand - our 13 ton boat plus an HR36. The wind got up at breakfast time and we knew in all honesty that it was inevitable.

On a final note, I would not have 80m unless I had an electric windlass.

 

[AndrewB]

I carry 100m of 10mm chain, and with 60kts of wind forecast for tomorrow night, holding around here a bit iffy, will be using every centimeter of it!