Anchor chain length

N

nomadic star

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Just looking for a general idea, of what length of main anchor chain everyone carries in there anchor locker.
We carry 47 m on our 39 ft yacht, is this enough generally ? Of course I know it depends on depth of the water your in , and that you have the correct anchor in use.
 
Depends entirely on your method of anchoring and where you anchor. Some people prefer a rope/chain rode, others an all chain, but commonly mainly chain with rope backup. I have 50m chain and 50m rope spliced to the chain in a 37', and think that combination is quite common. Rarely need to use the rope where I sail now, but often used to when I had the boat in the Med. Your 47m on its own would not be enough if you cruised big tidal ranges such as Brittany or Channel Islands, but adequate in the Solent.
 
More than adequate in the Solent! It's not the length of the boat that dictates the depth you can anchor in, of course, but the draught. I carry 30m of chain and have a 50m rope rode which I could add (draught around 1.3m). Given the choice, I prefer to anchor as close in as possible to minimise the distance I have to row ashore!

Rob.
 
Bow anchor: 80M chain on 34' plus additional 70m anchor plait ready to be shackled on sailing West Coast Scotland
kedge / stern anchor: 80m chain
 
For what it's worth, I have 60m of chain on a 34 footer. I also have a 45m long warp in the stern locker which I could bend on for extra length if required.

Pete
 
Sailing initially from Anglesey to most parts of the Irish Sea, then from Holland as far as the Baltic and Jersey on summer cruises, then into the Med as far as Sardinia, I always had 50 metres, never added rope. Around Sardinia we found the need several times for more, so I bought 60 metres in Corsica and dumped the 50 metres. This has always been sufficient since, except when I misjudge the distance when berthing stern-to and we run out!
 
Spirit of Glenans said:
Would'nt like to try rowing that out in an inflatable tender:D AFAIK the usual practice is to have 1-5 metres of chain and the rest rope.
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Well, I have 10m of chain on my kedge too (and some rope, but not as much as Cliff). With the chain sat in the bottom of the dinghy until the very last bit, I don't think it would present too much difficulty in rowing out.

(Although, since my dinghy is deflated at the bottom of a locker, I'm unlikely to be instantly dashing anchors about in the traditional fashion anyway.)

Pete
 
silver-fox said:
60 metres of 10mm chain spliced to 60 metres of 16 mm anchor plait and a 25 kg Rocna. 10,000 kg, 42ft loa, GRP sloop in the Med. Rarely use the anchorplait...... but when you need it, you need it!
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Slight thread drift but associated. Does anchor plait spliced to chain survive the rigours of living under the weight of the chain in the chain locker ok? (I have 45m of 10mm chain on a 33 footer but will be adding some anchor plait)
 
Hadenough said:
Slight thread drift but associated. Does anchor plait spliced to chain survive the rigours of living under the weight of the chain in the chain locker ok? (I have 45m of 10mm chain on a 33 footer but will be adding some anchor plait)
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Yes, it's fine. It gets pretty grubby and horrible during the course of the season (especially if it never gets used) but a quick go with a low power pressure washer gets it clean again. Check the splice each season just to be sure the chain isn't rusting away beneath the rope.
 
Hadenough said:
Slight thread drift but associated. Does anchor plait spliced to chain survive the rigours of living under the weight of the chain in the chain locker ok? (I have 45m of 10mm chain on a 33 footer but will be adding some anchor plait)
Click to expand...

I can't see any reason why the anchorplait should suffer - except for unsightly rust stains. However lying to rope anywhere with strong tidal flow always scares me ever since I found the anchorplait I had let out for good measure nearly chewed through. It had caught between the bilge keels when the tide turned and rubbed on them.. Now carry at least 50m chain so very rare that I need to use rope, and then very aware of the risk.
 
35m of 6mm chain for 27 footer; I'd be struggling to get more in the locker.
I tend to anchor in 3-5m in areas with a small tidal range so that's been plenty of chain thus far (>25 years).

I have around 50m of rope with 5m of chain on a kedge if it's very windy, but I've only deployed that a handful of times.
 
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