Anchor chain

[dick_james]

Just coughed up for a new anchor chain, is there some standard marking code for knowing how much you have paid out? I had thought of using the colour code for resistors which happens to be indelibly burnt into my brain - brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue for 10m, 20m, 30m, 40m 50m, 60m. (maybe plus green for intermediate 5m eg. orange/green for 35m) Is every boat different?

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[duckmanton]

HI Dick, l can vouch for short lengths of webbing sewn onto each link with a small tail .
l use white webbing approx 20mm wide, at 10M intervals. 1x webbing per 10M measured. (i.e. 3 bits for 30M) Sewn with wax sail thread. They go thrrough the anchor winch, no problem and have been in use for the last 6 years without failure.

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[david_bagshaw]

see
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=pbo&Number=366341&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post366341>http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=pbo&Number=366341&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post366341</A>

for my method

<hr width=100% size=1>David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>

 

[davel]

Free with one of this months sailing mags (PBO I think) - Free set of Anchor chain markers (actually tie wraps!)

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave L.

 

[ThomasHome]

I invested £3 in some little coloured rubber/plastic things that pop into the links, they did the job - once, the only ones left in now are the ones at the top of the chain that hasn't got wet yet.

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[wiggy]

PBO did an article and included bright cable ties that can be used but cant remember exactly how it worked

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[Petercatterall]

There seems to be no standard. Your colour scheme is good, as you will always remember it. I used God Bless You etc as it sticks in my mind. I put a single marker at 5m and 3 at each 10m. I used cable ties but you need to watch they cant cut you.

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[hebdena]

On big boats the anchor cable is made up of 15 fathom lengths of chain (called shackles) joined by a joining shackle. The joining shackle is painted red and the number of the 15 fathom length = the number of chain links painted white either side of the joining shackle with the last one having a a few turns of seizing wire around the lug for good measure and to make repainting when all the white paint has worn off easier and avoids mistakes.
I'm sure something like this could be adapted for smaller anchor cables, I may even do it myself!

Regards...............Andrew

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[duncan]

If yo have an electric anchor winch then you should be able to relate the time of operation to the amount of chain let out -
if you haven't then you are probably anchoring in shallow water so a single mark at 10m should be enough.

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[DeeGee]

FWIW, I started yet another thread on this some weeks back, and got loads of advice, as well as reference to previous threads.
My parameters were: easy to apply, easy to maintain, easy to use.

I ended up using a variation on David Bagshaw's suggestion. Bought loads of the coloured cable ties from RS (5x50 = £14, worth shopping around, I am lazy).

Used snooker values, marking with RED, YELLOW, GREEN, ORANGE (for BROWN), BLUE, then repeat. The first marking was at 5m below waterlevel, the rest at 5m interval. Mark with two cable ties. So if I am anchoring in 3m, I would stop between YELLOW and GREEN depending on the conditions.

Application, half an hour to get all chain out, mark, get back in.
Maintenance, cos there are two, obvious when one needs replacing.
In use, dead easy, but all systems suffer at night, need decklights or torch.

There are 12,428 different systems out there, you just takes your pick!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[charles_reed]

Unfortunately the cable ties never last more than 4 - 5 anchorings - and how about anchoring in the dark?

I spend about 250 nights a year on my boat, over 50% on the hook (6/7 nights at this time of year, and haven't yet found an entirely satisfactory system of marking.

On the whole the oldest system of all, bunting and cord, combined with knots appear the most foolproof.

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[DeeGee]

I think I addressed both your points in my original, including my opinion that you can take your pick of many unsatisfactory solutions, hence I would not even try to justify my choice as the best choice.

A speaking chain-link counter would satisfy me, though.

Which bunting, cord, knots system do you use? Where are your cruising grounds? I shall watch for your contributions to the anchoring threads, you should have some useful experience clocked up by now.

<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[david_bagshaw]

you say Unfortunately the cable ties never last more than 4 - 5 anchorings ....

If the ties are loose, they last for ages, we normally use the anch. twice a day in the summer,(8-10 weeks usually) or more and only need to replace ties on commissioning.



<hr width=100% size=1>David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>

 

[tynesman]

Reading replies on anchor chain markers is amusing and lets be honest,how many of us anchor in over 30m of water! After that you need a winch.
The main thing we are all interested in is that we do not damage the hull when we are pulling in the anchor,and secondly we want to anchor safely.
I like many have tried various methods of marking the anchor chain
But think a minute you know the depth of water you are anchoring in (I hope) and you should know how much anchor chain you have in total (I hope)
With a draft of 1.2m I never anchor in less than 5m offshore anyhow, my chain is painted one strip when the anchor is 2m below the water (so I know its near the hull when pulling it in) and I have it marked at 10m two stripes and 20m three stripes.
Some of us still have no winches and you will not pull 8mm chain over 30m long verticaly with a Danforth anchor on the end by hand after that.
Yes anchoring every weekend,I finally painted the anchor stripes with prima-con then Toplac,lasts about a season.

Happy sailing

Tynesman

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