anchor marking tips ?

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Alrob

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I want to mark my anchor into measured lengths what is the best way to do this and what is the best increments?
my thoughts were red hammerite paint at 10 metre increments !!!!
 
I have mine marked with thin strips of bungee cord held on by cable ties
The first one is positioned so it appears just as the anchor hits the water, thereafter they are every two metres colour coded
So I just look at the depth sounder then usually let out 4 x that from the first marker
 
easy way is to paint a section (about 1m) long in different colours each 5m. Easy to remember the snooker sequence (red, yellow, brown, green, blue, pink, black)

Also its a good idea to paint an area of the chain that signifies when the anchor just breaks the surface, so you know to slow down thus preventing the anchor taking chunks out of the gelcoat.
 
Alrob said:
my thoughts were red hammerite paint at 10 metre increments !!!!
Click to expand...

Yup, that's what I've found best. 10m increments. I paint a full 1m of chain - don't use small markings, else you miss them if you blink or have to look away briefly. Plus a metre painted a diff colour at the point when the anchor is at the water surface.
 
We use the plastic lugs that push fit inside the chain loop, one for 10m, two for 20m etc. This wouldn't work from the helm, as you wouldn't be able to see them, but SWMBO always has to walk to the front to release the retaining cable, so she may as well drop the anchor while she's there.
 
Red and white hammerite. Each mark 6" or so.

1 red when there's a souple of meters to go (same at the bitter end too)
1 white at 10m
1 red + 1 white at 15m
2 white at 20m
1 red and 2 white at 25m
3 white at 30.

and so on. The white marks are easy to see at night too. It does require repainting every couple of years.
 
I drop my anchor from the flybridge controls as SWMBO does not like going forward particularly if we are rolling a bit.

I tried those plastic markers that fit in the chain but just could not see them. I have now painted every fourth metre of chain white, so now I can count out the white metres easily. I now know that if I drop 5 whites out I have laid out 20 metres! Easy!!

Barry
 
I use Red White and Blue as easy to remember sequences:-

1 red at 5 metres 2 reds at 10m 3 reds at 15m 4 reds at 20m
1 white at 25m 2 whites at 30m 3 whites at 35m 4 whites at 40m
1 blue at 45 2 blues at 50m then a long length of white to say that the chain is all out.
Also a long white at the start to say the anchor has brlken the surface as per previous recommendation. All done with Hammerite which lasts a couple of seasons.
 
Same concept as Nick_H

We use the little plastic chain markers every 3 meters but we have bands of colour.
So, green is first - then red - then blue .... and so on
So you can always see a colour and know which band you are in.
I dont think I could see anything from our flybridge anyway so SWMBO always goes and operates the windlas from the bow but if I was on my own, I could drop the anchor from the FB and then look at which colour band was showing.

Recovering
As Nick_H says, you always have to remove the strop so winching in from the bow isnt a problem. Also it gives us a chance to let the anchor wash off the mud at the water surface before its winched aboard.
 
Like Medskipper, we have a mark every 4m (I use the little rubber push-in blocks, alternating red and green). The first mark tells me when the anchor hits the water, thereafter I just let out 1 one mark for every metre of water we're in so I automatically have 4 x scope without having to think about it.

To fit them, I went bows in to the berth and paid out all the chain onto the pontoon. Then I just dragged it out into a 4m long line and kept wrapping it back on itself every 4m. Red blocks went in at one end, green at the other...
 
Every 4m sounded a good idea until I thought about it. Fine if there's no tides like the Med but complicated in UK waters where the depth you're anchoring in isn't the same as the max depth you're likely to encounter whilst there, so I guess it depends where your cruising grounds are.

I find 5m increments are easier to count. Red (5m) White (10m) Blue (15m) RWB (20m) then repeat the sequence.
 
Trundlebug said:
I find 5m increments are easier to count.
Click to expand...
Do you mean easier than 4m? I can't see a big difference...
But I stronlgy agree on the principle that each mark alone must be self-explanatory.
It's not important the coding - each to their own - but I have marks all along 100m chains which let me know exactly the length at any time, and I wouldn't live without them.
Oh, and these are the thingies, fwiw. They lasted a decade, and counting.
 
Wiggo said:
To fit them, I went bows in to the berth and paid out all the chain onto the pontoon. Then I just dragged it out into a 4m long line and kept wrapping it back on itself every 4m. Red blocks went in at one end, green at the other...
Click to expand...

I just used a piece of string 20m long, thread it through a loop in the chain and keep hold of both ends, then let out chain into the water until the string goes tight, and you know you've let 10m of chain out. Mark the chain there, then let go of one end of the string and pull it back through, then repeat as many times as necessary.
 
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