Anchor rope

[Roberto]

My preference is for multiplait, not just because it's easy to handle but because it also flakes down well.

Another advantage of octoplait, though not relevant to the OP, is it does not twist. I made one of my first snubbers (long one, 20ish meters) with 3strand rope, after a couple of times with strong wind I found its extremity all chewed up: the changing tension made the rope twist/untwist, and the lazy anchor chain was continuously wound/unwound around the rope, slowly deteriorating it. Octoplait is stable, it does not twist when elongated.

 

[Daydream believer]

Being a bear of simple mind, I would splice an eye into the rope’s end and shackle it to the chain, which is how our kedge came with the boat.

I will not do that. regardless of what rode I supply. I will splice it for them. I would not like the idea of a shackle running through the clients hands if it went out in a rush. It could also snag on their very small anchor roller etc. Knowing them, the shackle would be allowed to rust. Any mousing would soon deteriorate & may end up with a bit of wire sticking out.

 

[salar]

40+ years of frequent anchoring in deep water for fishing: I have always used 3 strand nylon or polyester to about 10M chain. Splice a soft eye in the rope and shackle to the chain with a stainless Allen key shackle. This has setup has never failed me. The Allen Key shackle has a similar profile to a chain link so it doesn't catch on rollers, capstans etc. The soft eye also keeps the profile low. The stainless shackle is very smooth and doesn't wear the rope eye.

 

[Stemar]

I had a similar setup on my Snapdragon 24. A few metres of chain, then about 60m of rope. Octoplait has the advantage of not tangling itself as easily as laid line, so if I were buying and price wasn't the top priority, I'd use that. My boat had a chain locker and only a hawse pipe on deck, so an eye wouldn't have worked.

 

[andsarkit]

It depends on your anchor locker arrangement. 3 strand will coil up in an open anchor locker although I much prefer the handling of octoplait. I have a hawse pipe on deck and 30m of 6mm chain with a stainless allen shackle to a soft eye in 30m of octoplait. It is still quite slow to feed all that down the hawse pipe into the locker as there is very little fall to encourage it downwards. An open anchor locker gives much more scope for different rode combinations.

 

[Daydream believer]

It depends on your anchor locker arrangement. 3 strand will coil up in an open anchor locker although I much prefer the handling of octoplait. I have a hawse pipe on deck and 30m of 6mm chain with a stainless allen shackle to a soft eye in 30m of octoplait. It is still quite slow to feed all that down the hawse pipe into the locker as there is very little fall to encourage it downwards. An open anchor locker gives much more scope for different rode combinations.

What diameter rode? I am wondering if 12mm will splice through the eye of a 6mm chain link. I may have to get 10mm. I do NOT want to use shackles & hard eyes. But 10mm could be hard on the hands.
Fair point re hawse pipe. I will have to check with client

 

[Davy_S]

My simple reason for using a galv eyelet spliced into the 3 strand is a chain splice has to be regularly replaced because when stored wet the chain splice corrodes the anchor chain, different matter of course if you are using an anchor windlass.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Personally, I prefer 3 strand polyester rather than 3 strand nylon.

Polyester does not go so hard as nylon and the lay behaves itself a bit better.

Perhaps there are better qualities of nylon available .

 

[andsarkit]

What diameter rode? I am wondering if 12mm will splice through the eye of a 6mm chain link. I may have to get 10mm. I do NOT want to use shackles & hard eyes. But 10mm could be hard on the hands.
Fair point re hawse pipe. I will have to check with client

Mine is 14mm so oversize and over strength but easy to handle but needs a shackle to connect to 6mm chain. I think 10mm would be just too small to be comfortable to haul up and I doubt 12mm rope would fita 6mm chain without a shackle. I found no problems with the stainless Allen shackle as it does not catch at all.

 

[Daydream believer]

Spooky
I have never asked the question about type of rode before. Then suddenly, after this thread has run for a day, a youtube video springs up telling me the difference between mutiplait & 3 strand for anchor ropes.

 

[Boathook]

What diameter rode? I am wondering if 12mm will splice through the eye of a 6mm chain link. I may have to get 10mm. I do NOT want to use shackles & hard eyes. But 10mm could be hard on the hands.
Fair point re hawse pipe. I will have to check with client

Years ago I had 22mm 3 strand nylon onto 8mm chain. Had to split the rope so that it went through 2 chain links and then back spliced.

 

[thinwater]

I would use 12mm Polyester 3 strand, i would not splice the rope to the chain i would splice a galv eye thimble in the rope and shackle it to the chain cos its not having to go through an anchor winch.

Why? Just curious. On my F-24 I do not have a windlass and I spliced the rope anyway, because I have reasons to like the chain-to-rope splice better:

• A splice runs through the hawse pipe or out of a locker and through the hands more smoothly than a lumpy thimble and snag-prone shackle. Nothing to snag.
• No difference in strength based on testing and long expereince. Either way, just 3 strands go around the turn. It's sort of an optical illusion.
• One less thing to fail.
• No difference in chafe. There is no movement between a spliced rope and the last link of chain. Think about it; it's much easier for the next link to swivel.
• Probably easier. With a thimble you have to make SURE the thimble is secure and that the ends cannot poke the rope under load (ropes stretch under load and the thimble WILL get loose at high load -- test it!). In fact, the risk of failure for this reason is probably greater with a thimble.

There are only two advantages to a shackle:

• Slightly less corrosion. Instead of a rusty shackle you get a rusty link. It needs re-done a little more often.
• Slightly easier to change the rode around. But do we actually bother on small boats? I don't.

I honestly do not get how splicing an eye with a thimble and shackle is simpler. The splice is the same and there are two more parts. It is unarguably more complicated. A direct splice is simplest, just you and a fid.

 

[Davy_S]

Why? Just curious. On my F-24 I do not have a windlass and I spliced the rope anyway, because I have reasons to like the chain-to-rope splice better:

Ok for the sake of your curiosity, on my yacht the rope was spliced to the chain because it had to pass through a hawspipe, on my fishing boat the anchor and rope are chucked in a builders plastic bucket, i would normally fish in 30 to 40ft of water, but occasionally i would fish a wreck in 130 ft, so i would unshackle the rope and shackle on an 8mm rope and alderney ring and buoy, this was used to haul up the thinner rope from a greater depth, when finished i would simply shackle my normal rope back on, we all have our different reasons for doing things, what matters is if it suits your personal needs.

 

[Refueler]

My simple reason for using a galv eyelet spliced into the 3 strand is a chain splice has to be regularly replaced because when stored wet the chain splice corrodes the anchor chain, different matter of course if you are using an anchor windlass.

?? My chain splice is well over 20yrs old .....