anchoring technique

[hylass]

Re: Bungy depth markers

[ QUOTE ]


If anyone has had any experience with the the inserts I would be pleased to hear of it.


[/ QUOTE ]

The insert I have on my own chain are manufactured by an Italian compagny (Osculati: www.osculati.it)
As a full time living abord (and sailing) sailor, I have been using them for about four years now.. and I am very satisfied with them..

The only drawnback is, when you stay too long at anchor, you can have a grown of green weed on them.. and then, they all look green.. :0)

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: Bungy depth markers

Thanks Hylas

Osculati products are available here in New Zealand so I will track some down.

John

 

[Sgeir]

Re: Bungy depth markers

[ QUOTE ]
John, Have you seen these:

[/ QUOTE ]
I've got 'em,
But cannot spot 'em.

Discolour too easily IMHO. However I recently saw this old gentleman use these:

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: Bungy depth markers

I use plastic cable ties - have a big white one at 10m 2 at 20m and so on then change colour - every 5 mtrs I have a small black one... the same few seem to get knackered first so I just put new ones on. very cheap - very effective

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: Bungy depth markers

I agree Michael the cable ties or bungees are the best solution but I am pretty sure that they would cause us problems given the tight fit of the chain in the tube on our boat.

I have ordered the suggested Osculati plastic inserts now so I will see how they go.

According to the people I bought them off one puts them in the chain in the order of red, yellow, blue, white, green and one remembers that is "Rub Your Balls With Grease". And if they all fall out or can't be seen I will be going looking for Hylas with a can of grease in my hand /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

John

 

[ean_p]

Re: Chain stowage

Thanks for the reply John........a nice touch having the locker inside yet above the water line so it can self drain.......as to the plastic insert markers, I've seen them in use and wasn't too impressed as the seemed to come out all too easily, maybe a little epoxy glue would help and a luminous type that would be great after dark........

regards

Ian P.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: Chain stowage

No problem Ian. One disadvantage with the tall box as a chain locker is that it does raise the centre of gravity of the stowed chain (I guess it is around 500mm or so above the waterline), however, unless one starts lining the bilge with timber and draining into the bilge I haven't come across a way out of that.

I will take up your suggestion regarding gluing the coloured inserts into the chain, thanks.

John

 

[fireball]

Marking the anchor rode ...

Well ... we've got chain/line mixture and needed an easy method of seeing how much rode is out ....
as we don't have a windlass we needed something that wouldn't rip the hands apart when handling ...

so .. with whipping twine we've marked each 5m length ...
b = 1 x blue band
r = 1 x red band
rr = 2 x red band
rrr = 3 x etc etc ...

05m - b
10m - r
15m - rb
20m - rr
25m - rrb
30m - rrr
etc etc

so ... nice and easy visual of how much rode is out.... and no need to remember lots of different colours ...

 

[BlueChip]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

Our chain marker system is quite simple and foolproof.

1 cable tie @ 10m, 2 cables ties @ 20m, 3 ties @ 30m and 4 ties @ 40m. They are large white ties and we have no problem with them going round our electric anchor winch or getting stuck in the hawse pipe

I don't find it necessary to worry about smaller increments and after calculating the chain required usually round up to the next marker.

 

[DeeGee]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

[ QUOTE ]
Our chain marker system is quite simple and foolproof.

1 cable tie @ 10m, 2 cables ties @ 20m, 3 ties @ 30m and 4 ties @ 40m. They are large white ties and we have no problem with them going round our electric anchor winch or getting stuck in the hawse pipe

I don't find it necessary to worry about smaller increments and after calculating the chain required usually round up to the next marker.

[/ QUOTE ]I, like others here, find that a cable tie gets knocked off once in a while. Hence we don't EVER use more than one determinant. We used multiple ties purely for redundancy, so when I look down at two green ties, I am seeing one green tie,and it means 15m or 40m. If one gets knocked off, I still see one green tie, and mentally note that one needs renewing sometime in the near future.

Ship's Cat - fixing the cable tie inside the link doesnt work, the gypsy design pushes them out, however ours goes round the gypsy and down the pipe without any fuss, even though the 'knob' formed by the tie is always outside the link.

If your pipe is so close fitting, surely you must have other problems of jamming without making it worse with cable ties. If I were in your shoes, I would stick with paint. I once considered using the flourescent stuff (easily obtainable) in an aerosol, which road engineers use to mark where work should begin and end. Cardboard box with two slots on opposing face to drop chain into, then spray a number of links. Quickly done, easily repeated a couple of times in a season if the paint deteriorates - and, let's face it, there are plenty of times when cruising sailors have nothing to do! After reading about them here, I bought one of those head-torches which means you can see the colours as they come in, whether ties or paint.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

...surely you must have other problems of jamming without making it worse with cable ties

Only very, very occasionally, sort of blue moonish and then usually only if the last part of the chain piles up in the locker whilst going in so that there is not enough drop. The total hawse path through the bottom casting of the winch and the stub through the deck is only 6 inches or less, so there is not much friction. Just that nothing else much will fit down the spout at the same time as the chain.

Thanks for the comment about the tie fixing bit not staying inside the link, that is what I thought and your confirmation saves me trying it.

What is probably a successful paint is to use epoxy primer/ undercoat with a polyurethane topcoat for the different colours. Last summer the yard spilt some International Interprotect primer/undercoat on the top of the plough part of the anchor. Since then the boat has probably spent around 9 weeks of every night anchored and much of most days anchored as well in those same weeks. The paint is still as it was when it was first dropped on. But is an expensive solution by the time one buys 5 or so different colours.

John

 

[DeeGee]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

[ QUOTE ]
.....an expensive solution by the time one buys 5 or so different colours.

John

[/ QUOTE ] Why multiple colours? The standard (ie old-fashioned/tried and proven) method is to use one colour, used to always be red for some reason; but make the colouring over the appropriate number of links. One watches the markers going out, and counts the groups, then finally use the number of links painted just to confirm the counting. Most people use 5m pitch, so that, if you are anchoring in, say, 6m, you would count one.. two... as the marked sections go out ...six. Then you have a 5:1 scope automatically. Quick look at the chain, yes 6 painted links (red). OK. Done.

Anyway, suppose you lose count and find 7 marked links? That means 'you have nearly 6:1 scope and either leave it or bring back 5m.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

Had also thought of one colour (had in mind just the Interprotect by itself) with a different number of stripes for each depth (eg 3 stripes for 30m) to, but I thought that with any method counting links or stripes paint damage to them could end up with it getting confusing - especially trying to count them while the chain is running out.

I have also thought that if the chain in the painted areas was primed with Interprotect and then the colours just done in cheap enamel over that, the coloured paint would last longer. At least the remnants of the coloured paint after much anchoring would probably show up quite well still against the white primer.

In any event, I have the plastic inserts coming now so I will give them a go, and take it from there if they all fall out. If they do all fall out I will go hunting Hylas /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

John

 

[hylass]

Re: Marking the anchor rode ...

[ QUOTE ]

If they do all fall out I will go hunting Hylas /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.


[/ QUOTE ]
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif