Extending anchor chain with warp

[Sticky Fingers]

I would generally be in the buying new chain camp, in st/steel, but it depends on your use case.

1.First on the mechanics, I have chain and rope on our Ribeye chase boat and can report that the electric winch transitions between the two perfectly, surprisingly well in fact, so as a technical point you can easily have a chain/rope combo.

2.As for the rope going rotten or manky (post #11), you can fix this in your use case by going to the anchor locker on the last anchor weigh of your CI holiday and pulling the rope to one side just as the gypsy has begun to wind the chain, and you can either remove the rope and keep it fresh for your next CI holiday, or at least you can pack it away tidily high up in the anchor locker.

3.Another factor is weight. Weight in the bow can be useful on a P boat, depending on how much stern lift you do or don't have at P speeds, so that might steer your chain/rope choice.

4. Another factor is whether you be anchoring overnight vs for lunch/afternoon. CI can be an unforgiving place and there are plenty of harbours/marinas for overnighting. I think I would sleep more soundly with a new 60m length of chain, and even then the anchor itself needs to be good enough (don't believe that garbage when people say the chain holds the boat not the anchor - the anchor obviously holds the boat).

Thank you that’s very helpful

Ref 4, I’d expect lunches not overnights to be fair

 

[simonfraser]

I struggled with nylon and chain rope
New nylon ok, but it goes hard over time, even when rinsed with fresh water, and then your windlass chews it up
Now on all chain, much better, bow a bit further down which works better too
I use a nylon snubber else too noisy at night

 

[Tranona]

I struggled with nylon and chain rope
New nylon ok, but it goes hard over time, even when rinsed with fresh water, and then your windlass chews it up
Now on all chain, much better, bow a bit further down which works better too
I use a nylon snubber else too noisy at night

Nylon is not suitable for anchor warps as you have discovered. 3 strand polyester or multiplait are what is recommended

 

[simonfraser]

Nylon is not suitable for anchor warps as you have discovered. 3 strand polyester or multiplait are what is recommended

multiplait recommended, indeed. had a 'discussion' with jimmy green over this as they recommended the same, it stuck in my lewmar windlass, eventually had a refund, see here

 

[Boathook]

multiplait recommended, indeed. had a 'discussion' with jimmy green over this as they recommended the same, it stuck in my lewmar windlass, eventually had a refund, see here

My south Pacific windlass recommended 3 strand on to chain as multiplait was to "soft" for the gypsy and wouldn't grip.

 

[Elessar]

My Princess 460 has 30m of 10mm ISO chain and a Lewmar electric windlass. That’s enough for the Solent but not much good in the Channel Islands. I’m thinking of extending the scope using warp spliced onto the chain.

Couple of things…

1. What type and size of warp to choose, suitable for anchoring overnight in relatively benign conditions?
2. What’s the best splice to use to attach the warp to the chain?
3. Will the windlass pull through the warp and splice OK or are there problems to be expected?

Ok that’s three things.

Idea and info welcome.

Chain Splice

Handy to have extra warp even if you get longer chain. It’s easy to do see above.

 

[Elessar]

Thank you that’s very helpful

Ref 4, I’d expect lunches not overnights to be fair

why not overnights? Last time in CI we spent more time at anchor than in harbour. Day trips from the harbour are actually difficult because of the tides restricting entry.

 

[Daydream believer]

That’s cheaper than Jimmy Green.

Everybody is cheaper than JG

 

[Sticky Fingers]

why not overnights? Last time in CI we spent more time at anchor than in harbour. Day trips from the harbour are actually difficult because of the tides restricting entry.

Anxiety mainly!

 

[Boathook]

Everybody is cheaper than JG

I've got a few suppliers that I use on line and JG can be cheaper than others. I've also found some of the cheaper places don't have the item in stock, so they can put any price they like online !

 

[Elessar]

Anxiety mainly!

Get yourself this app and sleep soundly.

Because you’re missing out.

 

[Refueler]

Personally ? Given the infrequent use of such rode length .... I would go the Rope + Splice route ...

Jimmy Green's info is as good as any ...

Use of Anchorbraid allows easy splicing to chain ...

 

[Hurricane]

Get yourself this app and sleep soundly.

Because you’re missing out.

I use this one
Anchor Alert - Apps on Google Play
It doesn't attempt to use charts so will work anywhere.

There are loads of anchor apps to choose from though.
I like this one because you can "point" the phone in the direction of your anchor after you've anchored - and give it a distance to the anchor.
The "safe area" circle is then defined from the anchor point so you can then swing round a full 360 degrees within that safe circle.
Particularly good in the Balearics where the wind does a full 360 degrees overnight.
Usually we wake up 180 degrees from where we went to bed.
You can also create an exclusion area/segment in case you want to be alerted where there are rocks etc.

However, a better app thaw we use is one that connects the phone to an anemometer and alarms if the wind increases in strength.
Generally speaking, at anchor, the boat is mainly affected by the wind so knowing that the wind has increased gives you more notice.
The wind always increases long before the boat drags at anchor.
The one I use is this:-
WINDY™ Smartphone Wind Anemometer | Wireless Wind
This is a completely independent anemometer with its own battery (which lasts for years).

I'm sure people on here will say that you can use your Navigation kit as an anchor watch.
Personally, I don't like the electrical current drain on the batteries.
A mobile phone can be located next to you in bed and draws very little energy - mostly from its own battery but I plug mine into a USB socket next to the bed thus keeping it charged. The load on the batteries from a mobile phone is significantly less that the ships Nav systems.

These two simple steps mean that I sleep well at anchor.

 

[Greg2]

However, a better app thaw we use is one that connects the phone to an anemometer and alarms if the wind increases in strength.
Generally speaking, at anchor, the boat is mainly affected by the wind so knowing that the wind has increased gives you more notice.
The wind always increases long before the boat drags at anchor.
The one I use is this:-
WINDY™ Smartphone Wind Anemometer | Wireless Wind
This is a completely independent anemometer with its own battery (which lasts for years).

Followed the link and saw that the wind speed and direction option is $1,324.99, which seems a tad pricey. The accessories such as mountings are similarly highly priced. Is this what you have to pay or did you source yours elsewhere?
.

 

[kashurst]

I would go for the chain and the biggest anchor you can fit on the bow roller. I wouldn't bother with stainless.
What type of anchor do you have? If it's a Delta definitely change it to something that actually works like a ROCNA, Mantus, Supreme etc.

 

[jfm]

I don't want to encourage an anchor debate but just in the interests of balance my experience has always been that Deltas hold very well.

 

[Hurricane]

I don't want to encourage an anchor debate but just in the interests of balance my experience has always been that Deltas hold very well.

Light the blue touch paper and retire!!!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Yup got the standard Delta…. ! Got quite a few improvements and upgrades to do that are higher up the list than changing out the anchor. Mind you, if I’m doing the chain anyway, then maybe now’s the time…?

 

[Hurricane]

Followed the link and saw that the wind speed and direction option is $1,324.99, which seems a tad pricey. The accessories such as mountings are similarly highly priced. Is this what you have to pay or did you source yours elsewhere?
.

Sorry - I just did a quick search - yes thats too expensive.
This is the manufacturer's website with all their kit.
NAVIS anemometers
They don't seem to have any UK dealers but I have just asked ChatGPT and it came up with this website:-
NAVIS

More sensible price but they were much cheaper when I bought mine - direct from Navis so might be worth sending them an email.

Be careful when checking out the one that includes direction.
When I bought mine, the wind direction version required fixing to a set direction but, of course, thats no good for a boat that swings around.
I remember having an email discussion with them at the time.
Apparently one of their team also has a boat so understood the problem and they were going to make one that worked out the direction in the vane itself.

That said, I only have the wind strength anemometer which is actually good enough.
This one Navis Windy B/S Smartphone Anemometer
It is the wind strength that I'm mostly concerned about.

 

[Hurricane]

Yup got the standard Delta…. ! Got quite a few improvements and upgrades to do that are higher up the list than changing out the anchor. Mind you, if I’m doing the chain anyway, then maybe now’s the time…?

It seems that JFM and I disagree on a couple of things - I hope we won't fall out over our differences in opinion.
Sorry - I don't rate Delta anchors.
Our Princess was supplied with one - my upgrade to a Rocna was a significant improvement.
The Delta is a ploughing anchor - it just keeps on ploughing.
Easy to see in the clear waters of the Med when you go snorkelling.
Sorry, thats my view - Rocna fo me - there are better anchors than Rocna but IMHO, the Rocna is the best "bang for buck".