How do you mark your anchor warp

[wiggy]

I have 14mm multiplait splice to 8mm chain. At the moment I've used cable ties to mark each 5 metres. These have a tendancy of getting stuck in the drop from the winlass to the anchor locker. Whats your system for marking anchor warp.

 

[prv]

On the chain, I paint it. If I've got all 40 metres of chain out and have to move onto warp, I'm past bothering with precise measurement

Pete

 

[VicS]

The depth sounder interfaces with the onboard computer which calculates the required length of cable ( chain in my case), pays that length out and then stops .

Simple

 

[JSYmartini]

I've got black anchor warp so put a white whipping on, about a dozen turns to make it visible, I think at 5m. Then 2 lots of whipping at 10m etc (after my 10m of chain).

 

[prv]

Then 2 lots of whipping at 10m etc (after my 10m of chain).

Ah, well, if we're talking about codes rather than the mechanics of individual markings...

I use bands of red, white and blue worth 5, 10, and 20 metres respectively. No multiple bands (of the same colour), no significance to the width of a band, or their ordering, just add up the colours that are present. Therefore they remain readable even when well-worn; if you can see any colour you can read the mark.

So a single red mark is 5m, red and white is 15m, blue is 20. This works up to a 40 metre chain - the highest mark is red, white and blue, or 5 + 10 + 20 = 35. You know when you reach 40 cos you're holding the end of the chain!

In the first 15 metres I also added small black 2.5m intermediate marks, but I'm not sure if they really add much of use. The very first metre and a bit has closely-spaced red stripes to warn me (while I'm crouched down slaving over the windlass) that the anchor is about to appear over the bow.

Pete

 

[CharlesSwallow]

The depth sounder interfaces with the onboard computer which calculates the required length of cable ( chain in my case), pays that length out and then stops .

Simple

What do you calculate the in-built/acceptable error to be?

Chas

 

[BERT T]

Marking anchor warp

Use heat shrink sleeves of different colours to mark the various distances. Simple ------ Fast ----- Effective.

 

[rivonia]

On the chain, I paint it. If I've got all 40 metres of chain out and have to move onto warp, I'm past bothering with precise measurement

Pete

+1 but we have 60M of marked chain, then un-marked warp.

Peter

 

[vyv_cox]

I use cable ties for both multiplait and chain but I don't have a hawse pipe. Could you rotate the tie so the latch is embedded in the rope.

 

[AliM]

I've got black anchor warp so put a white whipping on, about a dozen turns to make it visible, I think at 5m. Then 2 lots of whipping at 10m etc (after my 10m of chain).

Wow, you'd better not come to the muddy East Coast!

I have cable ties on my chain, but it's frequently so muddy when I haul it up that I can't see the ties at all, and in some cases I cannot tell where the links are - the chain is a dripping cylinder of gloopy mud! Any warp (or whipping on it) is stained a dark muddy brown after just one anchoring - there'd be little chance of seeing the whipping!

I like the idea of the heat shrink on the warp - you ought be able to see when dropping the anchor (assuming you've hosed the mud off first).

 

[Billjratt]

Paint won't stay put on my chain, so I tied strips of strong material about an inch wide
every 30feet (a boatlength) ,with an extra cluster just before the anchor appears, so I can bring it aboard gently.
The cloth has stayed put for seasons, doesn't hurt your hands or jam in the gipsy.
One 'tail' per boatlength, colour coding not required.
The boatlength unit is to help me judge where the anchor is when it is being laid so I can estimate my turning circle easily. I don't think in fathoms, cubits, rod/poles/perches or these new-fangled yard things .

 

[SimbaDog]

I use some of these: http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/osculati/boats-anchor-chains-23340-102952.html
Purchased in local swindelery

 

[vyv_cox]

I use some of these: http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/osculati/boats-anchor-chains-23340-102952.html
Purchased in local swindelery

Many of mine fell out and all were the same brown colour after one season. That was when I changed to tie wraps, many seasons ago.

 

[SimbaDog]

Many of mine fell out and all were the same brown colour after one season. That was when I changed to tie wraps, many seasons ago.

Mine have been fitted for 3 years & are fine

expect like most things now, there are good & bad ones on the market.

 

[Salty John]

Cable ties on chain - at 50' as an early warning, at 80' which is the minimum we put out, and at 120'. At 150' we reach nylon which isn't marked and is almost never deployed.

 

[Seajet]

Tie wraps ( cable ties ) have the advantage of being distinct in the dark, but the major disadvantage of being very sharp on the hands if cut; I have found tie wraps disappear after a while of use.

I use 20' of chain - unmarked - then the warp is marked by black permanent magic marker, in fathoms so as to need less marks - yes this means remembering to brief new crew.

The reason I use fathoms is to need less marks than metres, 1 for 1 fathom, 2 bands for 2 fathoms, & so on; at 6 marks I go 'round the clock' and start at 1 again; if I don't know I've done that I deserve to go aground or adrift !

Never had a problem seeing the marks at night, either there's enough available light or there's always a torch - a headlamp is especially good for this job.

 

[Salty John]

Cable ties applied in any application without the proper tool - a tensioning cutter - are nasty. The proper tool leaves no sharp end.

 

[Vara]

Tie wraps ( cable ties ) have the advantage of being distinct in the dark, but the major disadvantage of being very sharp on the hands if cut; I have found tie wraps disappear after a while of use.

After cutting, if you play a lighter flame gently over cut it renders it benign.

Second use of cable ties at 5m intervals.

 

[john_morris_uk]

We have the 'wedge in' type markers in our anchor cable. They have been in for seven years, and I have never had a problem with them falling out. Perhaps we have been lucky. We do anchor a fair bit, so its not lack of use.

The chain is only marked in four places. One marker for ten metres, two for twenty metres, three for thirty metres and if its all out its nearly forty metres or so.

If I want to pay out twenty five metres its until two markers appear and then I guess the five metres in between - although its easy to put more out than you need - on the grounds that its better paid out than having too short a cable and being dragged along the bottom.

 

[Seajet]

I'd be concerned that would damage the clip itself rendering it likely to come off, and am happy with my solution for the anchor warp, but thanks for the tip in general.