How long anchor rope/rode for UK inshore wandering?

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mikefleetwood

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Musketeer (Moody 29) came with about 20m of chain, with a short (about 2m) tail of 16mm rope. As far as I can see, this seems to have been the standard fit from new? Most of the sea around here pretty rapidly drops to 20-30m once you clear the cliffs/rocks, and, with a typical 5m (6m springs) tidal range that doesn't seem much use!

What length rode do most people use? I'm thinking about adding some 16mm 3-strand nylon to the 20m chain, so how much?

Thanks.
PS. no discussions on anchor types ;)
 
Where is your “around here” you refer to? And what are your plans for cruising?

20m chain plus 40-50m of rope used to be quite common, before boats started commonly having windlasses (when all chain can be more attractive).
“Up here” (NW Scotland) there are much less safe pontoon berths than boats in summer, so it can be necessary to come prepared to anchor safely even in a storm, as was shown this week with Storm Floris. In these conditions a lot more than 20m chain is very welcome. But that may be less common sailing the SE.
 
dunedin said:
Where is your “around here” you refer to? And what are your plans for cruising?

20m chain plus 40-50m of rope used to be quite common, before boats started commonly having windlasses (when all chain can be more attractive).
“Up here” (NW Scotland) there are much less safe pontoon berths than boats in summer, so it can be necessary to come prepared to anchor safely even in a storm, as was shown this week with Storm Floris. In these conditions a lot more than 20m chain is very welcome. But that may be less common sailing the SE.
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I'm more "down here" in South Cornwall. I already have 40m of rope that I'm thinking to add to the chain, but really want some guidance as to if that will be enough.

Plans are vague at the moment. I'm thinking of wandering along the coast, anchoring in quiet bays - although they all seem to be a bit exposed if the wind is from the wrong direction (which it always is!).
 
Rope and chain will give you a max water depth of around 15m using a 4 times depth ratio. If the weather isn't brilliant you may be up to 5 times depth ratio.
I have 60m of chain plus a 15kg anchor for my boat and generally never use more than 20m of chain, but my boat is shallow draft.
Round the channel islands I'm using around 30 to 40 of chain as the water is deep, even close to the shore.

How much extra rope you require will really depend on what depth of water you will be anchoring in.
 
I have 10m chain + 50m 14mm anchorplait on a 32' boat, however I would never plan to anchor such that I had to use all that except in emergency as I have no windlass.
I also have a second anchor setup with 8m chain + 40m warp that I could shackle all together to make something very long, in extremis.

16mm seems excessive on a 29' boat and bulky to store unless you use anchorplait.

See:
Anchor Chain and Rope Size Guide | Jimmy Green Marine
 
Sounds like I need 100m nylon, but maybe 14mm instead of 16mm?

Interesting reading the Jimmy Green guide, but he seems to say 1:8, even for all chain (which would make my proposed 140m good for about 18m).

My intention would be to anchor in the 5-15m margins, but I'm thinking of the times when that isn't possible or emergency situations.
 
mikefleetwood said:
Sounds like I need 100m nylon, but maybe 14mm instead of 16mm?

Interesting reading the Jimmy Green guide, but he seems to say 1:8, even for all chain (which would make my proposed 140m good for about 18m).

My intention would be to anchor in the 5-15m margins, but I'm thinking of the times when that isn't possible or emergency situations.
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Wow, we like to carry plenty of chain (80m) but I have never heard of a scope of 1:8 for a chain rode.
We work on 1:3 absolute minimum for a lunch stop, 1:4 minimum if leaving boat or overnight, 1:5 sleep better overnight.
Also the 1:x is a bit simplistic for very shallow or deep water. Really should be Y + d * X, ie start with a minimum amount (Y) of say 5m to give extra scope in very shallow water. Also remember the angle is to the bow roller, not waterline, which can be material in shallow water eg 3m depth but 1.5m height of bow roller = 4.5m rise from the snchor.

Can’t comment on mixed chain and rope scope needed as personally try to avoid - especially if a floating rope as can get tangled round keel etc in calm anchorage.
 
Around the Solent, your extra 20m would probably be fine, but there are plenty of places (I don't know Cornwall), where I'd want more. Rope isn't very heavy, so I'd be inclined to think that the more, the merrier. If I were setting up a boat like that, I'd be thinking that the 10m of chain is good, but I'd like to add a minimum of 50m of rope, giving a safe depth of 20m in normal conditions, and more if my likely cruising area warranted it.
 
How big is your anchor locker? Assuming that you don’t want to add to your 20m of chain (my interpretation of your post) I’d be tempted to add 40m of warp and if you have space, even more. I’d always put out more scope with a mixed rode than I do with all chain.
 
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I work on the basis that it's the chain that does the work so put 50m on our 38 foot. Lifting keel, usually anchor in 2m at LW, so up to 6m typical Solent, SW tides. If it's going to be windy and we've got room, I put loads out, otherwise 3x for lunch 4x for overnight.Screenshot_20250715_123552_Boating.jpg
 
I would want more chain than just 20 m. If I have to anchor deep say 8m ( which actually isn't all that deep) I would rather be anchored on chain than rope. I have 50m of chain and 50 of rope rode - maybe overkill to some but at least I know I can anchor safely even in deep areas
 
RE; Most of the sea around here pretty rapidly drops to 20-30m once you clear the cliffs/rocks,

Realistically, you won:t be anchoring in 20 metres.

So, look at the anchorages that you are likely to stop at and make up your rode for those depths plus a little safety margin.
Your anchor locker will be your limiting factor.
I use two mooring lines with eye splices and thimbles to extend my rode. This is not stored in the anchor locker.
Also keep you eyes out for an extra 10 to 20 metres of chain. Then you will have most situations covered.
Do you have a windlass? If so make sure the chain fits.

gary
 
I would buy more and have some extra lengths on board - maybe 30m on the rode and a couple of spare 30m lengths stowed away for the odd occasion when you might need them.
 
We have sailed all over the UK, Europe and the Caribean and only twice needed more than 60m of chain. Both time were where bays had been filled with moorings at £££ cost per night. I refused to pay the exorbitant cost for uninsured ground tackle that wasn't my own. The addition of some rope gave us 2.5:1 scope in deep water. The one time when catenary works well and you are perfectly safe
 
john_morris_uk said:
We managed perfectly well with 40 metres of chain for several years sailing around the S Coast & Brittany. Then we were in Scotland and realised we needed more! We’re in distant waters nowadays anchoring 99% of the time and have about 100 metres of chain but that’s not relevant to the OP.
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geem said:
We have sailed all over the UK, Europe and the Caribean and only twice needed more than 60m of chain. Both time were where bays had been filled with moorings at £££ cost per night. I refused to pay the exorbitant cost for uninsured ground tackle that wasn't my own. The addition of some rope gave us 2.5:1 scope in deep water. The one time when catenary works well and you are perfectly safe
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I agree. In practice (and even in the Caribbean) we never use more than about 40 metres. But I’m pretty confident at squeezing inshore into shallow waters inside moorings if necessary.
 
In all my years of sailing in North Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands (and many places between) I carried 50 metres of chain, no rope. We never felt we needed more, even in places with big tidal range. It was only when we began berthing stern-to in the Mediterranean that we needed more to save the embarrassment of running out while unable to reach the wall. We then went to 63 or 64 metres.
 
My first cruiser was only 20 feet in length but came with at least 50 metres of chain.

I was on the East Coast and the Southern bit of that coast, so mud and shoaling.

I don’t remember the thickness of the chain.

No windlass.

I do know I felt safe with that much chain.

I am sure many would agree that my location and coastal cruising did not need that much.

But my philosophy is to carry the most you can, so that equates to the longest lengths of chain you can. This is only an opinion.
 
I use the formula 12 x the square root of the depth. If you needed to anchor in 25 m then the square root is 5, then times 12 equals 60 m. That is the amount of chain I carry.
 
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