How long do your anchor chains last

[Roberto]

How many anchoring days/nights (not years) have you spent with your anchoring chain before the need to replace it?
In particular, *not* regalvanizing but having to replace it as link diameters were reduced to unsafe levels.
Which section of the chain?

Rough numbers, no need to be very very precise: 200? 2000?


In my case, 10mm chain, inverted head to tail once, oddily the central section is the most corroded (not the one near the anchor, which has lost galvanization by scrubbing the sea bottom but not the diameter), down to about 8mm, roughly about 5-600 nights

 

[sailaboutvic]

We anchor at less nine month each years every day ,( work out the days )
The chain that came with the boat when new lasted five years then it was too rusty to use , just kept making a mess , we replace that with good quality Italian chain , or so that what was sold to me , within two years I had to bin it , it when totally rust , links where still good but it made a right mess , our lastest boat we replace gypsy and the 8 mm chain for 10mm and we ended up buying Greek chain , we only had it on for a year now and so far so good .
You will find there a thread going on about Maggi chain on the anchoring and anchorages Facebook page and it seen quite a lot of people have had problem with it , Maggi USA have replace some chain but Maggi Italy have so far seen to have done nothing about the complains .
When I complained about my two year old chain , I was told it was the way I anchor , on that point I just ended the conversation .
what the guy didn't know was I been anchoring for over 40 years and if I don't know how to anchor now , maybe I should take up golf .

 

[TQA]

This is my 9th year of living on the hook in my current boat and I had 7 years in the previous one.

I reckon I get 1000 to 1200 nights on regular 3/8th chain. I had an experiment with Italian short link 10 mm chain which had worn and stretched very badly and jumped on the gypsy rendering it unfit in 15 months use.

 

[OldBawley]

About 5 years, 365 days / year. Winter is harder on the chain, much more hard winds.

We have a low windage boat, less tension on the chain than the average yacht or catamaran.

I have to buy new when the chain starts to turn. A turning chain jumps over the gipsy.

We winter in the Poros Saronicos area, Poros is a died volcano, Methana is near, Metal goes faster on a volcano bottom.

Chain nr six now.
Turkish chain was worthless. Was cheap.
The Turkish chain was bad from the start. I first spend two days hammering and de-burring because it was galvanised so bad that many links ware fixed together. The burrs ware on the outside of the weld ( all on the same side ) Dangerous. It never went down good, sometimes two links ware crossed so the chain blocked in full speed in the haws pipe when dropping the anchor. You can imagine the forces on the deck stopping a heavy anchor and lots of chain in full speed fall. Needed a hammer to unblock the links. Dumped the lot after one month use.

 

[Roberto]

Thanks all for the replies; it seems a case where quality is the main factor.
Fwiv, my chain is French "Vigouroux", it is sold by most french chandleries; a few years back a few people also reported split links in new chains, that would be a no-no for me next time.

 

[KellysEye]

If you want chain to last buy test chain. We spent six years in the Caribbean and 50% of days/nights were at anchor - 1,095 with no problems.

 

[Kelpie]

Interesting thread.
Does anybody use stainless?

 

[Flica]

Never, for the reasons stipulated,in 27 years.
Most of my chain loss has been due to fouling - once in the Guadiana on a sunk pontoon, and latterly on an abandoned mooring in Ormos Anyavissa.
I'm still using the Bradney chain, bought in 2002 and taken by car to Argéles Port, that was G60 chain, galvanised in the UK and has done about 1500 overnight anchorings, after the loss of 15m of this I replaced it with some Chinese chain, in preference to Maggi, because the quality of galvanising on the latter was significantly inferior.
The chain is 8mm, the boat weighs, theoretically 7000 lbs but reads about 10,000 lbs on a crane readout, is 31' long overall and 29'10 loa.

 

[AndrewB]

Any reason for specifying NOT regalvanizing? We have ours done every five years and the chain seems to last forever. I've not tried simply letting it rot, sounds like a totally bad plan.

 

[john_q]

We bought 10mm chain in the UK in 2004, we live aboard at anchor 24/7 and very rarely are in marinas. After end for ending the chain we had to replaced it in 2010 as it was going rusty and a couple of links were bent.

We looked at the cost of re galvanising, but, in Guatemala, where we were, the cost was approx. 2/3 the price of new chain and I could not get any references as to how the re galvanised chain lasted so we went for new

We replaced it with 80 metres of Acco 3/8 High test (P4/P43) Grade 43. We are still using it today and have not had to end for end it yet, we quite often deploy 40 – 50 metres if we have the room and we have squalls up to the mid to high 30’s a few time a week where we are so it gets used

The HT chain appears to have much better galvanising than the 10mm as we have no rust issues with it yet.

 

[dratsea]

Two nights up a creek in Malaysia removed the galvanising. There was a tin mine upstream of us.

 

[Neeves]

If you anchor in mud then the acidity of the mud can remove galvanising very quickly.

Galvanising, once the raw zinc is removed, is harder than the underlying steel and as long as you regal 'early' your re-galvanising will allow the chain to last 'for ever'. Once the gal has gone the steel will wear more quickly, than the gal did (assuming you are not anchoring in mud). The gal wears off 'away' from the anchor as that part of the chain sweeps the seabed much more frequently, or further, than the chain near the anchor.

The thickness of the galvanising determines life (surprise, surprise). Its no use looking at the chain in the drum - shiny chain just means its new stock and has raw zinc on the outside.

Peerless (who own ACCO) have 'in house' galvanising and seem to know what they are doing. Galvanising from all suppliers does vary but Peerless appear to be the best. Maggi have developed a pretty awful reputation - but maybe its better now. Both Peerless and Maggi make imperial and metric chain and both sell in Europe and N Am. Maggi and Peerless also sell in the Carib.

People who re-gal almost without exception suggest their own regalvanising (with an independent galvaniser) is better than the original - to me this makes no sense - but it is consistent. If you regal you need to do it early - as once the gal goes and you wear the steel then the diameter shrinks.

Chinese galvanising seems no worse than most and their chain strength is good. Unfortunately there must be 1,000s of chain makers in China so its a bit of a lottery as there are some, a few, poor examples. Chinese chain from a reputable importer should be acceptable - but note above, galvanising varies.

1,000 nights at anchor seems about right for gal life, excluding used in mud.


If you only use a short snubber, 2m, and a metal, steel chain hook - then in aggressive conditions you will damage the link retained by the hook (and may bend the link or hook). You will certainly take the gal off. The snubber offer no elasticity if it is short. The hook takes the full snatch load when attached to a short snubber, the link is at an angle, and they will bend. Most, if not all, chain hooks in chandlers will damage the chain - but you need to only use short snubbers and be caught out with lots of snatch loads - but it may be the sole reason why some links are damaged and the chain jumps in the gypsy.

I would be interested in anyone who has single damaged links.

'Our' chain hook makers do not accept the above contention - but if you read warnings given by lifting hook makers, for example Peerless and Crosby, you will find they provide warning notices that hooks, like ours, will reduce chain strength by 20%, which also means they will damage 20% earlier.

Alternative hooks, sold to the lifting industry that do not reduce strength are available (ungalvanised) and are as cheap as chips. You can use a hitch, or soft shackle, instead of a hook


Jonathan

 

[Roberto]

Any reason for specifying NOT regalvanizing? We have ours done every five years and the chain seems to last forever. I've not tried simply letting it rot, sounds like a totally bad plan.

Hello Andrew,
in my case simply because it was not an available option: I left for our second trip with an acceptable chain, a bit of light rust here and there (it :alreazdy had a few 100s nights) but very ok, no visible reductions in thickness, it then degraded rather quickly in the central section, some links are flirting with 7mm from the original 10.

Also, in France regalvanizing alone costs at least half of new chain, then one must add transportation which for about 150-200kg adds another significant % of total cost, with the big question mark about the final result quality as examples are rare and people anchors in very different ways..

All the best,
r.

 

[Neeves]

I'd actually not regal as it is impossible to check every link for damage or wear and though the wear should be even(ish) - it does not seem much of a saving over new, hopefully, reliable chain. Reducing link size from 10mm to 7mm is quite a lot of wear!

But I wonder - if you buy new chain what do you (anyone) do with the old chain. We took ours to a local scrap dealer but if you are vehicle-less then 200kg of chain is quite a monster - even getting it from the bow, onto a pontoon and then up the inevitable ramp is quite challenge. Feeding new chain through the windlass, to ensure it has no twists in the locker is another herculean effort - fortunately you only need to do it once every few years.

 

[OldBawley]

I lower the old chain into our rigid dinghy, then bring it to a small shipyard. They have lots of uses for the chain. I build a anchor roll in the transom of our dinghy which is handy laying second or even third anchors by dinghy.
In Göcek Turkey I stumbled on a huge pile of good as new chain while snorkelling. It was the time when everyone bought stainless chain. Funny thing, the chain was greased. Big mess bringing the pile on board and cleaning the grease of.

 

[temptress]

Just replaced my chain after 12 years. Anchoring 80% of the time. Looked into re-galvanising which was about the same price as new chain. So we went for 120 m of new certified, galvanised chain from a source known to us.

 

[Neeves]

Temptress,

That's a good life, 12 years at 80%, do you recall where the original chain was from (if you ever knew) and who made the new chain (you are very cagey! in making a recommendation!)

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

I lower the old chain into our rigid dinghy, then bring it to a small shipyard. They have lots of uses for the chain. I build a anchor roll in the transom of our dinghy which is handy laying second or even third anchors by dinghy.
In Göcek Turkey I stumbled on a huge pile of good as new chain while snorkelling. It was the time when everyone bought stainless chain. Funny thing, the chain was greased. Big mess bringing the pile on board and cleaning the grease of.

It seems a strange thing to do but greased to reduce towering?

 

[OldBawley]

I can´t think of any other reason.

 

[Neeves]

My first thought was that it was not galvanised, but I discarded that in favour of towering.