Is this enough anchor?

[liztate]

Measured our anchor chain at the weekend and found it to be about 25m with 5m of rope at the bitter end. Anchor is a 25lb CQR. Boat weighs 4.25tons. Given the weight of the boat this doesn't seem like enough if there is a real blow?

I suppose the rather mean chain allowance reflects the fact that she was designed for the East Coast shallows but given we will be predominantly in the Solent, West Coast and North France should we invest in more scope?

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Oh I think so yes, more scope will give you more scope, so to speak. 40m chain and 20 m rope might be good?

 

[Sans Bateau]

Depends on the size of the chain. Our 5.5 ton boat has 30 metres of chain with a 16kg Delta, the chain is 10mm, both chain and anchor spec'd for the next size boat up. Then we have 40 metres of 16mm octoplait.

IMO 25 metres should be long enough, but get some more octoplait on it.

 

[Stemar]

The experts will be along in a minute to tell you that the only use for an old fashioned anchor like the CQR is as a garden ornament, or that it's the best thing since sliced bread, etc. Likewise for the scope which absolutely must be all chain - or perhaps not...

In the mean time, here's my 2 penny'th.

If it's blowing a bit, you'll want at least 5 to 1 scope, especially with a relatively short length of chain. That gives you a maximum depth of 6m. Now knock off a metre or so for the length of rode that isn't even getting wet and now you're down to 5m. On a high spring tide in the Solent, that puts you aground at low water unless you can float on the proverbial wet lawn.

The ideal is probably all chain - it'll give you the best catenery and is virtually chafe proof. It's also heavy, so unless you've got a powerful electric winch, or you're built like Marius Pudzianowski, a decent length of chain plus as much rope as you can afford/have room for is probably the way to go.

FWIW, I have a 10kg delta with 17m of 8mm chain and about 40m of octoplait for my 24ft Snapdragon, so I reckon I'm OK at anchor in any conditions that won't have me scurrying for home in up to 15m depth overnight and 20 for lunch.

I know some people will say my ground tackle's over the top for a wee boat, but someone here once said that the way to know that you'r ground tackle's adequte is when people start taking the p!ss out of it. Let 'em, I don't care - I sleep soundly at anchor!

 

[simonfraser]

scope, you'll need depth x beaufort wind strength, more octiplait

 

[MarkGrubb]

Same here. I use depth x beaufort for scope. If its less than F3 I just chuck out 3:1, if the water is less than 5m then I chuck out 15m minimum. Hope that doesn't sound more complicated than it is.

Boat is 29', 3.3tons. Carry a 25lb CQR, 25m of 10mm chain plus 65m of octoplait (14mm I think) spliced to the chain.

 

[lw395]

Doesn't seem fair to let an anchoring post go by without someone advocating a weight on the rode. 10kg of lead as far down the rode but clear of the seabed seems to work well for me, on a mostly rope 4:1 (ish) scope.
Other than that, more is better until you have to pull it up!
And the main thing is to have room to swing, I can't cope with the crowding in Newtown anymore!
Main thing is not to calculate that its should be right, but to see and feel that it IS right in the conditions.
It would have been nice on the water today!

 

[ebbtide]

[ QUOTE ]
It would have been nice on the water today!

[/ QUOTE ]

It was!
And I'd dried out for a scrub and there wasn't a barnacle to be seen.
Who's a lucky boy then?

 

[roly_voya]

As you go further west anchorages get deeper. In some area tidal range gets bigger, 8m is not uncommon and 10m+ in places. All tide habours get less common as do marinas. Add all this together and you will be anchoring more often in more challanging conditions. You want to be looking at ground takle to anchor 15-20 in a blow. If you use all chain thats about 75-100m if mixed then 100-150m. What you choose depends largely on the anchor stowage, in a traditional heavy boat with a deep locker under the foc'sal no problem with chain. in a light boat with an anchor locker right in the bow 100m chain will bury her nose into every wave (and they get bigger out here to!). The big advantage of rope is you can make up a standard road of say 50m to live in the chain locker and carry an additional 100m somewhere elsewhere for when you need it and it can also can be used for other things. The big advantage of chain is you need less scope, it doesn't chafe and if the boat tends to shear about it will damp her. Unfortunatly most boats that shear badly are too light to carry all chain rodes!! Assuming your boat is about 30ft and the chain is at least 8mm then the current anchor and chain sound OK to me, you just need more scope.

 

[dovekie]

Sorry for the late comment. Just a few observations.
1) Weight on the chain works well - it's akin to heavier chain, but it is wakward to set and recover.
2) If you are considering any modifications, think about bringing the anchor cahin locker aft. Ours comes back to drop into what was a wardrobe. It means we can have loads of chain, because the weight isn't in the bows. And it stows perfectly in a tall thin locker.
3) However much cahin you have, nylon (octoplait) attached at the bitter end is great. In light airs some folks will drop the hook in 200 feet of water to sit out a foul tide in the north channel, much more peaceful than motoring.

 

[GMac]

If your chain is 8mm you have plenty just add rope.
8mm chain = 14mm rope.

I'm 31ft, 3500kg odd (probably 5000kg by the time the girls load their 'important' gear on /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) and I run 15mts x 7mm to 70mts of 12mm polyester octiplait. On the end is a 4kg alloy anchor whos name I won't mention as the thread could take a bad turn.

I've sat through 45+kts in 10mts of water happy as Larry.

Minimum scope I run is 5:1, at 30kts odd out to 6:1, 40kts odd out to 7:1.