Marking up your anchor chain

[vyv_cox]

Cable ties also have the additional purpose of cleaning the waters of an anchorage from most floating weeds, grass, sometimes plastics, which are conveniently grabbed and wrapped around the chain

Next time that happens to me will be the first. Anchoring more than 200 times per year for the past 15 years puts the probability pretty low.

I cannot see any value in cutting the ends off the cable ties. They are there to be as visible as possible, so little point in cutting more than half off each one.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I use one of these to apply cable ties. Correct tension and no sharp tags.
View attachment 76720

Combination of paint and cable ties always worked for me.

I've never seen or heard of such a tool before. I think it's a great idea. Here's a link I found;
https://ie.rs-online.com/web/p/prod...7qzoNqHT8CYGW5O0lkRoCDNYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[NormanS]

I use one of these to apply cable ties. Correct tension and no sharp tags.
View attachment 76720

Combination of paint and cable ties always worked for me.

Fortunately my hands are perfectly capable of applying cable ties without more junk aboard.
As Vyv says, they're better to be left loose anyway, and yes, if you run chain through your hands definitely wear gloves, and not just for cable ties!

 

[Roberto]

Next time that happens to me will be the first. Anchoring more than 200 times per year for the past 15 years puts the probability pretty low.

I cannot see any value in cutting the ends off the cable ties. They are there to be as visible as possible, so little point in cutting more than half off each one.

Vyv you are in much cleaner waters than I I do have cable ties (and plastic inserts) and sometimes it s like full lettuces coming out of the water :d

 

[NormanS]

Vyv you are in much cleaner waters than I I do have cable ties (and plastic inserts) and sometimes it s like full lettuces coming out of the water :d

Where are you that you are getting lettuces? We just get mud, which washes off easily, and weed which doesn't, if I have been careless, and anchored in weed. (Or the chain has swung through weed).

 

[Salty John]

There's lots of them here: https://ie.rs-online.com/web/c/cabl...es-tools/cable-tie-tensioning-bundling-tools/
Mine's about 25 years old, a very useful tool.

 

[dunedin]

We have used the coloured plastic link inserts for 10 years now. Never lost a single one and we have 100m of chain.

Ditto except we have probably lost about 5 in total over more than 10 years. And considering how many we have on 80m heavily used chain that is much better than paint, which often wears off the lower marks on the bottom.
Key is to check carefully when inserting - make sure centred with plastic popped out on both sides. There is a knack to it. If don’t do carefully they do pop out.

We have an easily remembered Roman like system - blue = 5, red = 10, yellow = 50. So red/red =20; yellow/red/red/blue = 75

 

[Bobc]

We have an easily remembered Roman like system - blue = 5, red = 10, yellow = 50. So red/red =20; yellow/red/red/blue = 75

Blimey, that sounds complicated.

 

[vyv_cox]

Blimey, that sounds complicated.

Certainly is. Ours is red for tens, yellow for fives. Four reds and a yellow is 45. At 50 (a green) we give up, guess beyond that.

 

[jwilson]

We have used the coloured plastic link inserts for 10 years now. Never lost a single one and we have 100m of chain. :encouragement:

Richard

Similar: on 10mm chain last year replaced 13 year old coloured inserts as I bought new chain - all the old inserts were still in place in the old rusting chain though colours were faded. Intended to get chain re-galvanised but by the time transport costs to the Midlands were added it wasn't much more expensive to have new chain.

 

[dunkelly]

i have always used those little pots of flourescent paint in the odd and sods depts . last about 5 /6 seasons . very visible and cheap

 

[vyv_cox]

In the interest of research I will buy a couple of sets of inserts and try them this year. Maybe they are better now than they were years ago and there is definitely less mud where I sail now than there was then.

 

[adwuk]

Make sure that you get the Osculati chain insert markers Vyv. We installed some in our chain about 4 years ago. All still there and the colours are easily visible, and we anchor quite a bit.

 

[RichardS]

Key is to check carefully when inserting - make sure centred with plastic popped out on both sides. There is a knack to it. If don’t do carefully they do pop out.

Make sure that you get the Osculati chain insert markers Vyv. We installed some in our chain about 4 years ago. All still there and the colours are easily visible, and we anchor quite a bit.

Good points there. You do indeed have to check that the lip on the other side of the marker has properly flipped into place around the link otherwise they can drop out.

Osculati is also the make of ours. I don't know if there are other makes but that might be a factor.

Richard

 

[tudorsailor]

Certainly is. Ours is red for tens, yellow for fives. Four reds and a yellow is 45. At 50 (a green) we give up, guess beyond that.

I use same as Vyv. Not difficult to count 4 reds and 1 yellow to work out that its 45m of chain. I put the cable ties on separate links so that it is easy to see if one is missing and still know the length

TudorSailor

 

[garvellachs]

We too use those coloured plastic markers - 12 years so far, none lost.

 

[Minchsailor]

We have found strips of spinnaker sail cloth tied on last quite well

 

[webcraft]

.
Ribbon is good. Lasts for years.

- W

 

[noelex]

We have found the plastic Osculati chain markers reliable. We anchor over 300 days a year and have done so for the last decade, so they have a tough life. Typically one or two markers are lost each year. As we use 5 marks for each 10m length, one or two from 50 markers is not unreasonable. They are easily replaced. We use a different colour for each 10m (repeated after 50m) so it is immediately obvious how much chain is deployed. If some markers are lost, the code is not disrupted.

We found that paint lasted not much more than a year if anchoring in hard substrates. Cable ties have a similar, or shorter life. Polyester line is very durable, but can be hard to see if the chain is muddy.

Most cruisers report similar good results with these markers, but there are a few cases where they fall out rapidly. I am not sure if this is caused by using a different brand of marker or if the markers fit less satisfactorily with some chain sizes, or possibly some gypsies are adept at spitting out the markers?

I would suggest anyone contemplating these markers buy a small number and give them a try with their chain and windlass before committing to the cost and trouble of marking their whole chain.

 

[Roberto]

I put the markers by entire packets, IIRC they are 8 pieces/colour (?). First mark when the anchor is just below water, 8 yellow pieces, more visible. Then a full packet of blue pieces at 10m, packet of green at 20... blue green red yellow, colours in alphabetic order.
They had become all brownish, I washed with vinegar to give a second coloured life. I have lost none, and have swapped end for end the whole chain a couple of times removing and refitting all of them.

I also have cable ties, I may have found the reason why I gather so much seagrass as I put them also in big numbers, say for 30m I use 3-4 ties on a couple of links, then another 3-4 a few links away, a third section with another 3-4 ties, the mark is indicated by how many sections with ties I see, not the number of individual ties, more useful in the dark. Surely all these spidery legs grab whatever they can