Marking up your anchor chain

We paint red every 5 metres, white every 10 metres. Then mark every 10 metres with cable ties, green at 10m, yellow at 20m and red at 30m; repeat pattern to the end of our 80m.
Anchoring about 100 nights a year, we find the cable ties last well but the paint lasts a season. We’ve tried several different types, including 2 pack epoxy but nothing last more than a season so we now use the cheapest metal enamel we can find locally.
Cable ties are uncut because it’s easier to spot them and kinder on the hands if you need to handle the chain.
 
jetgo888 said:
I bought some rubber chain markers but they keep falling out.
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Did you use a size too small - eg 8mm for 10mm chain? They'll fit, but can fall out when the chain flexes. When you fit the right size, they're really tight - I need a small screwdriver to ease them in properly - but they have been pretty tenacious for me.

I hear that these [ http://westviewsailing.co.uk/anchor-buddies/ ] are a really effective alternative. Think I'd do that if I were starting again.
 
BelleSerene said:
I hear that these [ http://westviewsailing.co.uk/anchor-buddies/ ] are a really effective alternative. Think I'd do that if I were starting again.
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All very well if you know anything about snooker. Absolutely useless to both Jill and me. I could manage rainbow colours if they were made but red for 10s, yellow for 5s has suited us well for nearly 30 years.
 
vyv_cox said:
All very well if you know anything about snooker. Absolutely useless to both Jill and me. I could manage rainbow colours if they were made but red for 10s, yellow for 5s has suited us well for nearly 30 years.
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I am told that I did not read the info in the link far enough, which I admit. It seems there is another, alphabetical colour code system for those to whom snooker ball colours are meaningless.
 
I was taught green, red, yellow, blue, white, green. One colour every 10m for us, with green/red at 5m, red/yellow at 15m and so on. There is a way to remember the colours pretty easily, which I’m sure google can find for you.
 
vyv_cox said:
I am told that I did not read the info in the link far enough, which I admit. It seems there is another, alphabetical colour code system for those to whom snooker ball colours are meaningless.
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Putting out the balls:- God Bless You
Potting them:- You Good Boy

So potting order:-
Yellow, Green, Brown
Then colours I rarely used to get to before my opponent wiped the table with me :rolleyes:
Blue Pink Black
(Blue days' skies, Pink sunsets, Black as night.

Signed: Misspent youth !
 
I mark the rode every 50 feet. Yes, I like to calculate scope (say 15' x 5:1 = 75'), but I would rather estimate 25 feet than clutter up the rode with extra markers and more colors to keep track of. I would never deploy less than 50 feet, so obviously the first 50 feet requires no marks. Finally, my normal snubber (bridle) is about 20 feet, so that too is an aid to estimating (if I want 75', I go a little past 50' and attach the snubber).
 
We've got coloured ribbon. Snooker potting sequence ie Red, yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black at 10/20/30/40/50/60/70m. I don't play snooker so I made up my own mnemonic- R You Growing Big Blue Pansies, Boyo? My partner's is R You Getting Back By Pony, Bud. Each to their own.....
The ribbon works well and hasn't fallen off but it can get a bit muddy. Oh actually I've just remembered we've also got some white pop-in chain markers at 'stop pressing the up button NOW or the anchor will clang too hard against the roller' position as well.
We could probably do with fewer marks, but as we have to 'splonk' (go down below and prod the chain pyramid) quite frequently, it works for us.
 
It took a few pages for this thread to get to the 'ultimate' method, which is of course ,ribbons, Phanakapan has nailed it.....and in a post attenborough world it also represents the least volume of plastic ...the one marker for 10m, two for 20m method is fallable, what if one has fallen off?? with ribbon you can mix colours, red for 20, red and white for 25 , etc... but only by tieing several of each colour to be sure they remain , its a beautiful , cheap and practical collision.. cable ties?! pah...
 
Maybe you need to find some mud to anchor in - some of us use cable ties (and bright paint) - because they wash easily and retain their identity.

Pah! my foot!!

Jonathan :)
 
I use cable ties, just do not cut the tails as that allows easy identification in the dark when paint is unidentifiable. Hand and windlass friendly too.
 
Well, we added the inserts in addition to cable ties. By comparison the inserts are almost invisible in use. If the chain happens to come out of the windlass with the links vertical the inserts are almost totally hidden. Even when they are right side up they are nowhere near as easy to identify. I guess if we used a snooker ball method with half a dozen of a specific colour in one location they might be better but we only use red and yellow.

We will definitely stick with cable ties.
 
I have cable ties gifted by a yachting magazine many years ago but to detemine what is coming or has gone supplement it with coloured paint.
My technique - lay the chain out along the driveway, select old tins of gloss deliberately retained with a residue of the appropriate colour and lay them beside chain on an old piece of cardboard at appropriate locations to match the legend on the underside of the anchor locker door, place an old empty tin beside each. Open paint tin, dip three or four links in paint, withdraw and suspend in empty tin to drain or dry. When dry, place chain in wheelbarrow and take to boat. Means I can make out how much is out even when it is below the water.
 
You should be taking your chain out of the locker at the end of every season anyway and giving it and the locker a decent wash. Re-painting the marks is hardly an extra onerous task - and if they come up as stunning as those of Baggywringles a very satisfying exercise. Once washed and painted storing draped over the cradle in which the yacht is stored (a bit like laundry) will prolong the life of the chain. I think Vyv had a picture of his so draped.

We don't have a 'season' but we take the chain out, wash it, touch up the paint marks (not quite as stunning) and wash the locker when we are on the hard for antifouling.

We have marks for the 1st 5 ms, for a metre every other metre - it warns us when the anchor will reach the bow roller and gives a measure of how much chain is buried when the anchor is deeply dived (and disappeared).

Jonathan
 
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