Marking your anchor chain

[Humblebee]

Cable ties, with the tail intact, work well and are cheap as chips.

1 white at 10 metres
1 black at 15 metres
2 white at 20 metres
1 black at 25 metres
3 white at 30 metres
1 black at 35 metres
... and so on

Yep, that's my system too.

 

[Humblebee]

I’m more (was) of a belt & braces sailor and prefer to keep 6 different seperate lengths of chain in the locker 10m, 20m …… 60m, I just calculate the length of chain required for the particular scenario, root through the chain locker to find the appropriate length (each length has a label tied on), shackle the selected length to the anchor and dump the lot overboard. It’s reassuring to know I’ve always got the correct scope everytime and can sleep easy.

I also carry a large range of anchors (15 at the last audit) so can always select appropriate anchor type for the conditions.

Wot, only 15 anchors?
Cheapskate!

 

[jbweston]

I use short lengths of coloured polyester codline knotted to a link. As they're soft they run over the gypsy well. They lasted over a decade on my previous boat and were still going strong when I sold her.

Each long tail is 10m and each short is 5 metres. As you can get two tails out of each piece of line it's just a case of getting them the right length.

 

[Never Grumble]

I've gone back to painting in the style of the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship. I also paint the last 3 metres with red as a sort of warning that I am getting towards the end!

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I did this once .... never again.

 

[Geoff A]

My preferred method for marking chain is a small lengths of hard wearing cord, the first length with one knot at 5M the second with two knots for 10M. I keep adding a knot at every 5M. When it is dark all I have to do is feel the bit of cord and count six knots for 30M.

 

[Zing]

Coloured cable ties currently. Rub Your Balls With Grease is the mnemonic. No need to have a crib sheet.

I put them on the outside of a horizontal link as seen by the gypsy. There will be no contact there and they last a fair while.

 

[mjcoon]

View attachment 184118

I did this once .... never again.

Almost the electronics colour code: black=0; brown=1; red=2; orange=3; yellow=4; green=5; blue=6; purple=7; grey=8; white=9.

 

[capnsensible]

Coloured cable ties currently. Rub Your Balls With Grease is the mnemonic. No need to have a crib sheet.

I put them on the outside of a horizontal link as seen by the gypsy. There will be no contact there and they last a fair while.

You need a crib sheet if over the course of a year, upwards of 100 people are gonna learn how to anchor your yacht.

 

[Roberto]

My preferred method for marking chain is a small lengths of hard wearing cord, the first length with one knot at 5M the second with two knots for 10M. I keep adding a knot at every 5M. When it is dark all I have to do is feel the bit of cord and count six knots for 30M.

I'd be extra extra careful Complete darkness or full daylight, personally I would not be anywhere near anchor chain without wearing thick leather gloves (+shoes), let alone feel it with bare hands to count knots.

 

[Frank Holden]

I am but a simple sailorman and just use cable ties, one at 10 metres, two at 20 and so on. I also spray about a metre of the chain with flouro green every 10 metres.
I just end for ended my chain and marked it this week.

 

[NormanS]

I use coloured cable ties. Every 10m, in a pattern which is basically red, white and blue for each ten. Always fit two in each place. That way, if/when one wears off, it's easily replaced without losing the position. I don't tighten the cable ties right up, and that seems to let them last longer.

 

[geem]

Interesting that so many people us cable ties. We tried cable ties but since we spend so much time at anchor, the cables ties come off when they rub on the sea bed. Also, the cables ties that are exposed to sunlight fail due to the strong tropical UV. We tried painting the chain as well but thst just wore off where is rubbed on the seabed. We found 1" webbing markers the only thing that lasts

 

[NormanS]

Interesting that so many people us cable ties. We tried cable ties but since we spend so much time at anchor, the cables ties come off when they rub on the sea bed. Also, the cables ties that are exposed to sunlight fail due to the strong tropical UV. We tried painting the chain as well but thst just wore off where is rubbed on the seabed. We found 1" webbing markers the only thing that lasts

You could try lifting the anchor, and go sailing a bit.
Seriously, many of our anchorages are in mud, whereas I imagine that many of yours are in hard sand and coral. If so, it's not surprising that not only any markings, but even your chain and galvanising will wear away quicker. Our downside is that some of the muddy bottoms are quite acidic, and eat galvanising for breakfast.
This year, our cable ties markers weren't exposed to sunlight much.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Interesting that so many people us cable ties. We tried cable ties but since we spend so much time at anchor, the cables ties come off when they rub on the sea bed. Also, the cables ties that are exposed to sunlight fail due to the strong tropical UV. We tried painting the chain as well but thst just wore off where is rubbed on the seabed. We found 1" webbing markers the only thing that lasts

You’re a bit of a special case though. Presumably you’re on coral sand a lot too, which must be pretty abrasive? We have the same cable ties on our chain and warp that we had 4 years ago when I put them on. I’ll lay it out in the boatyard this winter and check them. I expect them to be fine.

 

[geem]

You’re a bit of a special case though. Presumably you’re on coral sand a lot too, which must be pretty abrasive? We have the same cable ties on our chain and warp that we had 4 years ago when I put them on. I’ll lay it out in the boatyard this winter and check them. I expect them to be fine.

We probably are compared to most seasonal sailors in the UK. We also wear the galvanising off the chain with abrasion within 3 years. Ditto the anchor.
The point of my post still stands though. If you want markers to last, we have found webbing to be far superior. It may not be an issue for most sailors, but anybody heading off for an Atlantic circuit might find is a more resilient solution

 

[richardh10]

I use the flat shoe laces made of material. Many colours available. A couple of stitches of whipping twine to make sure the knots don't come undone.

 

[capnsensible]

I'd wager I'm not the only person who has had, on yachts various, problems with paint flakes from the chain blocking up the bow locker drains.....

This can be quite a hazard.

 

[noelex]

We have tried most methods. The most durable is thin double braid polyester, but this is most difficult to see. We have found the plastic chain markers quite good. Buy a single packet first to check the fit. They should be difficult to insert. We normally need to replace a few at every haul out (every two years) but we are cruising full time so that is over 600 nights at anchor. The only thing to aware of is you spin around at anchor (the same way) and twist the chain you can lose a lot of plastic markers when the chain is retrieved and the twists become confined to the short length of chain between the boat and anchor (we don’t use a swivel), but this is a rare issue.

Techniques that have not worked for us are cable ties and paint. We found these options had limited life for our application, but may be a good solution for those anchoring infrequently or only in softer substrates.

 

[Frank Holden]

We probably are compared to most seasonal sailors in the UK. We also wear the galvanising off the chain with abrasion within 3 years. Ditto the anchor.
The point of my post still stands though. If you want markers to last, we have found webbing to be far superior. It may not be an issue for most sailors, but anybody heading off for an Atlantic circuit might find is a more resilient solution

Not sure if its a chain quality or a bottom issue.
My experience - boat was 8 year old when I bought her. One of the first things I did was replace the chain which was seriously rusted over its entire length.
Present chain is now 30 year old. Galvanising is almost as good as new throughout - see pic - except for maybe 12 inches with light speckled rust which was next to the anchor and is now in the locker.
We lose the occasional cable tie and simply replace it.
We clean out the locker now and again but its not paint flake but general crud off the chain.
We do anchor quite a bit 2020.2 Chilean Anchorages.pdf