more anchors, chain etc

[suse]

I have a (approx) 25 metre length of chain attached to a CQR anchor, anchor mounted on the stemhead. About halfway down the chain, one of the links is rusty - worrying, eh? I'm not sure, but think the chain is galvanised. And I believe it to be calibrated, well at least the surveyor said so!

The chain also appears to be permanently fixed to the anchor - ie no shackle, more like a rivet - so I cant detach the chain from the anchor. There is a shackle attaching the chain to the boat.

The question is, should I replace the whole chain (in view of the rusty link, it would seem a good idea). Should I buy more than 25 m of chain? Should I perhaps buy a couple of lengths of 25 m chain and a suitable joining link (I've chased around previous correspondence on this site, and elsewhere)? How do I detach the anchor from the current chain (I'm not a welder)? What size/type of shackle should I attach new chain to the anchor?

Being of middle age and middle fitness and female (!), I quite fancy a Fortress anchor - do they do the job?

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[AndrewB]

A few thoughts ...

The end link to your anchor could be a special screw-type anchor shackle. These run smoothly through the fairlead but are not intended to be undone. Hacksaw off and buy another.

When I had just one link go in the middle of a chain, very close inspection after picking off the worst of the rust revealed it was not a true link at all, but a C-link joiner. If so, hacksaw off and replace. Unfortunately there seems to no clear guidance on the strength of these joiners. I've seen makers claims that they are virtually as strong as the chain ... others suggesting they are only 20% as strong. You have to make up your own mind it seems.

The balance of rope to chain is a matter of personal choice. I like all chain because it (a) doesn't chafe and (b) allows me to get into tight anchorages without the hassle of laying two anchors, because the scope is less. Because of the large tide range round the UK unfortunately a lot is needed. If you anchor in 5m and the tide will rise 5m, then normal practice is to put out 30-40m chain depending on currents and conditions. Rope with a short chain at the bottom is cheaper, more elastic, and in practice rarely fails.

 

[Petercatterall]

Chip at the rusty link, it may just be surface rust. If the link is substatially erroded then I would get a new chain. 25 m should be sufficient but I would add a further 25m of rope. There is info on this forum about splicing rope to chain.
There was a big article in PBO about anchors. The plough type came out best I think.

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[snowleopard]

fortress

i have two, a smallish one as a kedge and a monster as a storm anchor. experiences as follows:

i used the kedge on a sandy bottom in clear water and i could see it skimming over the bottom like a manta ray as i pulled it in hand over hand. i went back to the delta after that so i can't say how it performs on a regular basis.

i have used both in soft mud with the wide-angle setting and they head off on a journey to the centre of the earth. i tried to pull up the kedge by hand after a few days in a mud hole and i thought it had caught on an underwater obstruction it was so firmly dug in. i believe that in such circumstance you can wreck the anchor if you pull it from the wrong angle.

handling any danforth-style anchor on deck is a good way to lose bits of your anatomy, especially as the fortress has sharpened flukes.

in short, i'm glad to have it but i wouldn't consider using it as my main anchor.

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[tony_brighton]

You can replacement links for joining chains together - might be worth having a look at cutting the rusty link (if it isn't just surface rust) and joining the 2 bits together with a link.

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[charles_reed]

I'd suggest keeping the CQR - it's a good all-round anchor for UK waters.

Your 25m of chain sounds woefully inadequate - it means the deepest water in which you can safely anchor is about 6m.

If you have only one rusty link, and the rest of the chain and the CQR are good, I'd just clean the one link and use a cold galvanising paint on it.

When the time comes, sharpen the CQR and have the whole lot re-galvanised. You might just make it to the minimum charge weight. I "do" mine about every 5 years, but anchor about 100 nights/year, which is slightly more than most.

I'd add either an Octoplait nylon rode (say 50m) or another 25m of chain.
Unless you have an anchor winch you don't need calibrated chain (it actually doesn't cost much more).

If you want to release anchor from chain just use an angle grinder to cut through the chain.

The Fortress is the anchor with th greatest holding power for weight - however I couldn't recommend it as the bower or only anchor, because getting it to the seabed with any current is almost impossible - it behaves like a particularly drunken manta.

As a kedge, I'd suggest a simple Danforth at about 1/2 the weight of your bower on 10m of chain and 50m of rode.
Alternatives are the Bruce (go up in weight over a CQR), Delta (excellent self-stower/launcher, but makers are over-optimistic), Brittany (Plastimo, cheap but serviceable) and the Spade (the alloy one is particularly attractive as a kedge, with an holding power/weight closely comparable with the Fortress and few of the setting problems.).

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[onenyala]

You mention re-galvanising. I'd be interested to know where do you get it done and how much.

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[Aja]

I also note that your chain is joined to the boat by shackle. This is not the best method of attachment if you need to dump/release the chain from the boat while anchor is deployed.
I suggest a piece of rope to secure last link of chain to boat. This can easily be cut or untied to attach to a fender/buoy in an emergency

Regards

Donald


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[tcm]

there's also a special shackle designed for attaching but also allows dumping the anchor chain, no idea of it name if any, but a bit like the foldover fasteners you see on wire guardrails....

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[Aja]

Just a thought

If its similar to a pelican type this may be difficult to undo under strain.

Donald

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[vyv_cox]

I'm in agreement with most others here, I don't think 25 metres of chain is enough on its own. Using half rope, half chain may give you a little more shock absorbence in gale force conditions but otherwise this combination can be a real nuisance, the boat skips about at the mercy of every slight wind or tide shift. It's amazing how much disruption one boat on rope can have in an anchorage of boats on chain! Much better to have all chain, which means about 50 metres, for stability.

The Fortress does hold extremely well in many types of bottom. Its drawback seems to be that it does not re-set very reliably. The only time I ever dragged was when the wind changed direction 180 degrees, anchored on a Fortress with 7 metres of chain, remainder rope. We use the Fortress for lunch-stops and the like but I would never sleep nor leave the boat on the Fortress with that combination of warp. Having it on all chain might be OK but it's too much trouble to change over.

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[charles_reed]

See my posting

on this BB to Anchor chains (re-galvanising).

If you're anywhere near the West Midlands it is fairly easy to point you in the right direction(s) but you do need a fair old weight to effectively utilise the minimum charge most galvanisers make.

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[Davy_S]

Re:ONENYALA

The cheapest way I have found for galvanising is to take your bits to a gate manufactor and get them to send it with their batch. its just cost me £12 for a 25lb CQR (North West area).

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[hylas]

As everybody know, the resistance of a chain is the resistance of its weakest link..

- Up to my own opinion.. 25 meters of chain is perfect. and then a Nylon rope directly spliced ON the chain (see: http://www.bluemoment.com/warpchainsplice.html)
- You can have the chain regalvanised if the remaining diameter of the chain is more than 90% of the original diameter.
-don't trust the "C" connecting links as their mecanical resistance is usually much lower than the chain itself.. and this is also the case for most connecting swivels.. The best way to connect a chain to the anchor, is a good old galvanised shackle or like the one I use on my own boat, a "toggle" .. the same that you use on your rigging.. but ALWAYS one size bigger than the chain..

Don't use a shackle to attach the chain to the boat.. as you could be sometime obliged to launch urgently the whole ground tackle.. but use several boucles of narrow rope that you could CUT in emergency..

The Fortress will do the job in most conditions except, in hard bottoms and in weed..
It has been a very interesting comparative study of anchors published in the July and August 2002 issues of PBO, done by Pr. John Knox.. and this could help you to select the anchor you need.. the Fortress is not the only Aluminium anchor..

Fair winds and peaceful anchorages..


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[hylas]

" There was a big article in PBO about anchors. The plough type came out best I think."

Just a small comment.. No the Plough type didn't came out best.. in fact surprisingly.. the Plough has been very unstable and gave bad results.. the anchor which came out best at all tests was the SPADE.. either in galvanised steel or in aluminium..

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[charles_reed]

Re:ONENYALA

Trouble is that to galvanise chain you need a centrifuge - few galvanisors have them and even fewer manufacturers use them.

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[hylas]

" The Fortress is the anchor with the greatest holding power for weight.."

Obviously.. any aluminium anchor will have a much higher holding power for weight .. when compared to any steel anchor !!.. as aluminium is three time lighter than steel..
As a result, the surface area of an aluminium anchor weighting the same weight than a steel anchor is also three time bigger..

If you look at the holding power of an aluminium anchor, compared SURFACE to SURFACE with a steel anchor (for example Fortress compared to Danforth) you will have about the same holding power..

Don't trust the adhesive label on the Fortress "The World's best anchor".. At all tests, the aluminum SPADE gave much better results than the Fortress.. and due to the very heavy ballasted tip of the SPADE, it doesn't play the "manta ray" in the water..

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[wagenaar]

1. One rusty link in a chain seems rather unlikely, unless the link is not a link, but a connection between two pieces of chain. In that case cut it and replace it with something more durable.
2. I used a fortress-anchor as a kedge on my 34 foot monohull. It worked very good in a lot of places in the Med and in others not at all. I noticed when I dropped the anchor that it sunk like a leaf falls from a tree. I then changed the method of dropping the anchor and first let go of about five or six meters of chain, before dropping the anchor. The idea being, that the chain would pull the anchor down more rapidly. This method worked OK. Problems were due to type of botom.
3. The forces acting on a ship at anchor are due to the wind, the current and the waves. The forces due to wind and current depend on the speed of both. In gusty conditions these forces will vary. However, the biggest variation in my opinion are due to the waves. I consider it as a fatigue problem. The forces acting on the anchor will rise very steeply at the moment the chain is straight, because at that moment there is very little elasticity in the chain left. This is contrary to a chain/rope situation, because the rope has a much greater elasticity, due to two factors: its construction and the material. I therefore feel, that an anchor rode should consist of chain, at least ten meter, and rope, at least 25 meter.
4. The website of the SPADE-anchor gives a lot of interesting info about anchors and anchoring. They conclude that the holding power of an anchor depends on its size and not on its weight. This seems to make sense, assuming that the anchor has penetrated the botom. To obtain this penetration the weight of the anchor should be on the tip. That's the way they designed the SPADE-anchor. I have no experience with this anchor, but the theory made sense. If I had to buy an anchor I would go for the aluminium SPADE.

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[suse]

Thanks for all the help, chaps.

One more thing - joining the chain to the boat - yes, I wondered about a shackle here and quick release - but surely you need a jolly stout piece of rope to join the last link to the boat - that's the only thing between being anchored and NOT being anchored, which is usually pretty vital, no? I'm not sure about a few turns of thinnish string. The pelican hook sounds OK, providing I can release it quickly. Any other suggestions here?

Thanks in advance.

Suse

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[AndrewB]

Not really.

With an all-chain anchor rode that line can be quite light. It must not be used to take the load of the anchor. Normally the chain will be made off round the sampson post, or whatever, which takes the strain. All that line has to do is stop the chain disappearing completely overboard if you should drop it, when anchoring or recovering. Strong enough to take the snatch load of say 25m of chain falling should be sufficient.

I use thin stuff wrapped several times around, in case it does have to be cut in a hurry.