Painting an anchor

Nostrodamus

Nostrodamus

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Painting of anchors in bright, garish colours seems to be quiet widely adopted amongst other nationalities.

I can see the advantages in that you can see it on the bottom more easily in clearer waters and see how it has set.

You also know it is your anchor and bow's too on a pontoon there is less likelihoods of someone walking into it.

Do you paint your anchor and does it make a difference?
 
I'm planning to buy a Spade when the finances permit, and they come with a patch of day-glo yellow already applied.

Pete
 
Nostrodamus said:
Painting of anchors in bright, garish colours seems to be quiet widely adopted amongst other nationalities.
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Ahh those clear blue Med waters! I wonder if it would work in the cold, grey Adlantic?

I better not suggest this to my 10 year old daughter; I might end up with an anchor is some shade of pink!
 
Nostrodamus said:
Painting of anchors in bright, garish colours seems to be quiet widely adopted amongst other nationalities.

I can see the advantages in that you can see it on the bottom more easily in clearer waters and see how it has set.

You also know it is your anchor and bow's too on a pontoon there is less likelihoods of someone walking into it.

Do you paint your anchor and does it make a difference?
Click to expand...

Our anchor is white but we make sure that we aren't so anti-social that we obstruct the pontoon.
 
Painting is often used to cover up the rust. Bright colours do help visibility slightly, but a bit less than you may think as the colour looses some intensity with depth.
If the anchor is set none of the fluke will be visible anyway, so the colour mainly helps to show when things are wrong.

A small float, or floating rope, a couple of meters long, helps find the anchor even when its completely buried and is a worthwhile addition.

Many galvanisers will not re-galvanise a painted anchor (or charge more) so consider this before you get the paint brush out.
 
Painting the shank is a good idea, as its the last part to disappear. The other advantage is when lifting, in murky waters bright colours show you when its just about to break the surface (though cable ties on the chain are better). We find brighter yellows or day-glow pink show up very well to about 5m or 6m. If you want to know where the anchor is, forget the buoy - its a real nuisance when you come to lift the anchor, simply spray paint the chain different colours at 1m intervals. if you have an overly big anchor you will only need one or maybe 2 colours but if your anchor is the 'right' size expect the anchor to 'pull down' anything upto 4m - in less than arduous conditions.

If you are ever moored bow in on a pontoon - its shows some consideration for others (in the middle of the night) if your roll bar is day glow pink. Give your children free rein (it will give some committment).

Jonathan
 
Here is a photo of our Rocna anchor taken from the boat at our anchorage yesterday.
You can still see the roll bar, but if it buried a bit more all that would be visible would be the float.
If the water is clear enough to find the anchor (diving, with a bathoscope, or just from the surface, as was the case with this photo) the float is a big help.
If you can see only the float you know the anchor is completely buried. Without the float you always wonder if you have just not found the anchor yet. You can also estimate how deeply the anchor is buried by the amount of rope showing. (Only of any use to those obsessed about anchors. Like me :))

The rope attached to the float is only a couple of meters long so its not a problem to retrieve, or stow. Unless we anchor in very shallow water its always below the level where it tangle around the prop of a passing boat.

Ps I like the idea of getting the kids to paint the anchor.
 
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Interesting that you should start this thread now because the local three berths away who skipper-charters his Azimut 42 motor cruiser for day trips painted his bruce-type anchor the day before yesterday. I wasn't surprised when he painted it white, most people do that as you say but yesterday he painted the three tips bright pink. He's out in it at the moment, I'll see if I can get some pictures later. It's....erm....different!
 
Glad to see your photo, John. I was told two days ago that there is a very large, very bent Rocna at Partheni and was hoping it was not yours.

Our arrangement is very similar and there has been an occasion when our float and line were only showing about a foot above the bottom. Our line is four feet long.
 
earlybird said:
What's the best type of paint for an anchor??
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Not sure there is one, it all wears off - we keep re-painting with anything left over. We bought some retired bright red and bright yellow rust prevention paint (and overpainted with fluors). The paint wears off the fluke, certainly the toe, rapidly. The top of the shank lasts a long time.

We do not like the float as we need pull it up and onto the bow (and there is always a chance it gets caught in the bow roller if we are releasing from the helm). We prefer to follow the chain and if we have 'lost' 4m of it we know the anchor is well buried.

We are not so keen on white - because a lot of sand is white, fluor red and yellow work well.

Like John of Noelex we are a bit fanatical about our anchors, change them regularly and photograph frequently - if we can see them the colours help.

Jonathan
 
noelex said:
Painting is often used to cover up the rust. Bright colours do help visibility slightly, but a bit less than you may think as the colour looses some intensity with depth.
If the anchor is set none of the fluke will be visible anyway, so the colour mainly helps to show when things are wrong.

A small float, or floating rope, a couple of meters long, helps find the anchor even when its completely buried and is a worthwhile addition.

Many galvanisers will not re-galvanise a painted anchor (or charge more) so consider this before you get the paint brush out.
Click to expand...

Are there any disadvantages in <say> wrapping a brightly coloured plastic tape around the roll bar or shank? Presumably that can be easily removed for re-galvanising?
 
vyv_cox said:
Glad to see your photo, John. I was told two days ago that there is a very large, very bent Rocna at Partheni and was hoping it was not yours.

Our arrangement is very similar and there has been an occasion when our float and line were only showing about a foot above the bottom. Our line is four feet long.
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Vyv and noelex, how do you ensure that the float line doesn't foul the anchor as it's launched? I've seen other boats with this type of small anchor float and not done the same because I worry that the line may wrap around the anchor and prevent it setting properly. Obviously if you're using one Vyv them I'm worrying needlessly. True?
 
In practice it is not a problem. The buoyancy ensures it floats up as the anchor drops down. The float is attached to trip point which is at the head of the anchor.

If you were moving forward rapidly as you dropped it could get trapped , but you should not be doing that anyway.

One other advantage of the floating line is if the anchor does get caught you have 1.5-2m less to swim down and attach a trip line, to pull the anchor out backwards. So put a loop in the end of the line.
 
Red goes black at about 5m deep, well before this there is a loss in brightness. I would imagine pink would be not much better.
Black is easy to see against sand, but no good with mud.
 
The wife has some wonderful shocking pink nail varnish.... nope, not even worth thinking about unless I want tying to the anchor!!!
 
We've just come back from testing a new anchor. We buoyed it using a line through the tripping point. 50% of the sets the anchor rolled over on the tripping line and wrapped the line round the shank. On retrieval once the anchor is up you then need to retrieve the tripping line, you also need to ensure the line does not catch when you deploy - its not impossible but not something you can do from the helm, if you have a helm located windlass control. A short floating line, maybe 2 foot with a loop is a good idea, but if you have a good anchor it will be buried in sand - so not much use. Bright yellow is possibly the best colour, but fluor pink (and orange) works a treat, black is useless (you only need one patch of weed and you cannot see the anchor - and an unpainted anchor looks black anyway). Following the chain is the best way to find the anchor and if the chain is marked in 1m intervals, the grandchildren are tasked with this (they paint the each complete 10 metre alternate colours), with paint you simply count to find out how much chain is buried. The paint does not last long, so its a regular task for them - and gets them involved

Jonathan
 
The attachment points or anchor design must be different. I am at anchor almost 365 days a year and I don't think I have ever seen the the line wrapped around the shank.
The photo I posted is not unusual, it is very rare to see the line not floating free as it is shown in the photo.

I can only think the anchor was doing some sort of spiral as it descended. Twisted chain, or unbalanced anchor?

Interesting about the paint. I would have expected a pink painted anchor to appear black in about 20 feet of water, but I have never had anything pink. (Red does go black in about 15 feet) When the water warms up I will take something pink down to check the theory ( I do draw the line at borrowing my wife's pink nail polish however:))

Marking the chain is a good idea, but in light wind the chain can be buried a long way from the anchor. In weed the chain cannot be seen at all.

A floating line is esential to enable you to find and confirm a deeply set anchor in these circumstances.
 
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