Sorry! How much chain??

[GrowingLad]

Hi guys, a bit of a how long is a bit of string, but I'd appreciate others experience in this matter.

Getting very close to the maiden voyage and I'm on my final jobs.

My boat is a 7m planning hull coming in at around 1.5 tons. I was checking out the anchor rode and after the rope with a spliced end I've got 5m's of chain. The two end links were showing a bit of corrosion plus 5m's doesn't seem a great deal to me so I've decided to purchase some new chain..now here lies my question.... It's all manual so I don't really want to go full chain and I've got no short term plans of installing a windlass.

Would 20m's be okay or should I go for 30m's?

At the end I've got a CQR which off the top of my head I can't remember the weight but according to the surveyor who checked things out in the beginning it's more than adequate for the size of boat.

Sorry again for a boring question.
Simon.

 

[Nick_H]

I'd maybe go for 10m of chain, and keep a weight on board which you can attach to the end of the chain in choppier anchorages, or when the wind is up. That way you don't have to lift 20m of chain every time you want a short stop in calm conditions. Just an idea.

edit: without wishing to start a "which anchor" thread, Deltas consistently outperform CQR's in all manner of tests in varying bottom conditions.

 

[hlb]

It depends where you want to anchor and for how long, will you be staying on the boat or going ashore?

 

[ChrisE]

I've got a 1.5 ton 23' boat with 7m of chain and 100m of 10mm rope rode. I go fishing and need to anchor in 30m.

If I didn't go fishing I'd be happy with 50m. Then, even if I didn't want to anchor in deepish anchorages, I'd still have enough rode to chuck anchor overboard if I engine probs and in most places around the UK they'd be enough rode to hold me off any bits of land.

10mm rope is cheap and light enough not to have to worry about costs or weight on boat.

 

[GrowingLad]

I'd have to re-read my insurance details but I seem to remember reading I'm only covered whilst I'm on the boat and not if I leave her whilst she's at anchor, plus for the time being I don't have the confidence to leave her un-attended.

Being as I'm just starting out, plus having a little one, it's more on the lines of day trips, dropping the anchor at a nice spot to do a bit of swimming etc..

 

[hlb]

Well if your going to be there, I'd see how you go with what you've got. If it moves much, deal with it then.

 

[Wiggo]

5m sounds a bit short - go for 10m and a load of rope. With rope/chain I think you want 5-6 x depth, so 50m rope (that's a hell of a lot, actually) would let you anchor in 10m of water or so. I don't know where you're planning to cruise, but it's be very rare for us to anchor in much more than 5 or 6m of water over here.

 

[hlb]

Well he's not going to be anchoring in a storm, if going swimming and probably close to the beach so shallow. I'd give it a go with what he's got. Though more would obviosly be better.

 

[[2068]]

On the first boat (7.5m, about 2000kg), we had 5m chain and rope. It was okay if there wasn't a current running, but I replaced it with 10m chain plus rope after the first season. Anything more than about 10m is a b*gger to pull up without a windlass and will load up the bow, but we found that 10m enabled us to anchor in places like East Head without worrying too much.

 

[Firefly625]

[ QUOTE ]
Well he's not going to be anchoring in a storm, if going swimming and probably close to the beach so shallow. I'd give it a go with what he's got. Though more would obviosly be better.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would agree with you there. I have 7m of chain, the rest rope.. always held me fine. Stick 30m of chain in my bow locker...mmm I think I would know it was there!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[GrowingLad]

Just as well I asked /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'll go for 10. The 5 I have, as I mentioned is looking a bit worn on the end links so I was going to replace anyway.

Many thanks for all the replies, most helpful.

 

[Wiggo]

There's a lot of difference between 5m of 6mm chain (marginal for that boat, I suspect) and 10m of 8mm chain (very definitely going nowhere). Shall we split the difference?

 

[phockit]

We had 10m 8mm chain and 50m rope on our 25" cruiser (2500KG). Typically laid out 6 x depth and never had any problems.

Paul

 

[AndieMac]

Wiggo's right about the weight factor (and potential holding power) differences in just a couple of mm's of link thickness.

10m of 8mm should be fine for manual operation. If you overnight on the boat, you need to be confident of your ground tackle.