Stainless mooring chain

[SimonD]

My mooring has a 12mm galvanised chain from the buoy to the boat. I'm fed up with it depositing rust on the deck and thinking stainless steel would be a better option. Bearing in mind that at least part of the chain spends most of the season in the water, is there any reason not to use stainless? By the way, 12mm seems way to hefty - the primary attachment is a rope bridle; the chain acts as a backup. So I'm thinking of going down to 10mm or even 8mm (same as the anchor chain).

 

[fireball]

IIRC we used 8mm on a 37' Bavaria - primary attachment was the rope.
To avoid the rust deposits we put the chain in a hose and used a bit of cycle inner tube for the loop that went around the cleat on deck.

 

[yoda]

My mooring has a 12mm galvanised chain from the buoy to the boat. I'm fed up with it depositing rust on the deck and thinking stainless steel would be a better option. Bearing in mind that at least part of the chain spends most of the season in the water, is there any reason not to use stainless? By the way, 12mm seems way to hefty - the primary attachment is a rope bridle; the chain acts as a backup. So I'm thinking of going down to 10mm or even 8mm (same as the anchor chain).

I have an 8mm stainless chain as a backup to a rope bridle. It runs in an old lay flat hose except for the inboard eye. Works well but takes no strain. Has been fine on my 35ft fin keel boat. My friend used the same chain on a 43ft boat as the primary connection to the mooring and within a season (in a sheltered river) it has cracked at a weld. How good the chain quality is that I bought (long link) is unknown! probably better to invest in somthing with certified capability.

yoda

 

[vyv_cox]

So far as sizing is concerned it depends very much on the location. On the Menai Strait, subject to quite boisterous conditions with a long fetch, 12 mm chain between buoy and boat is pretty much universal, even for quite small boats. I was once shown chain that had worn right through in one winter with a small speedboat attached.

Stainless chain may be OK but the shackle attaching it to the buoy/riser may well suffer rapid corrosive wear. Rusting of the pickup chain is such a common problem that stainless as a substitute would surely be more widely used if it worked.

We used to change the galvanised stuff every two years, it is not very expensive so well worth doing.

 

[sailorman]

My mooring has a 12mm galvanised chain from the buoy to the boat. I'm fed up with it depositing rust on the deck and thinking stainless steel would be a better option. Bearing in mind that at least part of the chain spends most of the season in the water, is there any reason not to use stainless? By the way, 12mm seems way to hefty - the primary attachment is a rope bridle; the chain acts as a backup. So I'm thinking of going down to 10mm or even 8mm (same as the anchor chain).

On the East Coast a rope strop is the norm

 

[William_H]

I would suggest for the OP that a rope alternative tether would be very adequte. Given that there should be no chafe with no load (normally) on the rope it should be OK. If he wants to go to SS chain then that should be OK too. Much lighter chain should be OK compared to the iron mooring chain which will wear rapidly so needs to be havey.
I have had an all ss mooring chain on my swing mooring for many years. It has shown no signs of wear. it started that the mooring authority provided buoys witha ss rod and swivel up the middle. Attaching an iron shackle meant rapid wear btween the iron and SS. So I fitted SS shackle which meant rapid wear of the iron chain. I was given some heavy round link I believe SS chain from a cement kiln about 5/8 inch material diameter. That solved the problems and no wear since. Some say SS can fail in various ways but it is quite over specced for the boat size and so far no problem (10 years) good luck olewill.

 

[sy_gilana]

Stay with Galvanized. Ger a nylon oversized bridle for on deck. Use an anode wired to your swivel. Don't use Stainless steel underwater, in the mud or connected to mild steel.