Type of rope for anchor.

[JimC]

I'm going to replace my anchor rope (50metres 14mm 8 plait spliced onto 20 metres 8mm chain) with a longer one more suitable for W. Scottish depths. First thought was to stay with 8 plait but then I realised that I'm not getting any younger and might feel the need for a power windlass before too long. It seems that power windlasses with combined rope/chain gypsies all need 3 strand rope. I know the ones with separate rope drums don't have this limitation but these need the rope to be tailed and can't feed it directly into the anchor locker like I would want. Question is: if I'm hand-hauling the anchor and dropping 100 metres of 3 strand randomly into the anchor locker - isn't it going to get tangled? The 8 plait doesn't.

Anchor is 16Kg Delta, anchor locker is is under large triangular hatch, same size as locker, immediately behind bow roller. Can't carry more chain due trim.

 

[Ludd]

I'm going to replace my anchor rope (50metres 14mm 8 plait spliced onto 20 metres 8mm chain) with a longer one more suitable for W. Scottish depths. First thought was to stay with 8 plait but then I realised that I'm not getting any younger and might feel the need for a power windlass before too long. It seems that power windlasses with combined rope/chain gypsies all need 3 strand rope. I know the ones with separate rope drums don't have this limitation but these need the rope to be tailed and can't feed it directly into the anchor locker like I would want. Question is: if I'm hand-hauling the anchor and dropping 100 metres of 3 strand randomly into the anchor locker - isn't it going to get tangled? The 8 plait doesn't.

Anchor is 16Kg Delta, anchor locker is is under large triangular hatch, same size as locker, immediately behind bow roller. Can't carry more chain due trim.

Increase your chain by 10 mtrs---wont make much difference,I'd have thought---and stick with the octoplait(extra 10mtrs?) .Surely you won't anchor in more than 25mtrs very often?You can then haul by hand or drum(till up and down ) then put chain on gypsy.

 

[sailorman]

I'm going to replace my anchor rope (50metres 14mm 8 plait spliced onto 20 metres 8mm chain) with a longer one more suitable for W. Scottish depths. First thought was to stay with 8 plait but then I realised that I'm not getting any younger and might feel the need for a power windlass before too long. It seems that power windlasses with combined rope/chain gypsies all need 3 strand rope. I know the ones with separate rope drums don't have this limitation but these need the rope to be tailed and can't feed it directly into the anchor locker like I would want. Question is: if I'm hand-hauling the anchor and dropping 100 metres of 3 strand randomly into the anchor locker - isn't it going to get tangled? The 8 plait doesn't.

Anchor is 16Kg Delta, anchor locker is is under large triangular hatch, same size as locker, immediately behind bow roller. Can't carry more chain due trim.

Hi Ton
my S & L anchormate or what ever its called only has the 8m/m gypsy & the octoplait runs around that ok. why change it

 

[Ubergeekian]

Question is: if I'm hand-hauling the anchor and dropping 100 metres of 3 strand randomly into the anchor locker - isn't it going to get tangled? The 8 plait doesn't.

Your suggested 100m of rope is only (on the usual 5:3) 60 m of chain, so if you are thinking of a power windlass why not just go all chain?

Mind you, in my stamping ground - Mull and south - I have always found 25 fathoms of chain quite enough. I've never found an anchorage I wanted to use but couldn't because it was more than 8 fathoms deep.

 

[JimC]

I don't want to carry significantly more chain than the 20 metres I have at present, for boat trim reasons.

 

[snowleopard]

Increase your chain by 10 mtrs---wont make much difference,I'd have thought---and stick with the octoplait(extra 10mtrs?) .Surely you won't anchor in more than 25mtrs very often?You can then haul by hand or drum(till up and down ) then put chain on gypsy.

I wouldn't fancy lifting 30m of chain by hand!

Lofrans say that a hard 3 strand rope is needed for their rope/chain gypsy. I don't know about other makes.

You probably have more latitude on a vertical-spindle windlass as the rope is in ccontact through 270° while a horizontal type only has the rope in contact through 90°

 

[Quandary]

Chain and rope

I think that what you carry now is adequate for most of the anchorages you will visit. This year we only anchored in more than 15m once. (Inverscaddle bay, but this is not an anchorage that you see used often.) Even in Tobermory the harbour committee have now cleared a fine area for anchoring close under the trees in less than 10m. Like you I am concerned by trim so I have made a removable weir across the anchor locker, its a bit of 3x2 on plywood fins, chain is stowed behind this keeping it at the back third of the locker, the heavy end of the anchor hooks over it so the front of the locker is free for a couple of fenders. I reckon that stowing the anchor chain 2ft. further aft is as good as reducing the weight by more than 1/4.
If anything it is the amount of chain that is deficient by West Coast standards and if I could not carry more up forward I would put another 20m. in a canvas bucket in the cockpit locker to be added if the occasion demanded.

 

[Ubergeekian]

I wouldn't fancy lifting 30m of chain by hand!

If you stick to the usual 3:1, you won't actually have to lift more than 10m - the rest will be lying on the bottom. I carry 25 fathoms of chain and have never found lifting it to be a problem.