using anchor chain and rode

D

davidjohn

Active Member
Joined
15 Dec 2016
Messages
51
Visit site
Hi i have not used my anchor a lot my old boat was all chain.
my new boat has 18m of chain and 25 m of Rode my question is i used a snubber on my old boat what do you do with chain and rode do you let all the chain out and make good the rode on to a cleat and will this put elastic into the system or do you fasten some sort of snubber to the rode . thanks David
 
You should find that the rope bit adds all the elasticity you need. One thing to be weary of is fouling the rope bit on a tide change, I add a bit of weight (a grapnel anchor for the dinghy) a few meters down to keep the rope away from keel, rudder etc.
 
I've always understood that "rode" refers to the entire length of the connecting equipment between anchor and boat. Therefore the "rode" can be constituted of part chain and part rope or all chain or all rope or any other material come to that.

I used to have a mixed rode with chain and rope but it was less than ideal for various reasons. With the vessel you describe I'd be inclined to swap out your entire rode and replace it with an all chain solution if you intend much anchoring. The rode length will depend on your cruising ground of course.
 
Robih said:
I've always understood that "rode" refers to the entire length of the connecting equipment between anchor and boat. Therefore the "rode" can be constituted of part chain and part rope or all chain or all rope or any other material come to that.

I used to have a mixed rode with chain and rope but it was less than ideal for various reasons. With the vessel you describe I'd be inclined to swap out your entire rode and replace it with an all chain solution if you intend much anchoring. The rode length will depend on your cruising ground of course.
Click to expand...

+1

The rode length looks a bit skinny, especially as a good part of it is rope (or and its type is not declared). Your boat can go places - Suspect upgrading to a longer length of all chain might be useful (then you can use a snubber for elasticity as you did previously).
 
We use 60 metres of chain with an additional 50 metres of anchorplait grafted on. We rarely use any rope. The 60 metres of chain is usually sufficient for all of our anchoring needs. Once we get in water deeper than 20 metres then we have to think about deploying rope. We usually manage to put no more than 18 metres of rope out to keep it of the bottom so as to minimise the risk of chafe. We use 25mm rope for its chafe resistance
 
Whether you use all chain or chain and rope you should ensure the load is taken off the windlass. This is accomplished with chain by adding a snubber and or chain lock. With a mixed rode you should cleat off. With no windlass you obviously need to cleat off anyway.

Most windlass are rated for working load, which is usually much higher than the combined weight of all the rode + anchor - the static load is usually around twice the working load - but it lacks sense to test it. I'd worry as much about the attachment of the windlass to the yacht as for the windlass itself.

Jonathan
 
We have 30m chain spliced to 30m anchorplait. The chain snubber we keep in the anchor locker and use the hook up to 30m deployed, but when we have more than that out and are onto the anchorplait I reverse the snubber and tie a rolling hitch over the anchorplait using the other end. Find it easier to be able to take the strain rather than attempting to cleat off a rode with weight on it.
 
BabaYaga said:
I would be interested to know which these reasons were, as I have a rode a bit similar to the OP (20m chain + 45m nylon rope).
Click to expand...

Mainly to do with handling the chain to rope join through the gypsy, bowroller alignment to winch rope drum and gypsy and the entry/exit to chain locker. It was all too much hassle, we needed an easy one process solution, hence all chain.
 
Robih said:
Mainly to do with handling the chain to rope join through the gypsy, bowroller alignment to winch rope drum and gypsy and the entry/exit to chain locker. It was all too much hassle, we needed an easy one process solution, hence all chain.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Seems that all the problems are related either to the windlass or the chain pipe. Which explains why I have not encountered any of them, as I have no windlass and a deck hatch for access to the chain locker. I might have to reconsider my setup if/when I install a windlass...

After thinking a bit more about this: As most boats today have access to the chain locker from above, by a hatch through the deck, shouldn't windlasses be designed with a chain pipe that is openable? (or without chainpipe at all). If so, the windlass could be engaged anywhere on the rode and it would be easy to help the chain/rope join to pass the gypsy.
Personally, with my 20m of chain and small boat, I only see a possible need for a windlass for the chain part of the rode and most likely only for lifting the anchor - usually less than 10m.
 
Last edited:
Neeves said:
+1

The rode length looks a bit skinny, especially as a good part of it is rope (or and its type is not declared). Your boat can go places - Suspect upgrading to a longer length of all chain might be useful (then you can use a snubber for elasticity as you did previously).
Click to expand...

+1 more. You will also find all chain self stows better on retrieval. I suspect what you have is the cheapo basic option offered by the builder
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top