Where to buy 100m 12mm Stainless Steel anker chain ?

[BartW]

We are fedup with the old galvanised steel anker chain,
Always making a pile in the chainlocker, and blocking so often,
On top of that it starts rusting now very badly,

Where can I buy a good quality Stainless Steel anker chain,
100m length 12mm din,
Are there any details or quality differences to look at ?
thanks for advice

 

[Jurgen]

http://stainlessdirect.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16_32&sort=20a&page=2

 

[Monique]

Have a look at Vyv Cox's website. Very well explained. FWIW, the link given by Jurgen above only shows 1800 KG chain. IIRC, your boat is 80 feet and probably requires more tensile strength... In my opinion ...

http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Sailsandrig.aspx

 

[jfm]

=400kg BartW so maybe you need to buy locally. No VAT in Montenegro?

S/s chain is lovely. It flows smoothly into the anchor locker instead of standing up in a tall cone shape

 

[BartW]

=400kg BartW so maybe you need to buy locally. No VAT in Montenegro?

yes I've used the steel chain, as contra weight when the engine was out,
put it on the deck floor, on SB side, on it's widest point,
and water tank filled only on one side, boat was almost level,

someone will bring my car and a closed trailer end of june,
to bring stuff thats difficult to find here...
chain can come with it

the trailer will stay here on the parking as my storage room, (dive tanks, tools, paint, etc...)


in Belgium I buy on the company, so all ex VAT,
in Montengro it's possible ex vat from the Porte Montenegro Chandler, but his prices are inflated anyway (its Composite works, I believe main office in SOF).
From the local company's ex vat is difficult, too much paperwork involved, VAT on marine accesory's is only 7% here.
MAN parts were all ex VAT ;-)

 

[GrahamHR]

=400kg BartW so maybe you need to buy locally. No VAT in Montenegro?

S/s chain is lovely. It flows smoothly into the anchor locker instead of standing up in a tall cone shape

They use stainless chain in the theme park in Florida; it handles and looks to be lovely stuff , far better than the galvanized steel anchor chains I have had

 

[BartW]

Interesting info

Today I was at a dealer for chains and other rigging systems, in Antwerp,
It was one of these old fashion one man company’s where the good man does everything, including taking the phone etc..;-)
He has all types of SS chain in stock, and knows his stuff…
His prices are very good.

He thought that 12mm is not commonly used for anker chains, rather more 13mm,
But anyway he has both in stock,

I had the gipsy wheel from the old original winch with me, and it did fit 12 and 13mm, (the 12mm fitted slightly better)
Coincidently, I have ordered a new (spare) gipsy wheel from Lofrans, and theye quote say’s type nr xxx-12/13mm
So it can do both,
The length of both models is identical, but the width of the 13mm is slightly more

Between these two models, there is not much difference in weight, and very little difference in strength;

Wire diam / weight / test load / breaking load:
12mm / 3.03kg/m / 4250kg / 8500kg
13mm / 3.8kg/m / 4300kg / 8600kg

SS is not as strong as normal steel, original was steel 12mm, but I guess that 12mm SS will be ok ?
Just wondering what chain is commonly used on a80ft boat ?
What length do others have ?

 

[Nick_H]

He thought that 12mm is not commonly used for anker chains, rather more 13mm

Maybe the nominal 13mm chain is actually 1/2 inch (12.7mm), which means it has been more commonly used historically? Just a guess.

 

[MYAG]

Interesting info

Today I was at a dealer for chains and other rigging systems, in Antwerp,
It was one of these old fashion one man company’s where the good man does everything, including taking the phone etc..;-)
He has all types of SS chain in stock, and knows his stuff…
His prices are very good.

He thought that 12mm is not commonly used for anker chains, rather more 13mm,
But anyway he has both in stock,

I had the gipsy wheel from the old original winch with me, and it did fit 12 and 13mm, (the 12mm fitted slightly better)
Coincidently, I have ordered a new (spare) gipsy wheel from Lofrans, and theye quote say’s type nr xxx-12/13mm
So it can do both,
The length of both models is identical, but the width of the 13mm is slightly more

Between these two models, there is not much difference in weight, and very little difference in strength;

Wire diam / weight / test load / breaking load:
12mm / 3.03kg/m / 4250kg / 8500kg
13mm / 3.8kg/m / 4300kg / 8600kg

SS is not as strong as normal steel, original was steel 12mm, but I guess that 12mm SS will be ok ?
Just wondering what chain is commonly used on a80ft boat ?
What length do others have ?

Bart, I seem to think 12mm is more common than 13mm but your man probably knows better. If you are going to change your chain I would get more than 100m, especially for your part of the Med. It also gives you the choice to anchor away from the crowds in deeper water if you so choose. I have 180m of 12mm on 80kg anchor and 130m of 12mm on 50kg anchor. All galvanized.

 

[andy59]

Jeez , that's over a ton of chain !!!!

 

[jfm]

Yep I too would have said 12mm is much more common than 13mm. I agree with nick- the 13mm will be half inch.

I definitely have 12 mm chain not 12.7 or 13mm, 120metres

I love the s/s chain- it flows so much more smoothly than galvanised, in the locker.

 

[BartW]

Bart, I seem to think 12mm is more common than 13mm but your man probably knows better. If you are going to change your chain I would get more than 100m, especially for your part of the Med. It also gives you the choice to anchor away from the crowds in deeper water if you so choose. I have 180m of 12mm on 80kg anchor and 130m of 12mm on 50kg anchor. All galvanized.

good idea to put more then 100m, had several occasions in Croatia where I had liked more,
fe, the stern to mooring in Cavtat, with bow anker, when I wanted to put out a maximum length of chain for predicted bad weather,
I started dropping the anker too early; just reached at 3m from the quay, so had to start all over.

re gavanised steel, don't you have the trouble that the chain sits on a small pile, blocking the opening ?
thats one of the reason's I'm changing to SS


So for me; 150m 12mm SS chain it will be

 

[MYAG]

.............................
re gavanised steel, don't you have the trouble that the chain sits on a small pile, blocking the opening ?
thats one of the reason's I'm changing to SS


So for me; 150m 12mm SS chain it will be

Yes you're right, galvanized chain will generally try to pile on itself, especially when its salty but a chain wash helps a lot. In my case its never a problem because I can only operate the anchor(s) from the bow anyway so I always have crew there to deal with it while I am at the helm. One to draw the anchor and the other down in the locker (2m+ deep) to ensure the chain stows correctly.

Otherwise I would have the SS chain every time also.

 

[MapisM]

A man after my own heart! Listen to the Captain, ancam spoiled brats...!

Btw, in my experience it's good practice to have someone spreading the chain around the locker while it's recovered regardless of whether it's s/steel or not.
I mean, yes, it's true that being more slippery, s/s tends to fall down more easily, before building up a tall cone to the point of blocking the locker opening (which is what happens in BA, IIRC).
But when the chain self-falls (so to speak), it doesn't spread around the locker regularly, but rather falls randomly on any side, after building up some piles - possibly smaller piles with s/s, but the principle is the same.
Therefore, it's very possible that some bits of chain get tangled under a falling pile of chain previously recovered.
This is no big deal while recovering the anchor (in fact, it's even impossible to realize that, if nobody is looking at the locker), but when that happens, you're bound to regret not having stowed the chain properly the next time you'll drop the hook.

Of course, how often and for which chain length that can happen, mostly depends on the locker size/depth/shape. Fwiw, statistically with my boat I came to the conclusion that whenever I drop up to 20m of chain (i.e. for most daily anchorages), I can avoid hearing SWMBO complaining about sending her down to stow the chain, because the chances that it gets tangled are close to none.
Between 20 and 40m is a sort of grey area - if SWMBO is in good mood, I send her down, otherwise I take my chances...
Above 40m, not stowing the chain properly is an almost sure recipe for troubles upon the next anchorage.
For the records, I'm talking of 100m (each side) of galvanized 10mm chain, but I experienced the above "self-tangling" effect also on boats with a 100% s/steel ground tackle.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

good idea to put more then 100m, had several occasions in Croatia where I had liked more,
fe, the stern to mooring in Cavtat, with bow anker, when I wanted to put out a maximum length of chain for predicted bad weather,
I started dropping the anker too early; just reached at 3m from the quay, so had to start all over.

Yup, I've done that. It's very difficult to judge where to drop your anchor when you're mooring stern to onto a quay and its easy to drop it too far out and not reach the quay or drop it too close and not have enough chain out. Has anyone got any tips for doing this?

 

[BartW]

Has anyone got any tips for doing this?

what I do;
I estimate the number of 20m size boat lengths, between the neighbour and myself + my own length,
so trying to drop 60m of chain, (2 boat lengths from a similar sized neighbour boat to my stern) usually works,
but when I want to drop more, say 80m, in one occasion I came a few meters to short to the quay
my actual anker chain is 90m, I sometimes forget that I have maximum approx 85m in the water.

 

[MapisM]

Has anyone got any tips for doing this?

I understand this is not a tip you can use with your fine vessel, but you never know, maybe with the next...
The very few occasions in which I used both anchors were for mooring stern to, either onto a quay (where bow lines weren't available) or bringing lines ashore - in both cases in Croatia, btw.
And in my experience, this is way more effective than using more chain with one anchor alone, because the longer the (single) chain, the larger the boat swing in crosswind, even assuming that the anchor holds well.
Otoh, if you can deploy two anchors, at a (roughly) 30 degrees angle, not only it's sufficient to use much less chain AOTBE, but the bow is much more steady against crosswind.

 

[BartW]

The very few occasions in which I used both anchors were for mooring stern to, either onto a quay (where bow lines weren't available) or bringing lines ashore - in both cases in Croatia, btw.
And in my experience, this is way more effective than using more chain with one anchor alone, because the longer the (single) chain, the larger the boat swing in crosswind, even assuming that the anchor holds well.
Otoh, if you can deploy two anchors, at a (roughly) 30 degrees angle, not only it's sufficient to use much less chain AOTBE, but the bow is much more steady against crosswind.

completely agree about the stability,
but with two ankers you have much more chance that your anker is tangled with a neighbour anker chain.

In Cavtat, the quay is curved; all boats are pointing to a focus point,
even with just one anker, there is a risc that you grab a neighbour ankerchain.
A diver is standby all day, (like in St Tropez),
150euro for one recovery !

 

[jfm]

s/s tends to fall down more easily, before building up a tall cone to the point of blocking the locker opening ...
falls randomly on any side, after building up some piles - possibly smaller piles with s/s, but the principle is the same.

MapisM, that isn't my experience using 12mm s/s chain. I realise it depends on locker size/shape of course and my chain locker is oversized, but my chain never forms a tall cone. The angle of repose of wet s/s chain seems to be something like 30 degrees above the horizontal, compared with 45-60 degrees for rough galvanised chain, and that makes a heck of a difference. A flat cone just cannot fall over. If a section of chain falls down (like a mini avalanche) and buries some of the chain, the smoothness of s/s means that the winch can drag it out so that you do not have a problem next time you anchor. Just my experience living with s/s chain for 4 seasons, though with a generous locker that allows space for a wide base to the cone

 

[jfm]

Otoh, if you can deploy two anchors, at a (roughly) 30 degrees angle, not only it's sufficient to use much less chain AOTBE, but the bow is much more steady against crosswind.

Yep - that is the principal benefit of 2-anchor system in my book, but as you say the occasions when you want to deploy this method are quite rare