3 Strand or 8 Plait for Anchor Line

[zeehag]

sabray--i have the chain for my anchor, a 30kg bruce, in my bow. i have 250 ft old chain in my lazarette. i have 2 spools of half inch (too light) 3 strand in my lazarette....and 3 other anchors in my lazarette.
i also have lengths of 3/8 in chain in bowels of boat..
my boat displaces 28000 pounds water, and is too light. is supposed to displace 34000 pounds water.....hhmmmmm.... nothing is a rusty ball of nada, either.....

my ht chain in real ht, not g40....


here, the bottom is rocks with some sand and some mud.

[the anchor guy]

Originally Posted by sww914

In a previous thread we discussed my rode hockling problem. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new rode. Some folks have tried to convince me that there's nothing wrong with 3 strand, just that there's something wrong with the 3 strand that I have here. Maybe somebody towed a cruise ship with it once? Others have said that 8 plait is the only way to go and that it will cure my problems and live longer. I'm convinced of that but I'm also convinced that there is something wrong with what I have here.
250' 3/4" three strand is $250.00
250' 5/8" 8 plait is $407.50 and they're virtually the same strength.
Should I spend the extra money?
Getting them to me here in Puerto Vallarta is another can O worms but I think I have that figured out.

Sorry to hear about your financial situation. It's just part of this whole voyage we call life.

I was just curious, I've read some advice on using chain and rope, have you considered that option too? Maybe you want to try this deal on rope and chain, you'll get a 20' chain + 200' rode for $99 or less.

Don't panic and stay safe.

[sww914]

We bought a bunch of new chain today! Thanks for the tax return, IRS.
Most boat things in Mexico are more expensive than in the US. Not anchor chain, fortunately. This is Hi-Test chain made in Canada for about $0.50 a foot less than Defender.
I'm sure that I'll sleep better now.

[zeehag]

whew--914, i will sleep better knowing you have all chain rode here in rocks on bottomville.....good to hear i should buy mine here also...

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, the anchor guy.

Do you have a connection with anchoring.com &/or Norestar ?

[zeehag]

anchoring in mexico, anchor guy, is done with all chain or you get to find a new or another boat. it WILL chafe in less time than you care to acknowledge. seen that many times here in rocksonbottomville. btw--welcome.

914--please advise as to where you found this treasure...thankyou.

[sww914]

Zee, at Zaragosa's. It was 202.69p/meter, comes out to about $4.85/foot less 10% for cash. Canadian made 3/8", the links are stamped CMP.

[zeehag]

awesome...good work...next year mebbe you come to zihuatenejo-is awesome here..i will make for huatulco before this summer i think, then mebbe more chain in panama or costa rica.....

[sww914]

Our cruising kitty looks anorexic. We've found some great opportunities here and we'll stay for about a year trying to fatten up the skinny kitty. I wish that we'd made it down sooner so that we could hang out again Zee, but we'll catch you sometime.

[zeehag]

i am slowly travelling so i am easy to catch......i can give clues to where to anchor in zihuat if you like--is lovely here...happy sails!!

[the anchor guy]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, the anchor guy.

Do you have a connection with anchoring.com &/or Norestar ?

Hi GordMay, I just believe in quality products and great customer service. And if I find that in the stuff I buy, I will definitely promote it. That said, I also love boating and feel like adding value to the conversation. Hope you mind having more options.

[Exile]

Thanks for all the useful info on anchoring in this thread. It's already persuaded me to make some improvements in my own set-up. As usual, the discussion has also raised a few questions which I hope someone doesn't mind answering for my benefit and perhaps others:

1. My current set-up uses 75' of 3/8" BBB chain rode & 125' of 5/8" 3-strand rope. The two are joined by a rope-to-chain splice. I run the rode through an Ideal vertical windlass with a gypsy on the bottom and rope drum on top. With only 75' of chain, I am often wrestling with transitioning from the gypsy to the drum. Any advice on how to make this easier w/o losing digits?

2. If there's no good answer to #1, is there any issue using a shackle & thimble/splice on the rope end to join the chain & rope? I will be upgrading to 200' of chain so will not be getting to the rope rode very often. When I do, I'll just have to be careful not to jam the shackle in the gypsy. It just seems to me that a shackle vs. a splice allows for more options.

3. I would also like to upgrade from 3-strand to 8-plait rope rode for some of the reasons discussed in this thread. Am I safe meeting or exceeding the "breaking strength" of my chain (11K lbs.) with the "tensile strength" of the rope (12K lbs.+ using 5/8" Yale 8-plait)? I just get tripped up a bit with the different ways these things are measured.

Thanks again!

[sww914]

1- I haven't found any easy way to transition from the rope to the chain with my windlass. Mine has a rope drum on one side and a gypsy on the other. I just hauled it up with my hands until I got to the chain. I think that Chapman's recommends grabbing the chain with a shackle and another piece of line on a winch to pull it past that point but I never tried it.

2- Splicing stranded line is really fun. We did it quite a few times on that crappy old 3 strand to the chain and again on our new chain. You can find directions online but I'll tell you the most important part that they never say. It is weaving. Over & under & over & under.

3- I don't really know but I think that you have it right.

[boatman61]

Haul in till you've a turn of chain at least on the drum... have a length of line tied to a deck cleat.. take the free end and put a coupla turns round the chain.. this enables you to keep the weight on while you transfer the chain..
Had this problem on the 52 last year.. tried it n worked a treat... even did it solo..

[cfarrar]

Exile, 200' of chain will cover most scenarios, since you can always put a 30'ish foot snubber on the last link of chain, giving you an effective "all-chain" rode of 230'ish feet. An 8-plait rope-to--chain splice isn't hard, if you go that route. Plenty of diagrams online. As you've noted, the strength of your 8-plait will exceed that of your chain. The key is avoiding chafe. If you deploy more than 200' of chain you can use a snubber with a hitch on the rope rode, so the snubber is sacrificial at the chocks.