Anchor chain

[TravellerNick]

Hi all. I was wondering how much anchor chain most people here carry with them. I was going to buy two, 25m (75') lengths with plenty of rope. Is this enough?
I've also got about 20m already but it's got bad rust every 5m from siting in a puddle. Is this repairable?
Thanks

[StuM]

What and where do you sail.

That's plenty for a dinghy in shallow water.

[Pete7]

Don't quite follow the logic of 2 x 25m lengths unless one is for a second anchor. In NW Europe 25m will be a bit short. We started with 30m and added another 15m for anchoring in France and the Channel Islands. After that it depends were you are thinking of heading. You should be able to get 50m on a Pentland.

Chain can be re-galvanised however, finding somewhere to do it and transporting it will be a problem. Perhaps keep this for the second anchor.

Pete

[roverhi]

For French Polynesia, 230' of chain worked well.

[TravellerNick]

Ok, thanks. And yes, two chains for two anchors, at least, as anchors are your insurance policy.

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[kmacdonald]

I like a BIG anchor, short chain, and lots of polyester double braid. No nylon.

[TravellerNick]

I'd like two big anchors. No, three. But short chain? Interesting. I do have a "mud weight" anchor of 22lb that will help keep the chain down.

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[sailorboy1]

I have 350 feet of chain.

[TravellerNick]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I have 350 feet of chain.

Thanks.

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[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by TravellerNick

Hi all. I was wondering how much anchor chain most people here carry with them. I was going to buy two, 25m (75') lengths with plenty of rope. Is this enough?
I've also got about 20m already but it's got bad rust every 5m from siting in a puddle. Is this repairable?
Thanks

It really depends on whether you have a windlass, or enough room to install one. If you do, an all-chain rode makes a lot of sense (x6-x8 times the deepest water you might anchor in at high tide). If you have to haul it up by hand, you should figure out how much weight you can handle, and then allocate this weight budget between the anchor and the chain. The holding power of the ground tackle is mostly determined by the anchor. The chain provides damping and chafe protection. If you do need to go with a rope-chain combo, I think 25m of chain would be adequate.

[TravellerNick]

Ok, thanks, thats interesting.

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[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I have 350 feet of chain.

Excellent!

Presently, we have 200 ft of new chain with the first 120ft of it getting the most use. We also have an extra 100ft of old chain (still no rust) linked to the new chain for the big blow and for the new chain to rest on. When it all gets replaced in a few years, I'll be replacing it with 350ft of 1/2 inch galvanized or stainless if I come into some money.

Here in Montenegro, and in Italy it's not uncommon to be anchoring in 50-80ft, so 300 ft or more is nice to have.

[Sailmonkey]

We carry 225' of chain spliced to 300' of 5/8" octoplait nylon. Our western carib trip we almost always deployed 100' of chain with a 20' snubber. However we anchored on two separate occasions when the nylon reared it's head.


My intent with the extra nylon was for deep anchorages to be able to lower (in theory) the chain/nylon interface to within 10' of the seafloor. We never got close to that sort of depth though.

[rwidman]

I have 30 feet of 5/15 G4 chain spliced to 150 feet of 5/8 nylon line. This setup works fine for my boat and the places I boat and anchor.

There's a good chance it wouldn't be appropriate for your boat and conditions. What you should be asking is recommendations for your specific boat and location.

[kmacdonald]

The weight is best allocated to the anchor, not the chain. The old fairy tale of "add more chain" doesn't hold true under close scrutiny.