Chain length

[cat man do]

On my 50 footer I was only going to have 100ft of chain, then rope,for a primary, then 50 ft and rope for a secondary.

After just getting ready for a cyclone in Vanuatu on March 28 , on another boat, I have changed my mind to the same as above with an additional 150 ft of chain to be shackled where needed, when needed.

You just can't have enough gear out when the s*#@$ about to hit the fan.

Dave

[cat man do]

Just noticed Sean is back.

Good to see you here again bloke.

Dave

[Tnflakbait]

If 40 feet is deep, I agree. There are some deep water anchorages in so pac. Hawaii Isn't the South Pacific. In Niue I think it was about 50' or so for us. In Tonga never deeper than 40 for us. (Had a mooring in Bay of Refuge). I was thinking more like >50 as deep I guess.

[Kelldog]

Sorry to go off topic; I was trying to email you.

Kelly
Cross 28/30
Mystic

[sv_makai]

Convience and wear and tear. I was amazed at how much wear on the rhode occured in a the few times we deployed a second anchor. Even though we were anchoring in sand in the Caribe there is a lot of small coral and shells on the bottom that chew the line.

We only used a second anchor a few times. Primarily in tropical storms or Huricanes in the area. This is when I don't want chafe to risk my ship. We use bridals that act as snubbers to reduce the shock and each anchor will have a deidecated bridal to reduce failures and to spread out the stress.

[Agility]

On my Tayana Deck Salon 58 sloop I found that with anything more than 4/1 scope she would sail back and forth excessively and be more likely to drag anchor. I believe Cat's are different but if I wanted to hold I would never deploy more than 4/1 and was comfortable with 3/1 even including the 8 feet up for the snubber. Does anyone else use these kind of ratios?

Btw, I had a 80lb Delta and almost always set her in sand.

Tim

[Paul Elliott]

For an all-chain rode, the scope really depends on the depth, and of course, conditions. I don't mind putting out more chain, but in 20 ft or deeper water, with moderate conditions and good bottom, I have been quite comfortable with a 3:1 scope. In shallower water, I like to have 5:1 out.

[RandyAbernethy]

I just anchored in 50 feet of water in the BVI (Great Harbor Peter Island). It's nice to have the option. We use 300' of 3/8 high test on primary with an 88lbs Rocna. Secondary is a Claw (Bruce knock off) with 125' chain and 200' nylon. We have an FX37 for the stern with 20' of chain and 150 of nylon. When we anchored in the south harbor of Norman Island in the Exumas I was glad to have two anchors out with all chain. The current there can get pretty strong, our boat ignored 30 knot winds to face that current. I would not have been comfortable with 30' of chain and you simply could not lie to one anchor.

[shipofools]

Just another opinion.

With all the chain being mentioned, I wonder about the issues with weight. Multihulls are meant to sail on top of the water, not push it out of thier way.

Least amount of chain neccesary for abrasion resitance. 33ft sounds about right. Use a kellet/sentinal to keep the action close to the bottom. Take advantage of nylons ability to stretch. Set a second anchor if you are unsure of the holding. Better effect for the weight. Use a bridle, set the boat offcenter to minimize sailing effect at anchor.

I guess I can start cutting the handles of my toothbrushes for weight savings, and get more chain, but I am still of the opnion that the least amount of chain is best.

[Twixter]

We have 50 meters (164 ft) of chain and 150 meters of rode. In the year of cruising, we have never put out all the chain. I can't remeber ever anchoring in over 10 meters of water. We are usually in 4-6 meters.

[schoonerdog]

twixter, would you mind posting where you've been? I know that for the Bahamas, Cuba, and east coast US, my old setup certainly worked, but I freely admit that I don't know about anything other than that.

[Twixter]

We have been cruising the European Atlantic coast and the Med.

[CSY Man]

Sorry, did not see the "Multi Hull Only"

I voted 120 + as my monohull carries 215' 5/16 HT spliced to 250' of 3/4" three strand nylon.

Then have 2 other chain/line rodes onboard, 60+200 each, pluss the stern anchor setup with 30+100.

How do I discard my vote...?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Dunkers

Sean, I guess that us mono-hulls use different anchoring criteria??!!!! The matter is universal really no matter what hull configuration you have, carry as much chain as you can and forget 6ft of chain and nine miles of rope - chain is what counts and gives you a good night's sleep.

Popular fallacy - see the article in the septic Multihulls magazine that compared actual load cell stresses on various different anchoring systems, the difference between all chain and say 10 meters was minimal, what really made a difference was a kellet. Also what is important is the shock absorbtion that good nylon gives to the anchor system.

[jim lee]

and Multihulls only

Oh sorry, didn't mean to pollute the waters..

-jim lee