Marking Anchor Chain

[delmarrey]

Back in my old diving days I use to mark the chain in atmospheric pressures (33'), so when I dropped the anchor I knew how deep it was. Didn't have depth finder.

[wingless]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

If you dont know if you're at 75 ft or 150 ft .. well... you need to pay better attention! all you really have to do is alternate red, white, blue and just keep alternating....

The wingless Trinary Color Code permits observation of the unique code on the rode to know the deployed length.

That works for me so I know prior to falling asleep for the night that the rode is appropriate.

Use whatever system works best for the user and the application.

[captain58sailin]

Use small pieces of rag, mark every shot. Cheap, easy. Might try the fluorescent yarn though. Zip ties break off too quick.

[River Cruiser]

My system is to time the drop while powering down 1 min = 50' it has worked for me. It may not be precise but close enough when anchoring in 10' to 25' depths.

[janice142]

One thing I intend to remedy when I finally tie up to a dock is I'd like to mark the first three feet of my chain white so I'll know when the anchor is almost up. That would allow me to go ahead and rinse off the anchor too with momentum versus the standard bucket.

Currently I'm marked at
25' - Red
50 - White
75 - Blue

and, from 90-97' White
97' to 100' in Red

The paint does wear away but because I paint a two foot section it lasts semi-okay. I'm full-time on the hook so the paint has ample opportunity to fail and have used standard $1 per can spray paint (nothing fancy)

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Back in my old diving days I use to mark the chain in atmospheric pressures (33'), so when I dropped the anchor I knew how deep it was. Didn't have depth finder.

You were simply ahead of your time in using the metric system. We mark our chain at the same intervals. Every 10 metres!

[COLINFLTENG]

Why would you mark first 50 feet we deploy at least min. 100 feet most times 150 feet

[rebel heart]

I release (and haul) chain from the bow.

I spray painted every 10'; when we're ready to drop the hook I take the depth, add 5, than multiply by 5.

So 25' + 5' (at a 5:1 scope) = 125'. I'll probably stop at 100', make sure I don't budge, then pay out the last 25' with the snubber.

[COLINFLTENG]

So you could start at 100 feet for your first marking!

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by COLINFLTENG

So you could start at 100 feet for your first marking!

That's fair, but counting out the distance every 10' isn't a hardship by any means. Likewise when weighing anchor it's helpful to know when you're about to get vertical.

[foolishsailor]

If you are trying to anchor precisely in a given spot, ie sandy patch surrounde by coral, and you also dont want to dump a pile of chain on the anchor - it is good to have marks starting at 10' from the anchor.

That way you hold position while you drop the hook and can see when it is on the bottom and pay out chain as you fall back and set. Helps to anchor you where you wanted and not 50meters further down wind.

[COLINFLTENG]

10 feet chain equal bottom of my keel, what ever makes process easy for you
I wish had to have concern for coral here in Pacific NW deep water and high tides 16 feet added to depth

[chouliha]

On jacaranda we have been using zip ties for more than 25 years. Long ties =50, short =10. Once in awhile we have to replace one or two ties. Since we end for end the chain every year they all.get replaced anyway. BTW chain is 30 years old and regalvanized numerous times.

Here is what we do
30' = 3 short ties
50' = 1 long
70' = 1 long, 2 short
100' = 2 long
120' = 2 long, 2 short
150' = 3 long
200'= 4 long
250' = 5 long
300' = 6 long

Safe sailing

Chuck
Jacaranda
Ecuador

[sabray]

Zip ties. 1 at 33 feet 10 meters 2 at 66 feet 20 meters 3 at 98 feet 30 meters. Repeat for the next 30 meters..you will see them and if your yanking the chain out good bet you will get your hand to brush them. After awhile you know your coming up on x meters out and you look for the marks.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by chouliha

On jacaranda we have been using zip ties for more than 25 years. Long ties =50, short =10. Once in awhile we have to replace one or two ties. Since we end for end the chain every year they all.get replaced anyway. BTW chain is 30 years old and regalvanized numerous times.

Here is what we do
30' = 3 short ties
50' = 1 long
70' = 1 long, 2 short
100' = 2 long
120' = 2 long, 2 short
150' = 3 long
200'= 4 long
250' = 5 long
300' = 6 long

Safe sailing

Chuck
Jacaranda
Ecuador

G'Day Chuck, and welcome to CF. Nice to see another lifer on board.

Cheers,

Jim