Quick Question on Paying Out Rode

[randynewcomb]

Quick question: When you are paying out anchor rode, how do you determine how much rode has been let out? For example if you are in 7 feet of water with 3 feet of freeboard and want to know when you have let out 70 feet of rode (7:1 ratio) – how do you know when you have paid out that total?

Thank you!

[daddle]

Stop just after letting out 69 feet??

Some sailors mark the rode with various markers. Others simply watch what goes out. I count the turns on the windlass as it is three turns per meter. Also knowing where in the water the anchor set down relative to where the boat presently is. It's an eyeball thing.

Accuracy doesn't much matter.

[Teeto]

We have an anchor chain counter connected to the windlass however on our last yacht we painted a section of chain links every 20 metres. It did eventually get a bit worn but was quite visible for a couple of years. You could paint more often or in different colours for different lengths.

[Mystic38]

paint your chain or rode with markers... I have them every 20ft up to the limit of the 125ft chain, after that, my 250ft of rode is unmarked...mostly cos I couldn't be bothered

[jannw]

The easiest way is to mark your rode. I use differently coloured zip ties every 10 meters, and watch it as it goes out.

I can guarantee you that eyeballing it as the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle doesn't work reliably or effectively ;-)

[daddle]

Originally Posted by jannw

I can guarantee you that eyeballing it as the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle doesn't work reliably or effectively ;-)

I can guarantee you that that hypotenuse is only 1% longer than the base of your triangle. A few inches for the OP.

You can mark the rode if you want. But an observant person, a sailor perhaps, can easily do without. The end of the chain is one big hint. Watching lengths run out is another. Looking at a nearby boat and the shore another. Counting windlass turns or counting seconds works too.

Is there a problem if the scope is 6.9 or 7.1 instead of 7.0 ???

[Cotemar]

Zip ties work well and I add these Stamoid numbers every ten feet since we anchor in very shallow water most of the time.

[Hudson Force]

I use Cotemar's zip tie plan, but I don't mark anything for the first fifty feet. On the very rare occasion that I might want to use less than fifty I could take some back, but I never use less than fifty! I've a pair of Crosby shackles at 100 feet and then I continue with the zip ties at 50 foot intervals. Sure, a zip tie can be eventually cut and break away due to being crunched through the gypsy, so I put three little short ones at a mark. I can judge a point between the fifties if I like.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by jannw

The easiest way is to mark your rode. I use differently coloured zip ties every 10 meters, and watch it as it goes out.

;-)

Crude, I knew I would have to learn metric one day......

:>)