Length of chain recomendations Puget Sound

[bhecla]

I am curious what other cruisers have for length of anchor chain / rope here in the puget sound and up into the desolation sound region? Also what type of anchor(s) and preferred anchoring setup? What is the deepest you have anchored in the north puget sound area? Thanks!

[s/v Beth]

My boat came with 300+ feet of chain, I have reduced it to 200+ and have not found it to be a problem. I anchor all the way up the Salish sea, up above Vancouver Island toward Alaska.

[vamoose]

We have a Freedom 45 and sail out of Anacortes Wa. Are anchor system is overkill but we sleep well. We have 400 feet of Acco g43 with 125 feet of 5/8 3 strand. The 3 strand is in case we have to cut the whole thing lose and run. It's connected by Crosby 209a shackles to a 100 lb Manson Supreme anchor. In the past the deepest we've anchored is 95 feet. Typically we anchor in around 40 to 50 feet. So 200 to 300 feet of chain would work . Oversized Bruce anchors are popular in are area, but I would buy a new generation anchor, the Manson was a big improvement over the Bruce we had previously . By the way the best place to buy chain is Washington chain supply in Seattle.

[Pyxis156]

Until last winter we had a Tartan 3700 with 80' of 3/8" G43 chain and 300' of 5/8" nylon six-strand braid (Samson Deep-Six) attached to a Rocna 25. We anchored all over from Nanaimo to Olympia and only once did the anchor not set the first time. Was very happy with the chain/rope rode, it worked great, did not experience a lot of chafe even at the rope/chain splice, and saved considerable weight. I redid the splice after three years just to be safe, but in hindsight did not need to.

I chose 80' of chain specifically for our typical minimum anchoring depths around here. I can't think of any time we anchored in less than 20' (well, maybe Poulsbo), so we always let out at least all the chain and 20' of line so we didn't have to mess with a snubber. Most often anchored in 30-50', and a few times in the 80's.

Depending on where you anchor, you may find an anchor with flukes (like a Bruce) may struggle due to the thick brown leathery seaweed (not kelp) that is common in some areas, Griffin Bay for example. We have sailed extensively with a friend on a 42' boat that had a Bruce and in those conditions, he could not get the anchor to set no matter how many tries while the Rocna would dig right in. I think the different shapes made all the difference as the flukes on the Bruce never made it through the tough weed. A bigger Bruce may have helped punch through, but the pointy tip on the Rocna seemed to have much less trouble.

Current boat is a custom 54' sloop with a Rocna 55 attached to 300' of 3/8" G43 and 100' of 3/4" 8-strand braid. The new setup does everything our old one did only better 😉

Hope this helps...


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[Lepke]

The old school book I learned from said 4 to 1 with chain and 7 to 1 when using cable. That may not be enough in heavy weather or currents. The chain weight keeps the anchor embedded much better than cable. This boat came with 300' of 5/8" chain and I added another 300' and a spare anchor. I have a chain locker and the low weight helps the ride, too.
Keep in mind, anchors are a safety item. Ships and boats have been know to lose power. You need enough chain or cable to keep your vessel off the beach in what might be deep water. Even with 600' at 4/1 is only 150' (25 fathoms). For me - where is the 25 fathom line.