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Old 21-01-2021, 02:47   #1
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Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Morning all! (or afternoon depend on where you're)
I'm about to fit a proper windlass and some chain with it, but how much is enough chain to store?
The facts:
The boat is a 30 feet long keel, with a draft of 1.4m, she weights around 3.400kg when The anchor's on board an' the cable's all stored.
At the moment i sail in Scandinavia but preparing to go for the Mediterranean with her.
Looking forward to hear from you all!
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Old 21-01-2021, 03:23   #2
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

My boat is similar; I have 200 feet of 5/16" chain. I'd gladly reduce that to 150 feet if I had to buy it again.
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Old 21-01-2021, 06:15   #3
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

60 metres is a good middle ground length 80 might be better, The med is deep in place close to the shore
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Old 21-01-2021, 09:50   #4
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

It can be deep and it's embarrassing to run out of chain when you are 4m from quay!
60m is minimum for me but more if the boat can carry the weight and there is room in the chain locker.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:15   #5
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Quote:
Originally Posted by modernviking View Post
Morning all! (or afternoon depend on where you're)
I'm about to fit a proper windlass and some chain with it, but how much is enough chain to store?
The facts:
The boat is a 30 feet long keel, with a draft of 1.4m, she weights around 3.400kg when The anchor's on board an' the cable's all stored.
At the moment i sail in Scandinavia but preparing to go for the Mediterranean with her.
Looking forward to hear from you all!
ModernViking
First up see how much chain your chain locker will hold. Also how well the chain is fed into the locker by the windlass. How often do you see someone up front with a broom handle poking the chain in the locker because it has bunched up as it feeds into the locker😂
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:18   #6
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

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Originally Posted by goboatingnow View Post
60 metres is a good middle ground length 80 might be better, The med is deep in place close to the shore
I agree, you often need to be able to anchor in 20m of water. We went with 90 metres of chain with our 44ft steel boat.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:29   #7
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

When I was based in Mallorca I was advised to use heavier anchor gear than I might be used to around the English Channel because the seabed was often a hard packed sandy pan which made it easier for anchors to skate over the top.
Made a lot of sense to me because we often got what we called "red rain" - quite a lot of fine sand left on the decks after rain. This is dust blown north from the Sahara desert and of course, it also fell on the sea & sank to the bottom. Over hundreds of millenia I could see how that could form a sort of crust on the bottom.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:31   #8
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

For many 150-200 of chain is enough with another 100 ft nylon rode attached that rarely sees the light of day.
I would go with 1/4" HT chain on that light boat. I've used 5/16" HT on much larger boats.

I dont know the med, if the med is deeper than you might go for more, but I doubt it will fit and will be very heavy on a 30 ft boat bow. In the US Pac NW I've used 200 ft chain and it has been workable. A lot of deep anchorages here.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:32   #9
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

MV, you might consider using 6mm rather than 8mm chain which would be the norm. That way you should get about 80m for the weight of 50m. The only thing I would want is to go to G40 grade rather than the cheap stuff often seen in the chandlers.

https://jimmygreen.com/lofrans-grade...d-anchor-chain

The only down side is you might need to change the windlass or at least the Gypsy wheel to fit.

How does the above compare to prices at home? You could pick it up on route.

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Old 22-01-2021, 08:41   #10
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

We have a 40ft and run with 60m of 8mm G70 chain spliced to 45m of 16mm Octoplait. This gives us 100m of rode which we have actually used when Med Mooring to a wall.

G70 8mm fits the windlass exactly the same as any other grade of 8mm chain but is the same as (or slightly better than) 10mm.

Hope that helps

By slicing rope to the chain I get the extra length without the extra weight but you do need to be very careful about how much you get as it is tight for space in my anchor locker.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:44   #11
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Regarding using a broom to push down the pile of anchor chain under the windlass...
There is a fabulous U tube video on the pros & cons of galvanized vs stainless anchor chain. (Of course I cannot find the link right now...)
Main takeaways were
SS chain does not pile up as it has a smoother, slippery surface.
SS is stronger than galvanized so you can go to a smaller size and hence less weight...

On my Beneteau Oceanis 461 (~23,000lbs) I carry 200 ft of 3/8" BBB + 150 ft of 8 ply rode with a 60 lb Mantus anchor. My rational is that this gives me 7:1 scope in 50 ft of water.
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Old 22-01-2021, 08:52   #12
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

common is 50 meters but the more the better.
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Old 22-01-2021, 11:03   #13
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Also keep in mind you will be "med" mooring most of the time with anchor set out front and backing into a slip or land. You should bring at least 300' of stout line (150' for each side of your transom) for backing into the landing you will med moor in.
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Old 22-01-2021, 12:32   #14
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexCollier View Post
Regarding using a broom to push down the pile of anchor chain under the windlass...
There is a fabulous U tube video on the pros & cons of galvanized vs stainless anchor chain. (Of course I cannot find the link right now...)
Main takeaways were
SS chain does not pile up as it has a smoother, slippery surface.
SS is stronger than galvanized so you can go to a smaller size and hence less weight...

On my Beneteau Oceanis 461 (~23,000lbs) I carry 200 ft of 3/8" BBB + 150 ft of 8 ply rode with a 60 lb Mantus anchor. My rational is that this gives me 7:1 scope in 50 ft of water.
SS is stronger than galvanized? I don't think so!
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Old 22-01-2021, 13:41   #15
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Re: Total anchor length to carry in the Med

Carrying enough chain can be a challenge on small boats and it is rare to need more than 30m. BUT when you need it you really do need it! A good compromise is 30-40 m but go up one size so you still have plenty of weight. Then have a separately stowed road with 10-15m lighter chain and 50m 8 plait. This should give enough chain weight to hold in rough conditions and a long enough rode for deep water while ensuring that only chain is on the bottom.
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