Hi all. For our next voyage, I am thinking about reducing the amount of anchor chain from 300ft to something less then 150ft.
That would save 150 pounds (1 pound per foot) of load on the forward section of the boat. I originally bought 300ft because I read so in one of the Pardey’s book. Well, that’s my reasoning at least.
I once used 110 ft of chain while anchored through a hurricane, but I’ve never used more, and to tell you the truth, I can’t imagine a situation where I’d ever need more than 150ft worst case.
I’d be interested to hear from the group on how much anchor chain you have, and any reasons for having a lot of it.
Thanks,
Mark Gearhart
s/v Godspeed
Mark,
I think one important question is where you will be cruising. I have never cruised the South Pacific but understand that long anchor chains are required; e.g., 300 ft or more.
On the other hand I have cruised most of the Bahamas and Caribbean as well as the far North and never needed more than 100ft. If you are not going to be where there are deep coral heads I think you should consider 100ft chain and 100 rope spliced.
My .02,
Jim Hiller
On Dioscouri (hull #64), I have 200’ of chain rode, which came with the
boat. I have often used up to 150’ in the Pacific Northwest, but that’s
because some anchorages are rather deep (60’ and more). I imagine I could
get by fine with less chain provided I attached a nylon rode to provide more
length.
Gary Mynett
Greetings,?
I to have 300 feet of chain. I have 150 in the forepeak with a snubbing line at the 150 foot mark. I took the other end and lead the last 150 feet through the bilge and lowered it into the bilge in front of the aft water tank.In this way I have all 300 feet if I ever need it but only 150 feet is in the forepeak.
SteveCrystal Swan II
Hi Mark,
the real issue is depth of water. You need at least 5:1 scope to be
safe and secure. Holding power is very much related to scope. Let’s
assume that you are in 27 feet of water, add your 3 feet of bow
freeboard and you have 30 feet (at high tide we assume) so you
require 150 feet of chain. However if you are in 100 feet of water
(including freeboard), even with 300 feet of chain you still can’t
get 5:1 scope - best you can do is 3:1 which is seriously dodgy.
Around southern Australia its not uncommon to anchor in 3-4 metres
(10-13 feet) so scope isn’t an issue. However it’s also not unlikely
that you would anchor in some places in 20 metres (65 feet) so 300
feet is necessary.
We have 100 metres of 8mm high test chain on Zuline and I would be
highly reluctant to remove even 10 metres of it.
A friend also with a Hess 32 has his spurling pipe near the mast and
the chain runs across a teak rubbing strip and is stored in the
bilge near the mast. Ours is simply in the chain locker forward of
the bitts - all 160kg of it.
Keep your chain - it’s better than Valium for getting a good night’s
sleep.
Regards
Mike