Anchor Size

[nipper]

I have 2 in my boat. The first is a Danforth style (weight unknown) with about 12' of chain and 200' of rope. The second is a navy style, 12 lb. with 6' of chain and 100' of rope. I think chain is incredibly important to keep the proper scope on the anchor rode. Blue water sailers often use all chain rodes.

[charlie_the_tuna]

8 pound danforth with 6 feet of chain.
have 2 for when i beach but i want to get a sand spike.

anybody have experience with these?

[randlemanboater]

Originally Posted by nipper

I have 2 in my boat. The first is a Danforth style (weight unknown) with about 12' of chain and 200' of rope. The second is a navy style, 12 lb. with 6' of chain and 100' of rope. I think chain is incredibly important to keep the proper scope on the anchor rode. Blue water sailers often use all chain rodes.

I agree about the chain for most anchors, but I have yet to need it with that 20 pounder. But we have mostly sand around my area of coastal pleasure. And 100 ft would be the deepest I would anchor.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Chain around here isnt only for holding power, but to keep your rope from getting cut in wrecks and such.

[C YENSEN]

I use an 8 pounder with 6' of chain and plenty of line. you never know when you will need more line. I sure as hell dont want to try to anchor in a hurry and not have enough line to get to the bottom. I think mine has roughly 150' of line.

[randlemanboater]

I probably should put a short chain on mine to protect the rode, but it is hard enough already for my little girls to pull in the 20 pounder by itself.


As for how long should your rode be, triple the depth and there you are.

If you are anchoring in 10 ft of water x 3 = 30 feet of achor rode required.

So I carry at least 300 ft.

[bcmarinamanager]

Originally Posted by randlemanboater

I probably should put a short chain on mine to protect the rode, but it is hard enough already for my little girls to pull in the 20 pounder by itself.


As for how long should your rode be, triple the depth and there you are.

If you are anchoring in 10 ft of water x 3 = 30 feet of achor rode required.

So I carry at least 300 ft.

Actually, the correct scope is 7:1. It is extremely too much, but according to the USCG, the 7:1 is the correct scope. It's more or less for if you plan on anchoring overnight. That way you have less of an angle in your rode by the time it gets down to your anchor. Usually, the length of chain should be roughly half, to 1/3rd the length of your boat.

[nipper]

Thanks BC. To the depth of the water you need to add the height of where the rode will be fastened to the boat from the water. It's not much, but that 4 or 5 feet should be factored into the equation. 7:1 is proper, and probably necessary for overnight anchoring. You can generally get away with less when you are in the boat and attentive to what is going on (i.e. whether you are drifting despite having the anchor down). I am always amazed when you see folks anchored (often with other boats rafting beside) with the anchor rode going virtually straight down.