All chain rode?

[Knipet]

C Sharp came to me with 150' of 1/4" chain rode, no rope. It has a Lewmar windlass, and the boat was previously used in the Chesapeake Bay where I assume it may have worked well there perhaps with a silty and muddy bottom?

However C Sharp is now in the PNW and I am wondering if that much change is overkill? I anchored for the first time a few days ago and despite a long scope the weight of the chain would pull from straight down. I'm not sure if this has any negative effects. The pros seem to be the chain runs really well through the windlass, there will be no chafing, but the cons would be a lot of weight in the bow, but then is that necessarily a bad thing on a 22?

[DavidM]

I can't comment on the weight effect. 150' of 1/4" will be about 100 lbs.

But chain is the safest and easiest rode to use IF YOU HAVE A WINDLASS. Don't worry about it hanging straight down, you just don't have enough wind to pull it taught.

Do consider a snubber bridal to take the load off of your windlass. You can make one up with two 10' pieces of 3/8" nylon eye spliced to a chain hook & shackle

Then when all the rode you want is out, hook the snubber to the chain and tie the two lines off on the port and starboard cleats. Then let out a little more chain so that the load is taken by the nylon, not the chain and windlass.

David

[Sea Wolf]

I put 100 ft of 1/4" chain + 250 ft of 1/2" three-strand nylon rope on my CD-22 Cruiser with a Quick windlass. Chain weighed 75 lbs. Helped hold the bow down in chop. Hung straight down like you say unless the wind was really up. Used it mostly in inland lakes. Worked great with a oversized Fortress FX-16 Danforth style anchor. The chain went through the windlass gypsy like a fine piece of clockwork, much better than the rope section, and piled up in the rode locker just like Gallieo and Newton predicted. Loved it and would do it again. However, some have said that the heavy bow would/could become a handful running downwind in large chop or swells (bow steering). Never noticed any of that, but really never had the opportunity to run in big ocean sized swells or chop after the chain was added.

My advice: use it as is and see how you like it before cutting or replacing it.

By the Way: Cutter Marine, which was a C-Dory dealer in the Chesapeake Bay Area (Annapolis, MD?) equipped most of the boats they sold with 100 ft or more chain. You probably have one of those.

P.S.: DavidM's advice it spot-on!

Enjoy your new boat!

Joe.

[alainP]

I have 150 ft of chain with plenty of nylon behind on a 9 kg Vulcan, great set up for the windlass, so far no cons

[Pacificcoast101]

I got tired or re-splicing my rode all the time. We use our boat for diving, so we anchor twice every time we go out. I replaced the rode with 420 feet of chain a couple of years ago and have been happy ever since.

We don't go out if it's windy, so it's nice to drop straight down along the chain to the reef below. At the end of the dive, we don't have to look very hard to find the anchor. We often see the boat overhead.

[bridma]

I read somewhere that a boat should have a minimum length of chain equal to one and a half times the length of the boat. So for my 22 I opted for 50' of chain, allowing me to get more rode into the anchor locker and less weight in the bow. I must add, I did not have a windlass and pulling up 50' of chain by hand is quite doable. On my present boat I have chain/rode combo and go real slow when the splice goes around the windlass. Works for me.
Martin.

[thataway]

There is a problem with too much weight in the bow--and that is that during down wind/seas running, especially in heavy weather, you want the bow up to prevent broaching. This is a safety issue.

I feel that it is better to go a little lighter on the chain, have longer scope,. and use trim tabs and Permitrim to bring the bow down when necessary.

Weight in the ends of the boat, promote "hobby horsing". That is going into chop at a displacement speed, the boat tends to go up and down more. May not be critical in a C Dory, but still can be a negative, with more burying of the bow.

We run 50' of HT 1/4" chain, and 300' of Brait 8 plait.

In an ideal world, one would like to always have 7:1 scope on the anchor rode. The vertical measurement is from the bow roller to the bottom of the sea at high tide. If you are anchoring in 100 feet this would mean 742 feet of rode.

(The term "rode" is used to describe the total anchoring system: chain, cable and/ or rope.)

Cutter Marine put an excessive amount of chain in their boats, especially for the Chesapeake Bay. Most was not HT, but coil proof, which is a longer link. 100 feet of High Test chain is 75#. So if you have 150 feet of HT 1/4" that will be ~ 112 lbs

Most C Dory 22's do not have cleats on both port and Starboard--it is a good addition. I use snubber line also--I tend to us 5/16, that gives more strength than the 3/8, but in heavy weather I may use 3/8" line. With chain, one should use a plate of SS with has a slot in it for the chain link, and two holes drilled to take the shackles of the chain you are using. (usually one size up from the HT chain). Wichard makes some very nice HT SS shackles. Avoid the Chinese made ones--in both galvanized and SS. Often the shackle is the weakest link. That is the reason to use the Wichard bow shackle or "D" shackle.

More chain, gives a better catenary to the chain. It will lay on the bottom in light wind and current. In light stuff it does act as a shock absorber. However when the wind picks up to about 35 to 40 knots, the chain becomes bar tight--and there is no shock absorption. This is where the anchors often fail, or chain brakes, during surge loads. Thus the snubber is necessary.

[starcrafttom]

I have 100 ft of heavy chain on my 27 dory. Best thing I have done for over nights in the san juans. Two advantages is that the chain will set the anchor quicker and better. keeps the angle lower as the anchor sets. It also keeps the distance from the anchor to the bow shorter. I just run out 100 ft every time I anchor. The chain just lies flat on the bottom most of the time and runs straight up to the bow from just below the boat. If the wind blows it has to generate enough force to lift up 100 ft of chain. Not going to happen very often. You drag out of an set anchor because the slope from the bow to the anchor is to straight. More weight on the rope/ chain the better. It keeps the slope flat on the bottom. We set in 10 to 30 ft most of the time but have do the same in 50 ft. I have 400 ft of rode if I anchor deeper but it seldom.

At a minimum I would run a ft for every ft of boat. We did that on the 22 . We had 8 ft in the beginning and dragged all the time. We changed to 25 ft and never dragged again . You need the weight to set the hook and keep it set.

[tsturm]

[hardee]

Steve, I would keep what you have, and try it for a while. Look for anchor spots in the 10 to 20 feet of water at low tide and you should be able to be in close to a protected shore. (Check the overnight wind prediction before deciding on your anchor spot.) I put down the depth plus about 10 feet then back lightly, until I feel a bit of a tug, then run out the rest of my chain (to 70 feet) as I back slowly, (bump into reverse then back to Neutral) until I'm out to 70 ft then give a good tug to set deep and feel good resistance..

I have 72 feet of chain, and another 100 feet of 3 strand nylon line. I (very) rarely let out past the 70 feet because I like the way the chain runs through the windlass AND I agree, the catenary effect of that much chain is a great shock absorber.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Micahbigsur@msn.com]

We have gone from all chain rode on our big sailboats to 60' 1/4 ht and 250' 1/2" 8 braid on our C-dory with a 22# Rocna. So far we are happy with this especially since I no longer have to set up the snubber every time!

[South of Heaven]

Chain is expensive. Be happy that you have such a robust rode setup. My last boat had an all chain rode. Good peace of mind.

I wouldn't worry about the weight issue. Some C Dorys have water tanks and batteries forward.

[Sea Wolf]

I still love the all chain set up, but thought of one drawback that might affect some folks:

If you anchor in a situation where the bottom has some rock material or large gravel, the sound of the chain moving about over the hard rock material transmits up the all dense all metal chain very efficiently and onto the hull which acts as a soundboard / speaker. Sounds like an elementary school tin can telephone science lab experiment gone ballistic and you're trying to live in and sleep inside a giant can!

I know it's unwise to anchor over hard rocky surfaces, but sometimes there's little choice.

Never kept me awake, though your mileage may vary!

Joe.

[hardee]

Joe is right about the sound. I have listened to that many times. It is akin to the sound of the Auto Pilot's errr-arrr-errr-arrr. Only bothered me once in a situation where I was sailing back and forth alot. I let out about 5 more feet of rode, took a tie onto the bow cleat, and dropped the sound almost completely.

I agree with Joe, (and others). I like the all chain rode for many reasons.

Harvey
SleepyC

[DavidM]

I had this happen once in a rocky anchorage in Maine. But I would much prefer the sound to the effects of the rocks sawing through my nylon rode in the middle of the night.

Also with the nylon snubber I described above, the sound is much less.

David