So, you disagree that the longer the chain the better the holding
power in an ideal bottom? 8^)

BB

(start with a friendly grin)
You've been taking lessons from the political threads here. (1) Make an absurd
statement. (2) Defend challenges to absurd statement by finding some safe haven
in closely related logic and claiming that was *really* what you meant all
along.

And of course you're right, the longer the chain the better the holding
power....although I think you can reach a point where additional scope becomes
more of a hassle than it's worth. Will 15:1 hold better than 7:1? Likely so,
but equally likely nobody would ever notice the difference.

I had to laugh at the original statement. "One minute of holding power for each
inch
of chain." Will two inches of scope hold a boat for two minutes? :-)

Now, when you're down on the dock next spring and two guys are debating anchor
rodes and one says "I read on the internet that you will hold one minute for
each inch of chain......" you'll have cause to feel just a bit guilty. :-)

"Ðon ßailey" wrote in message
...

"tgodiver" wrote in message
...
I have a 25 ft center console with a 13 lb. anchor. How much chain do
you
need for this anchor? and what size chain. I was thinking of using
5/16"
inch chain, can I get away with a smaller diameter to save cost?

Is there a standard length of chain for anchors?

thanks




The "G" man said "6 feet of chain for every 25 feet of water you
want to anchor in".

So,

If you usually anchor in say..40-50ft of water, get 12ft of chain.


Gotta call the "G" man on this one. That's an odd approach to the problem,
given that it doesn't give any consideration to the size of the vessel. It
suggests that the 12 ft. of chain in your example would be appropriate for
both an 18' Bayliner and a 72' Burger. I think the formula given earlier, a
foot of chain per foot of LOA makes more sense, assuming a rope/chain mixed
rode.

"RG" wrote in message news:JtVOa.26$lW1.13@fed1read07...

"Ðon ßailey" wrote in message
...

"tgodiver" wrote in message
...
I have a 25 ft center console with a 13 lb. anchor. How much chain do
you
need for this anchor? and what size chain. I was thinking of using
5/16"
inch chain, can I get away with a smaller diameter to save cost?

Is there a standard length of chain for anchors?

thanks




The "G" man said "6 feet of chain for every 25 feet of water you
want to anchor in".

So,

If you usually anchor in say..40-50ft of water, get 12ft of chain.


Gotta call the "G" man on this one. That's an odd approach to the
problem,
given that it doesn't give any consideration to the size of the vessel.
It
suggests that the 12 ft. of chain in your example would be appropriate for
both an 18' Bayliner and a 72' Burger. I think the formula given earlier,
a
foot of chain per foot of LOA makes more sense, assuming a rope/chain
mixed
rode.



I don't think the G-man is "talking" to anyone with a 72' Burger.
I think his show's target audience is the weekend boater.

I also think the primary variable here is more the depth of the water,
hence
the angle of the rhode(I think that's the correct word) more than the
size of the boat. (when your talking about boats between 14' - 32').
Anything larger would probably need a little more chain and a
larger anchor.



Btw,

I really like the work he's done on that 1984 228 Mako. I have
a 1984 254 Mako and would love to have a tower on mine like he's got.


db

I don't think the G-man is "talking" to anyone with a 72' Burger.
I think his show's target audience is the weekend boater.

I dunno, if I had a 72' Burger, you could bet your ass I'd be on it every
weekend, and would probably be watching "G" man on the weekends on a large
plasma screen in the salon being fed by the onboard sat TV system. But
alas, such is not my fate.


I also think the primary variable here is more the depth of the water,
hence
the angle of the rhode(I think that's the correct word) more than the
size of the boat. (when your talking about boats between 14' - 32').
Anything larger would probably need a little more chain and a
larger anchor.


Water depth is indeed a primary variable, and it dictates scope, the length
of total rode employed, expressed as a multiple of depth. Anchor size and,
in my opinion, chain length are driven primarily by vessel size.

I believe the purpose of the chain is to hold the flukes down to initially
set the anchor. Please correct me if I am wrong MW
wrote in message
...
On 09 Jul 2003 13:24:50 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

So, you disagree that the longer the chain the better the holding
power in an ideal bottom? 8^)

BB

(start with a friendly grin)
You've been taking lessons from the political threads here. (1) Make an
absurd
statement.

Of course it was absurd! It was meant to be... Meanwhile it has an
element of fact in it. A longer chain generally holds better than a
shorter chain. A Chain that is too short probably won't hold well at
all.

cheers
BB

"Michael Wright" wrote in message
...
I believe the purpose of the chain is to hold the flukes down to initially
set the anchor. Please correct me if I am wrong MW

Well, you're on the right track, but I think your wording could use some
improvement. There are two purposes for adding chain to a nylon rode. The
first, which is very much related to your suggestion, is to lower the angle
of the pull of the rode on the anchor. Since chain is heavy, it tends to
lie on the bottom and stay there more so than straight nylon would. An
anchor will always take and hold a set much better with a horizontal pull,
rather than a vertical pull. In fact, the most common way to break the set
of an anchor for retrieval is to position the boat directly above the
anchor, thereby changing the pull to pure vertical. Generally, the more
chain that is added to the rode, the less scope is required for a given set
of conditions, because of the increased horizontal pull effect that chain
provides over straight nylon.

The second reason for adding chain is for chafe protection. It stands to
reason that the part of the rode closest to the anchor will be subject to
the most abuse from rocks, coral, or other items on the bottom that could,
over time, chafe nylon to the point of needing to be replaced. By
positioning a length of chain next to the anchor, the chain takes the
majority of such abuse rather than the nylon section of the rode, and the
chain obviously holds up much under such conditions than does nylon.

I believe the purpose of the chain is to hold the flukes down to initially
set the anchor. Please correct me if I am wrong MW

The anchor rode, whether rope or chain, connects the boat to the anchor, but
the system really only works well (barring weird exceptions) when enough rode
is deployed to create adequate "scope".
Scope is the relationship between the length of rode deployed and the distance
between the bow pulpit and the sea floor.
In 20-feet of water, with a 5-foot clearance between the bow pulpit and the
surface, 75-feet of rode would create 3:1 scope- adequate to hold in
not-particularly challenging conditions. If there's enough space in the
anchorage, more boaters would prefer 5:1 for overnight moorage and
7:1 in a strong storm. In tidal waters, one has to consider the impending
changes in depth and allow for sufficient scope- particularly when anchoring at
or near low tide.

The greater the scope, the more horizontal the stresses on a set anchor will
be. Anchors are generally designed to "dig in" when pulled horizontally.

Chain is a "better" rode, in some ways, than rope. It is heavier, and can bang
up the foredeck worse than rope, but it tends to develop a heavy,
shock-absorbing belly between the anchor and the boat. It takes a lot more
pressure from wind or current to
straighten a chain rode than a rope in most situations. (Try stretching a
fathom of rope and then a fathom of chain. See how long you can hold your arms
out with one vs the other. Same thing goes on underwater) The chain tends to
lay flat along the bottom close to the anchor.

Boaters who routinely anchor in very deep water tend ot favor all chain rodes.
The chain rodes generally do not require as much scope to hold.

A combination rode is also a popular choice, with a length of chain
(traditionally equal to at least one boat length) spliced in between the rope
and the hook.

All correct. I've always used chain the length of the boat on combination
rodes; I now have the luxury of an all-chain rode, which I love! I can get
away with 3:1 scope where I'd have to use 5:1 to get the same effect with
chain/nylon. Of course, I add a nylon snubber when anchoring overnight or
for any extended period of time. I've also been using a Spade anchor for
awhile (in mud), and so far am very pleased with it.

--


Keith
__
Don't let your mind wander -- it's too little to be let out alone.
"RG" wrote in message news:Xi4Pa.506$Bp2.66@fed1read07...

"Michael Wright" wrote in message
...
I believe the purpose of the chain is to hold the flukes down to
initially
set the anchor. Please correct me if I am wrong MW

Well, you're on the right track, but I think your wording could use some
improvement. There are two purposes for adding chain to a nylon rode.
The
first, which is very much related to your suggestion, is to lower the
angle
of the pull of the rode on the anchor. Since chain is heavy, it tends to
lie on the bottom and stay there more so than straight nylon would. An
anchor will always take and hold a set much better with a horizontal pull,
rather than a vertical pull. In fact, the most common way to break the
set
of an anchor for retrieval is to position the boat directly above the
anchor, thereby changing the pull to pure vertical. Generally, the more
chain that is added to the rode, the less scope is required for a given
set
of conditions, because of the increased horizontal pull effect that chain
provides over straight nylon.

The second reason for adding chain is for chafe protection. It stands to
reason that the part of the rode closest to the anchor will be subject to
the most abuse from rocks, coral, or other items on the bottom that could,
over time, chafe nylon to the point of needing to be replaced. By
positioning a length of chain next to the anchor, the chain takes the
majority of such abuse rather than the nylon section of the rode, and the
chain obviously holds up much under such conditions than does nylon.

I see. I overlooked using all chain. I have set up about 5 feet of 3/4"
chain placed before a Bruce anchor. Mind you I don't need to use all chain
and the bottom around here is all mud and weeds making setting a lot easier
than in other conditions. Cheers MW
"RG" wrote in message news:Xi4Pa.506$Bp2.66@fed1read07...

"Michael Wright" wrote in message
...
I believe the purpose of the chain is to hold the flukes down to
initially
set the anchor. Please correct me if I am wrong MW

Well, you're on the right track, but I think your wording could use some
improvement. There are two purposes for adding chain to a nylon rode.
The
first, which is very much related to your suggestion, is to lower the
angle
of the pull of the rode on the anchor. Since chain is heavy, it tends to
lie on the bottom and stay there more so than straight nylon would. An
anchor will always take and hold a set much better with a horizontal pull,
rather than a vertical pull. In fact, the most common way to break the
set
of an anchor for retrieval is to position the boat directly above the
anchor, thereby changing the pull to pure vertical. Generally, the more
chain that is added to the rode, the less scope is required for a given
set
of conditions, because of the increased horizontal pull effect that chain
provides over straight nylon.

The second reason for adding chain is for chafe protection. It stands to
reason that the part of the rode closest to the anchor will be subject to
the most abuse from rocks, coral, or other items on the bottom that could,
over time, chafe nylon to the point of needing to be replaced. By
positioning a length of chain next to the anchor, the chain takes the
majority of such abuse rather than the nylon section of the rode, and the
chain obviously holds up much under such conditions than does nylon.

Just today, I saw several "ideal bottoms", but I confess that I did
not have one thought of "chain". At this rate, I'll *never* get my
Capt's License. )
noah

Yeah, but maybe the rule "one minute of holding power for every inch of scope"
might still apply.