I can't find the old the old thread.

so just sharing my experience since i posted in it.


New modem anchors are not the be all a d end all solution

Imo a old plough....with correct chain and scope works equally as well as new modern $1000 models.

anchorage is a skill



I fail often.....but get it right more often than not.

Chain is the key....along with scope

If in doubt let it all out has always been my saying.

And show the test is rubbish they only used 20 feet of chain.
Who in the real world uses just 20 feet of chain.

Wondering in people's opinion onthe following.
What would be the optimum length of rode and chain and also what diameter rode.
I presently. Have 100m 12mm but I am thinking of changing to 50m of 14mm I also have 8 m of chain.

twodogs1969 said..
Wondering in people's opinion onthe following.
What would be the optimum length of rode and chain and also what diameter rode.
I presently. Have 100m 12mm but I am thinking of changing to 50m of 14mm I also have 8 m of chain.

14mm would be better on the hands. I use 14mm yacht braid, 8m of 10mm chain My version of an SS Ultra. The yacht braid lays down well in the anchor well with out having to worry about the lay of 3 strand cordage.

Twodogs, how are you using your boat?
What is best for you depends on the boat and where you go.
Also there a huge difference in the quality of rode these days.
So there is no definitive answer.

Generally 100m is a great deal and it is more useful if it was two lengths of 50m.
Also 8m of chain sounds light on but if you are only weekend cruising in sheltered waters it might be fine.
As to diameter that is tricky.

With a modern race boat with a high lift keel where a stop in an open roadstead might be needed I try to takle 50m of 30mm not because lighter might break but the extra drag of the rode though the water slows the keel from developing lift and the boat taking off upwind at 3 knots. For some reason it works better than all chain rode.

lydia said..
Everyone seems happy to bag CQR.
Trick question, what does it stand for?

For years I thought it was an acronym for 'Secure' ..... but I now know it is not which is why it should be written as C.Q.R.

I anchored on the Calliope at Gladstone for nigh on two years with a CQR. Theres an horrific current there especially when in flood. Only time I had any trouble was in a westerly after which I secured a 40kg shackle twenty meters from the anchor.

Never shifted after that. Was a bugger to get up though as I have no winch!

But if you think of it the other way around, sometimes 36 hours in an open roadstead is far better than 36 hours in a gale two handed.

For cruising in say a 35-45 footer when you are not so much worried about weight 100kg of 10mm is a good place to start.

If it good quality chain that should be about 40m.

I understood the benefit of the chain, aside from endurance rubbing on objects on the bottom, is that its weight stops the anchor from being pulled upwards and out of its bed. So there is a limit to to the usefulness of a really long length.

I had a 39ft 15T boat at on stage which I sailed around NZ with wind blown and choppy anchoring standard. The boat came with 10m of chain (don't know gauge). Short according to above.

To compensate it had additionally what I was told was an "anchor angel". A 30kg cone of S/S with a roller on its peak. The idea being that one drops the anchor, wait until it digs in and the chain and rode has tension, then swing the "anchor angel" by its roller onto the rode and lower it to the bottom with a separate line. Then it holds the loose end of the chain down and stops the anchor being pulled up. The anchor was a CQR. We never dragged once in 18 months using that.

Ramona said..
On my fishing vessel I used 14mm 3 strand nylon and 12m of 10mm chain. 18 tons and a fair bit of windage. Spent a lot of nights at anchor and some in horrific weather. The nylon I still have in the shed is stiff from years of stretching and is more like steel cable than stretchy nylon it once was. I can probably coil it down to about 1 metre coils with some effort. For survey purposes you need the length of your vessel in chain. When that anchor rope is bar tight most of the chain is off the bottom.

Couldn't agree more. Catenary is only there in moderate conditions, never in a blow when you need it and the rode is bar tight .

twodogs1969 said..

lydia said...
But if you think of it the other way around, sometimes 36 hours in an open roadstead is far better than 36 hours in a gale two handed.

For cruising in say a 35-45 footer when you are not so much worried about weight 100kg of 10mm is a good place to start.

If it good quality chain that should be about 40m.

I am the anchor winch

Twodogs, me too, gives you strong arms

Never ever regretted upgrading to a Sacra Excell and 10mm chain. Encouraging cruising yachtsman to settle for second rate ground tackle is stupidity!