Anchor Rode Questions

[Bobcat]

Three strand or double braided?

Thimble and shackle to chain or splice?

For those in the PNW, how much rode do you carry?

[AJZimm]

Three strand or double braided?

Thimble and shackle to chain or splice?

For those in the PNW, how much rode do you carry?

For my 18 ft open sail and oar boat, which has a board-up draft of 7" and can therefore anchor in shallower waters than keelboats:
1. Three strand
2. Thimble and shackle to chain
3. !00 feet, including about 20 feet of chain, plus an additional 100 feet that I can bend on when needed.

[Canoeyawl]

Double braid nylon...

(Not in PMW, but 7-8 feet of rode for each foot of water depth you intend to anchor in is a standard)

[Ian McColgin]

My cruising has not required anchoring in more than 60' so I carry 300' of chain for one anchor and 300' of 3 strand nylon and a boat length of chain leader for the other. I don't like combing the rode out to make 4 strands for braiding into the chain. Rather I make a crown knot on the end link with two strands going one way and one the other and then backsplice. I put chafe tape where the strands pass over the end link and then tape on the completed splice to keep dirt from chafing it.

[Garret]

I like 3 strand nylon as it's stretchier than polyester. Sailing in Maine, I carry 300' of rode attached to about 60' of chain. Aft anchor is similar - though only 30' of chain. I have mine spliced to the chain so it'll go through the windlass.

[Autonomous]

On my power boat, which was used mostly in the Salish Sea, 20' of chain and 350' of three strand with thimble and shackle.
On my new sail-n-oar boat, which will see a variety of waters around the greater PNW, 5' of chain and 200' of three strand with thimble and shackle.
I could easily get away with 1/3 or possibly 1/2 less, but I like not getting caught short...

For your avatar boat in the Salish Sea, I'd suggest 50' of chain and 200' of nylon minimum.
Three strand is easy to splice, 8 strand plaited line flakes down compactly.

[Bobcat]

I currently have a 100 ft of chain and 200 ft of 3 strand. I'm going to replace the three strand and trying to decide if I want 200 250 or 300 ft

[J.Madison]

For a larger cruising boat I would want the ability to anchor in 80 ft with 4.5:1 scope at least. So total rode length of 360 ft. There are a number of deep anchorages in the pnw, Port Townsend and Friday harbor being two of the most popular.

For my primary anchor I carry 330 ft of chain with another 150 ft or so of 8 strand "braight" spliced on the end. No thimble, as it won't pass through the windlass.

Another advantage of long rode is you can back down to double your scope and set a stern anchor without having to launch the dinghy.

Fwiw I really never lay to the rope as conditions that warrant that much scope are likely to provide significant chafe at the boat end. So be sure to provide chafe protection as it's a single point failure. With longer chain i have a chain hook leading to a bridle snubber, and the chain is captive on the windlass. 3 points have to fail before I come adrift, one of them being chain. But not always worth spending the money on all that chain I know.

[Canoeyawl]

More than once I have seen the eye splice in a three strand rode worried enough to come unraveled.
Twice in fact, both times were within sight of a restaurant which called the harbor patrol, so very lucky he was to avoid the beach.
(When I do a splice on an anchor rode I seize it and sew through with monel wire)

edit to add: because my boat is small (5k lbs) and I never anchor more than overnight for a day or two here I don't use any chain. The bottom here is good old mud or sand. On the Rosinante in Maine I use a bit of chain for chafe, maybe 10-15 feet, because the prevailing ground is "ledge", sharp and harder than the hinges of hell.

[Bobcat]

The eye splices that have unraveled were they to the chain or around a thimble?

[Ian McColgin]

I've not seen an eye splice in three strand, whether on a thimble or soft eye, unravel though I imagine one could were it started incorrectly, not pulled and rolled evenly with each tuck, or perhaps only carried out to three tucks.

I would not use any sort of wire to seize or sew a fiber splice but I serve hard eyes at the lower legs of the thimble and at the splice's throat. And because it's slippery, when I made up some mooring lines in polypropylene I made twelve tucks.

[Canoeyawl]

The eye splices that have unraveled were they to the chain or around a thimble?

Virgin nylon line spliced around a thimble, shacked to 10 fathoms of 1/2" chain, on a 40 foot sailboat/commercial troller. The splice was professionally done by the local rigging shop (not my boat)


Note, that just because you haven't seen it happen, doesn't mean it can't, or won't

Santa Cruz is a rolly-polly anchorage, not that well protected from the constant Pacific swell. The anchorage is just inside "Steamer Lane" a favorite surf spot. It was "moored" for a couple of weeks until the season opened, and my suspicion is the line became twisted and hockled then the splice worried itself loose. May not have happened if there was a swivel.
I suspect this is not the first or the last time it will happen, perhaps dr google may have some input of value.

(The only reason I know about this is the man asked my advice when setting up his 24" Kolstrand deck winch when I was fabricating some fittings for him. I commented on all that brand new three strand line, and made the suggestion that I would have used braided line, for the reason than it is stronger and resists chafe a little better. He didn't want to spend the money)

[Bobcat]

"Hockle" I learned a new word

thanks

[Canoeyawl]

F5ECAB6A-F97F-4490-977B-C64C34B9D87C.jpg
stolen images...
but you get the gist of why it might "unsplice"

(In stranded wire rope it's called a "bird cage")

DA5E128B-EA95-4A71-9A22-447173A58977.jpeg

[wizbang 13]

i've had cheap 3 strand hockle .some generic rope i got in st barts a million years ago .never happened with new england rope or good line.
never used anything but 3 strand for anchoring
i avoid eye splices in general...it's only human nature to let them go too long
that photo of the hockle above....even the knife lanyard is crap

[ron ll]

Snoose has 50’ of 5/16” chain spliced to 300’ of 5/8” three strand nylon. I replaced the chain a couple years ago and upped it to 100’ of chain. I really didn’t like that length of chain so I cut it back to 50’. I think either use all chain or about a boat length or so. Washington Chain Works did the splice and said it is important that the strands around the link are really tight so that the splice and first link act as a solid piece. You don’t want the strands to move on that link and chafe. I also don’t use a swivel, although I’ve heard that the VERY expensive stainless cylindrical swivels are okay.

My windlass wildcat handles the chain okay and has a groove for the nylon. But my 5/8” nylon doesn’t fit in it so I bring in the nylon by hand or on the drum side of the windlass if I need help. But that makes switching to the chain wildcat a little tricky so I use a short line and chain claw to hold it while I switch. So far my setup has worked well for around here and up into the Gulf Islands. If I decide to go farther north into Canada and Alaska, I might think about all chain.

Just for the record, my main anchor is a 45lb CQR, and Snoose is 28,000 lbs.

[Ian McColgin]

When a line is hockled all bets are off.

I agree that "I've not seen . . ." does not mean "can't happen". That's why I wrote it and provided a few hypothetical examples.

[ron ll]

A friend just upgraded his chain and nylon (Nordic 37). He brought it all to the dock and started stuffing line into the anchor locker and of course all went well until the nylon started to twist more as he approached the chain, just asking for hockles. So he pulled it all out and laid it out along the dock as untwisted as he could get it and then started loading again, same problem just not quite as bad. I suggested he go out to deep water and drop everything straight down, wait a bit and then bring the whole thing up with the windlass. He did, and that seemed to solve the problem.

[Bobcat]

I am pretty well convinced that three strand is the way to go: I can splice it and it stretches more than double braided line. It's harder to find three strand in a 300 foot length. Still mulling over if 250 feet would be enough. With my chain, I would have a total of about 350 feet.

Some line is noted to be not for windlasses, but I assume that means not a windlass with a groove for rope. My windlass has a drum on one side and a chain gypsy on the other.

Thanks Ron, good tip on dropping the anchor in deep water to let it unwind.

[ron ll]

^^Be sure you know what the bitter end is attached to.

[Bobcat]

That did occur to me....

[jpatrick]

How well does plaited line fit into the ongoing discussion?

Jeff

[Ian McColgin]

To relax three strand right off the drum, I tow behind for a mile or so. I put a small buoy at the free end to help keep the 300' or so from dragging on the bottom. Simply dropping the line over from a still boat does not do much.

[Autonomous]

i've had cheap 3 strand hockle .some generic rope i got in st barts a million years ago .never happened with new england rope or good line.

I still have some good, very dense 3/8" New England three strand from years ago. The difference between it and the punky, soft imported crap is shocking.
It would take an exceptional chain of events to make that good stuff hockle. I've seen the cheap crap noodle up for seemingly no reason.

I want to replace that good 3/8" rode on my skiff with 5/16" to save room. 5/16" line has just over 2/3 the volume of 3/8" line, 69% actually.
My cheap side says for the loads involved something at a price point from Amazon will work. My picky side looks down it's nose at my cheap side.
The reality is anchoring in an open skiff will be a rare event.

[Canoeyawl]

Fwiw the spliced rode that I spoke of was New England Rope

Any stranded line can hockle

[gilberj]

In the past I have had all chain ~300 ft it was good. I now have 2 lengths of rope, each about 160 ft and about 40 ft of chain. I can easily haul in the rope by hand and then for the breakout I have the chain on the gypsy. I mostly anchor in 25 to 35 ft so this combination works.
I did have an anchor rode cut by someone's propeller or something....they were kind enough to secure my boat to a parks mooring ball

[lupussonic]

We have a type of rope in the UK called Octoplait. It's 8 strands woven together in a kind of square formation, but the rope is round in section. Not sure if that's what you all call braided or not, but it stows beautifully as it has no spiral twist to fight. It dumps into a rope locker with no arguments, not even a whimper. Many in the UK use it for anchor rode, also easy to end splice to a shackle.

[lupussonic]

Octoplait-8-plait-Nylon-Multi-plait-mooring-anchor-rope-16mm.jpg

This stuff. From memory it is about 5% less elastic than 3 strand, but still elastic enough to absorb wave motion without breaking out the anchor. Elasticity is important.

[nedL]

I have about 250’ of 1/2” three strand and about 7’ of chain. I personally would not splice directly to the chain, but always use a shackle and thimble. I don’t have to worry about it fitting through a deck pipe though.

[Bobcat]

So I ordered 300 feet of three strand to upgrade my anchor rode. I will splice the line to the chain. The thimble and shackle I have been using cause some problems when exiting or entering the chain locker. The old rode will be used with my stern anchor/lunch hook and my spare anchor a bronze Danforth style a gift from my late brother who owned a Chris Craft and told the anchor was a Chris Craft specialty.

[Bobcat]

I do enjoy watching a purchase --- here 300 feet of line---move across the country by Fed Ex.

My anchor rode is coming from Saranac MI to Seattle, arriving on Monday. It is currently in Beach, North Dakota, having traveled about 1400 miles.

Gotta ask why is a town in North Dakota called Beach?

[Garret]

I do enjoy watching a purchase --- here 300 feet of line---move across the country by Fed Ex.

My anchor rode is coming from Saranac MI to Seattle, arriving on Monday. It is currently in Beach, North Dakota, having traveled about 1400 miles.

Gotta ask why is a town in North Dakota called Beach?

'cause winters there are a real beach?

[Bobcat]

Maybe there was a beech tree and someone misspelled it

[willin woodworks]

150 feet of 5/8" three strand and 50 feet of chain, 10 ft of 3/8" and 40 ft of 5/16". Eye splice, galvanized thimble, shackle on a 28 foot sloop.The depest place I've anchored is The Pond on Block and thats 30 feet. So I can 5-1 without counting the chain.
Most place around here are 10-20 feet deep so I lay out all the chain and enough rode to put the chain on the bottom. Gives me a short shock absorber if the weather kicks up.

[Bobcat]

Water around here is a lot deeper. Lots of places where the depth is 100 fathom (600 feet) or greater. Anchorages are not as deep of of course. I am set up to anchor in 50 feet of water with 7-1

My anchor line is now west of Missoula MT, having gone through most of Montana in the last 12 hours. A bit over 2000 miles on its journey to me