How long anchor chain for 18ft?

[cooky]

lost my anchor chain a few weeks ago at the reef. Just wondering what I should replace with? are there different types of chain? and how many metres for a 5.4m glass boat?

[basserman]

i have a 5.3 and i run 5 meters of chain
so anywhere between 5-6 meters will be the best however only a copule of meters will do if you hardly anchor and don't do any overnighters

the more chain you have the easyer it is for your anchor to hold bottom

[blaze]

often wonder when anchoring on reef if it may be better to use a 5 prong reef pick with the pipe filled with lead, no chain and a springer rubber at the boat.
I have a very small sand anchor with the wings made of plate stainless welded together and then opened up like a wedge then filled with lead. (no good for the reef though), just thought I would mention it because sometimes its good to think outside the square.
sand anchors probably want lenth of boat in shortlink chain
cheers
blaze

[cooky]

thanks for that. I don't think my chain was quite 5m long before - most likely 3 or so metres. I'll get some extra length. i was thinking about the lead idea with the reef pick too

[empty]

hi cooky your anchour chain should be at least as long as the boat ,

[empty]

this is the anchour i use ,when it gets caught just tie the warp off and drive over the top of the anchour pulling it free

[SeaSaw]

Cooky, I would be going with at least 6m of chain. The rule of thumb is at least as long as your boat, but I use 10m on a 6.8m boat. The time your anchor drags, and could have been avoided with more chain, is the time you least want it to e.g. in an emergency situation in really bad weather.

Cheers,

Mark

[cooky]

where do you get those anchors from? looks pretty mean stuff

[agnes_jack]

Cooky
We use a boat length, and carry another boat length for those times when it's rough and the anchor just won't hold. We have at times resorted to- a boat length of chain with a reef pick on the end, followed by another length of chain with a sand anchor on the end of that. On some of the gravel beds and sand areas around wrecks, that is sometimes the only way to get a solid hold. More chain is better than less chain, and think about carrying a bit extra with a couple of shackles just in case you have an emergency situation, and MUST hold bottom.

Regards, Tony

[Mantaray]

Why is everybody only interested in length? Wouldn't the chain size be critical in the overall package. 6m of 1/4" would be a totally different deal to 6m of 5/16" or 6m of 3/8"

So what has length only go to do with it?

[agnes_jack]

Manta
I'm talking heavy short link chain, heavier the better.

Regards, Tony

[Mantaray]

Tony, So is there any difference using 6m 3/8" short link or 9m 1/4" shortlink if weights were identical for the sake of the comparison. If the weights were identical would the length be important?

[agnes_jack]

I would think that the shorter chain would be as good a choice as any, purely because it's easier to deal with 6m than 9m. But a longer, heavier length does help in large swell, thats why we carry two shorter lengths of heavier chain, 99% of the time 1 length will do.

Whats your opinion?

Regards, Tony

[rando]

Chain is the shock absorber, when the boat pitches in a swell the boat end of the chain is lifted off the bottom but the anchor end if it stays on the bottom applies that extra force horizontally to the anchor: therefore longer is better the rule of thumb is one and a half times the length of the boat. Size of the link depends on the weight of the boat, heavier boat heavier chain, you want that chain to lay along the bottom and force the anchor flukes to dig in under load. extra chain on board is a great idea as is an extra anchor. When you are anchoring never throw the anchor always lower it this lays the gain out and gives a good anchor set.

[Mantaray]

Tony, my opinion? I think i would err on the side of the length v the size to gain the weight advantage. As boats get bigger/heavier the chain size doesn't go up proportionally but the length probably gets longer. 3/8" short link will support quite a large boat as far as breaking strain is concerned.