How much anchor chain?

[bigmoe]

I need to attach some chain to my slip anchor. My boat is a small 14' aluminum fishing boat, its not very heavy. I have read about 6' would be enough, sound correct? Thanks.

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: How much anchor chain?

I am not sure what the standard is for chain length, but I myself, have only about 2 feet of chain attached to my danforth, and I can set in sandy bottoms with enough rode to hold my 17 foot boat in place with foot and a half waves crashing against the bow... I think 6 feet you want to use ot a bit much...

More chain is more weight, but I think it would boil down to the what kind of lake conditions you need to set in, and lake bottom (sand, rock, weedy) I would say 2-3 feet is plenty.... but perhaps somebody with more expertise on this can give a more definitive answer.

 

[marcortez]

Re: How much anchor chain?

A general rule of thumb for boats that are used in near shore ocean conditions is 1' of chain for every foot of boat length.
IE: A 25' boat....25' of chain.

A calm lake is a whole different story and 6' is plenty....or even less...up to you.

 

[SteveRoss]

Re: How much anchor chain?

I'm not sure I'd put out that much chain, or any if at all.... I',m using a lil 12 lb mushroom anchor on a 14' Jon boat..... just a line between me and the anchor. I mostly use it in mud or muddy-rocky bottom lakes.

 

[rbh]

Re: How much anchor chain?

Remember that the chain is just a shock absorber, the weight of it just keeps the boat from jarring when the bow lifts, your boat is quite light, you may want to try a bungee style rode.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: How much anchor chain?

Remember that the chain is just a shock absorber, the weight of it just keeps the boat from jarring when the bow lifts, your boat is quite light, you may want to try a bungee style rode.

I quit using chain entirely after I went to bungie cord. Obviously if you are sleeping on a anchored boat or in the ocean, you probably wouldn't want that, but for anchoring an under 20 footer in sane water conditions, it works great!

 

[Lrider]

Re: How much anchor chain?

unless you are fighting currents, I would use a 5 or 6 pound danforth and about 8 feet of chain, mushrooms don't hold all that much, they are made to be buried

 

[bigmoe]

Re: How much anchor chain?

I quit using chain entirely after I went to bungie cord. Obviously if you are sleeping on a anchored boat or in the ocean, you probably wouldn't want that, but for anchoring an under 20 footer in sane water conditions, it works great!

I thought the purpose of the chain was getting the anchor to dig in?

unless you are fighting currents, I would use a 5 or 6 pound danforth and about 8 feet of chain, mushrooms don't hold all that much, they are made to be buried

It gets pretty windy on the lake I fish and I cant get the anchor to dig in with just rope. My anchor is a danforth type anchor also.

Thanks guys.

 

[Tig]

Re: How much anchor chain?

I use 3' on 50' of rode for sheltered waters.
10' on 100' of rode in open water.
My anchor use is mostly for temporary day mooring.

 

[marcortez]

Re: How much anchor chain?

I thought the purpose of the chain was getting the anchor to dig in?

Thanks guys.

Your close and on the right track.....however the purpose of chain is to get a "horizontal" pull on the anchor, after it is set and dug in, which in turn, helps tremendously to keep from "pulling out" and losing the bite.

The chain lays on the seabed, lake bed or whatever bed vs line rode is just wafting in the current or breeze and giving zero horizontal pull to the anchor.

With too short a length of chain or line rode only, the pull on the anchor becomes more vertical and that results in dragging anchor.

A constant horizontal pull on the anchor keeps the flukes or "plow" digging in deeper and deeper

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: How much anchor chain?

"rules" on anchoring often apply to overnight mooring prepared for adverse conditions. A foot of chain for every foot of boat is way excessive for ordinary use and especially with a 14'. Same goes with how much line to let out. 2-3feet and a danforth will be plenty unless you are in strong current.
Mushrooms usually don't use chains; they are moer for temporary stabilizing or calm water. Very convenient for this reason, though.

 

[edwardh1]

Re: How much anchor chain?

40 ft sail charter boats in caribbean in coral sea floor have 100 ft of chain. then another 100 ft of fiber line

I like for power boats 1 ft per ft of boat length, even for 14-18 ft boats. you need it in the tide curent

 

[KermieB]

Re: How much anchor chain?

40 ft sail charter boats in caribbean in coral sea floor have 100 ft of chain. then another 100 ft of fiber line

I like for power boats 1 ft per ft of boat length, even for 14-18 ft boats. you need it in the tide curent

I guess I need to get rid of some flotation devices to get 19' of chain on my 19' boat. I don't think that equation is normal.....

 

[edwardh1]

Re: How much anchor chain?

it does not have to be huge chain
or
if no wind or current take 8ft

 

[Tig]

Re: How much anchor chain?

As some have touched on, it really depends how and where you use your anchor. Strong winds, currents or tides make the amount of chain, length and size of rode and the right style of anchor very important.
I find chain is a bit of a hassle to manage, so sometimes less is better.
To answer your original question, 6' sounds like plenty for anyplace a 14' aluminum boat should be.

 

[commander315]

Re: How much anchor chain?

uscg says one boat length of chain. (I have a 31 foot boat with 10' of chain...so idk)

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: How much anchor chain?

As some have touched on, it really depends how and where you use your anchor. Strong winds, currents or tides make the amount of chain, length and size of rode and the right style of anchor very important.
I find chain is a bit of a hassle to manage, so sometimes less is better.
To answer your original question, 6' sounds like plenty for anyplace a 14' aluminum boat should be.

Totally agree, and would add that it depends on the anchor, as well.

One thing everyone seems to have in common , when responding, is they equate their experience with being the only probability. Conditions and location will always dictate the correct anchor, chain and rode combination.

One should always make decisions based on what is happening now, or where they are. There are never any hard and fast rules. Even the "rules" require that they be adapted to circumstances.

So, without knowing the OP's operating conditions, but based on boat size/type and therefore probable use, a mushroom anchor w/o chain, or a Danforth with 3' of chain seems adequate.

 

[Boatist]

Re: How much anchor chain?

Chain is used for 2 things.
1 If you anchor in Sharp rocky bottoms that may rub or cut your anchor line then chain will prevent the rocks from cutting the line.

2 If you anchor with a short scope like 3 to 1 then in light conditions the chain will hold the shank of the anchor down against the bottom helping the anchor to dig deeper.
However as the wind current and swells pick it will add more strain and even the chain will pull up off the bottom and point straight at the boat.

You can try this in your back yard or a beach.
Take your anchor with chain and dig it in to your grass or the beach or mud.
Now walk about 10 feet away and pull lightly on your line.
With a light pull the chain wil lie flat on the bottom and the line will lift up.
Now pull much harder and you will see the chain also lift up and the anchor shank lift up and points at you.
The anchor flutes will also lift when the shank lift up so much.
The shorter the line the higher the anchor shank lift and the higher the anchor flutes lift.
When the flutes are point up instead of down the anchor will break loose and not hold.
This is the same way it work in the water.

For the best hold you let out more line and you will find when the scope get to 7 to 1
7 feet of line for ever 1 foot of height that the shank only lift a little but the flutes are still pointed down so the anchor diggs in deeper and holds better.

This is true with most anchors but a danforth style is what I am talking about.
Personally I would not use a mushroom anchor as a main anchor.
Type of anchor and brand makes a big difference.
I have two anchor on my 21 foot boat.
First one is a 8 pound Danforth with 4 feet of chain with 150 feet of line and I used it for years without problems.
Second one is a 4 pound Fortress FX-7 with no chain and 200 feet of line and have used it for the last 12 years.

The style of the Fortress is the same as the Danforth but the flutes are sharpened and the shank is thinner and tapered on the edges.

The sharp flutes of the Fortress digg in much faster than the Danforth and the thinner tappered shank of the Fortress actually goes deep down in the sand or mud.
The harder you pull the deeper it goes.

Since we got the Fortress the Danforth has not been in the water.

Bottom line if you want to anchor with a short scope use more of chain but if you want the best hold in strong wind and currents and Swells use longer line.

Take your anchor to a empty beach and do some testing.

 

[bigmoe]

Re: How much anchor chain?

Thanks for all the tips guys. I will start out with more chain due to using a short scope. I can always shorten it.

 

[shrew]

Re: How much anchor chain?

Remember that the chain is just a shock absorber, the weight of it just keeps the boat from jarring when the bow lifts, your boat is quite light, you may want to try a bungee style rode.

No offense, but this piece of information is incorrect. As stated earlier, the chain changes the angle of pull to a more horizontal and keeps the anchor set. True the boat will need to lift the chain off of the floor which reduces the force placed directly on the anchor itself, but this is not for 'shock absorbtion' purposes it's to ensure the anchor remains set.