Talk to me about anchors, chain and ropes

[LostPiker]

We are slowly getting out boat ready for sea and have had a look at the anchor it came with. Its a smallish grappling type anchor with about 5m of chain and then blue poly prop rope. I didn't measure the rope but its not very long so I think we should get some new rope. Been looking into what is recommended and they all say "depends on the depth you'll be anchoring in"

Problem is I have no idea. 

the boat is a 17ft wilson flyer look-a-like and we will be launching around the south coast, Chichester/Poole/Hayling Island sort of area. As new to boat fishing and boating in general we won't be going too far out, our insurance only covers us to 12 miles but I think it will be a while before we go much more than 5 miles or so. Any ideas on the sort of depths around there? Any recommendations for rope? Is 5m enough chain, seems very short to me?

 

thanks 

[Saintly Fish]

4 minutes ago, LostPiker said:

We are slowly getting out boat ready for sea and have had a look at the anchor it came with. Its a smallish grappling type anchor with about 5m of chain and then blue poly prop rope. I didn't measure the rope but its not very long so I think we should get some new rope. Been looking into what is recommended and they all say "depends on the depth you'll be anchoring in"

Problem is I have no idea. 

the boat is a 17ft wilson flyer look-a-like and we will be launching around the south coast, Chichester/Poole/Hayling Island sort of area. As new to boat fishing and boating in general we won't be going too far out, our insurance only covers us to 12 miles but I think it will be a while before we go much more than 5 miles or so. Any ideas on the sort of depths around there? Any recommendations for rope? Is 5m enough chain, seems very short to me?

 

thanks 

You will want atleast 3-4 times the depth you’ll fish in for rope and double the length of your boat in chain. 6mm chain will do and 10mm rope. If you can afford it get 8 plaite rope. It stows away neater in the buckets. A 7kg anchor set up on an Alderney rig would be my preferred weight.

60-100 feet is the normal I fish in, in and around the solent. So I’d say a minimum of 100m of rope. You may well not need that much but better to have it for the odd occasion you may. 

[Andy135]

Hi Adam, as Neil says above, 3-4x your regular depth is about right. In the east Wight area (the area south of Hayling Island) it rarely gets deeper than 30-35m, so if you aim for around 120m of rope you'll be fine. On my 165 I used 12mm 3 strand - generally the larger the diameter, the easier on the hands if you have to haul manually. Do you plan to use the Alderney method of anchor retrieval? If so, you can reduce your rope diameter to 10mm.

As for an anchor, I recommend you keep the grapnel for a spare and use a Bruce anchor for your main. Better holding power than the grapnel and they're not too expensive. Don't forget to trip your anchor in case of snags. Shout if you need help with how to rig an anchor to trip. For your boat a 5 or 6kg anchor would be ok. I used a 5kg on mine.

For chain the general rule of thumb is to use chain that is 1.5x the length of the boat. On my 165 I used 1x the length of chain, but went up a grade and used 8mm chain instead of 6, and this worked fine.

In fact, I have this chain going spare if you want it. 5m of 8mm galvanised chain. Free of charge but you'll probably want to pick it up in person as I imagine the postage might be quite steep. From memory you were planning to use your boat in the Reading area as well as on the coast? I'm between Reading and Newbury.

[LostPiker]

8 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

Hi Adam, as Neil says above, 3-4x your regular depth is about right. In the east Wight area (the area south of Hayling Island) it rarely gets deeper than 30-35m, so if you aim for around 120m of rope you'll be fine. On my 165 I used 12mm 3 strand - generally the larger the diameter, the easier on the hands if you have to haul manually. Do you plan to use the Alderney method of anchor retrieval? If so, you can reduce your rope diameter to 10mm.

As for an anchor, I recommend you keep the grapnel for a spare and use a Bruce anchor for your main. Better holding power than the grapnel and they're not too expensive. Don't forget to trip your anchor in case of snags. Shout if you need help with how to rig an anchor to trip. For your boat a 5 or 6kg anchor would be ok. I used a 5kg on mine.

For chain the general rule of thumb is to use chain that is 1.5x the length of the boat. On my 165 I used 1x the length of chain, but went up a grade and used 8mm chain instead of 6, and this worked fine.

In fact, I have this chain going spare if you want it. 5m of 8mm galvanised chain. Free of charge but you'll probably want to pick it up in person as I imagine the postage might be quite steep. From memory you were planning to use your boat in the Reading area as well as on the coast? I'm between Reading and Newbury.

thanks Andy, very generous. Yes, I'm near Camberley, I'll message you in the new year about the chain. 

Alderney rigging is what I think we'll do, watched a load of youtube videos and it looks the easiest way. Can we use the cheap blue poly rope? Found 100m reel for £20, claims to have a 960kg breaking strain but seems worryingly cheap, stuff listed as anchor rope is £200 for 100m, don't want to cheap out and have issues but also don't want to waste money I could spend on other boat stuff 

[Saintly Fish]

7 minutes ago, LostPiker said:

thanks Andy, very generous. Yes, I'm near Camberley, I'll message you in the new year about the chain. 

Alderney rigging is what I think we'll do, watched a load of youtube videos and it looks the easiest way. Can we use the cheap blue poly rope? Found 100m reel for £20, claims to have a 960kg breaking strain but seems worryingly cheap, stuff listed as anchor rope is £200 for 100m, don't want to cheap out and have issues but also don't want to waste money I could spend on other boat stuff 

Don’t bother with the blue stuff. It’ll frei and tangle like you wouldn’t believe. 

[Andy135]

Avoid blue poly like the plague. It floats and is therefore much more at risk of wrapping round your prop when recovering your anchor using the Alderney method, plus it's abrasive on your hands and doesn't coil nicely when stowing. Seriously, use nylon - either 3 or 8 strand. If you buy in bulk you should have enough rope for your main and your spare set-ups. 220m coil for £110. Link below.

https://www.ropesandtwines.com/proddetail.php?prod=10mm_nylon_rope

[LostPiker]

I thought £20 was a bit too good to be true!

so looks like I need the

coil of rope - £110

Bruce Anchor - £30

Alderney kit - £45

Chain - freebie off Andy

 

Look about right?

[Andy135]

Looks about right to me.

Don't forget a handful of cable ties or an anchor trip device (https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/184398715054?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=184398715054&targetid=1002021776313&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1006570&poi=&campaignid=10195651178&mkgroupid=107296207892&rlsatarget=pla-1002021776313&abcId=1145987&merchantid=6995734&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-ARIsALQE_2NvGIMVxTctXNb38WvubeAv0n5Y7y_af2Al5zBnMhNU3csI7hJb3akaAmhaEALw_wcB)

[Saintly Fish]

Sat at my house I have 20m 8mm chain spliced to approx 110m 12mm tope. It’s spare.

£70 it’s yours

im in Southampton 

[Saintly Fish]

I went down to 6mm and 10mm rope. I still have that old set up. The other I’m getting rid of was from my Parker. 

[suzook12]

54 minutes ago, JonC said:

Why did you change? Did you go down to 6mm or up to 10mm ? 

If you're really quick, it will have an anchor still attached one end and a boat the other.... Now that really is a bargain 🤣

[Saintly Fish]

5 minutes ago, JonC said:

Have you got a 10mm gypo? 

Yes I changed it.

[Saintly Fish]

2 minutes ago, JonC said:

I remember you changing it, why did you change though? Was it to carry more rope?

No I had enough rope, I did it because the rope I did have was not feeding through the gypsy well enough. So I decided to go to smaller plaited rope and chain so that it would fall better into the anchor locker. 
It didn’t work. 

[Andy135]

7 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said:

No I had enough rope, I did it because the rope I did have was not feeding through the gypsy well enough. So I decided to go to smaller plaited rope and chain so that it would fall better into the anchor locker. 
It didn’t work. 

Were it not for the weight it would almost be worth going all chain, just to eliminate the issues with the rope not self-coiling. Presumably the anchoring power of all chain is better than chain and rope, so less could be carried?

[Saintly Fish]

28 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

Were it not for the weight it would almost be worth going all chain, just to eliminate the issues with the rope not self-coiling. Presumably the anchoring power of all chain is better than chain and rope, so less could be carried?

I have considered this, but as you know I’m a bit nose heavy and I worry this will make it worse. 

[Saintly Fish]

20 minutes ago, JonC said:

Did you try the cone?

No I didn’t. My locker is not deep enough to take a big cone. Just how big is @GPSguru ‘s big plug ?

[Saintly Fish]

2 minutes ago, JonC said:

Have you ever been bowling? 

Yeah, usually use an 11lb ball. That big?

[GPSguru]

54 minutes ago, JonC said:

Did you try the cone? If it doesn’t physically fit you could use one of @GPSguru’s butt plugs. Not the big one that he got stuck that time though. 

I think it is you that needs the butt plugs Jon ..............especially with your gimp suit 🤣

 

[Saintly Fish]

12 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

I think it is you that needs the butt plugs Jon ..............especially with your gimp suit 🤣

 

That can’t be Jon, the suits too small. 

[JDP]

Not all anchors and ropes are equal. You can use lighter anchors such as sarca and rocna to keep the size and weight down in small boats but still have incredible holding power compared with most anchors. The same goes for ropes, depending on manufacturer you can get a rope of 6mm with greater strength than ropes of 12mm, also better uv resistance. If you are pulling an anchor by hand, then some people like thicker rope but if you use something like an alderney rig then thinner rope might be the way to go. As general rule the minimum length of chain in 8mm would be the length of the boat, so a 5m boat minimum of 5m of chain, if you use lighter gauge then more length. I tend to double my chain length as I anchor in depths over 100m, which my thinner ropes and anchor style allow me to do so with just 2x1 ratio's. Make sure you get either galvanised or stainless chain or it will soon become a rusty mess.

 

[JDP]

Heres an example where you can see the difference in strengths when you compare 12mm ropes. Just compare the first two very similar 3 strand white ropes to see what I mean. Once you get into braid ropes and spectra the price goes up as does the strengths.

 

[Odyssey]

Other option is to buy fishy’s anchor set up. This will get you started for a good price. 
 

if you need more anchor rode then try MarineScene. They have off cuts at low prices. You can always splice 2 together to give a longer line. I use 3 strand 12mm easy to splice. 
 

I use marinescene off cuts for my dock lines. Splice a loop, cut to length and your away, lots cheaper. Once worn out (yes they do wear, stretch and fray on ends unless you backsplice) can use as fender lines or bin. 
 

As above, minimum 1x boat length of chain preferably 1.5 x boat length. Check your splices every few month, they can fray and you don’t want to tighten on anchor and it go ping! 
 

Look out on Facebook for chain, you can get some real bargains but it must be Galv. Stainless won’t be cheap but will be shiny 😉

Edited December 19, 2020 by Odyssey

[Odyssey]

Oh be careful searching ropes and chains on google..... 😉 

Rode is your anchor line, it’s not called rope. White is standard colour. It’s worth splicing/painting markers every 10ft so you know how much you got out relative to depth. I don’t bother now as I can kind of guess through experience 

Edited December 19, 2020 by Odyssey

[Saintly Fish]

1 hour ago, Odyssey said:

I don’t bother now as I can kind of guess through experience 

If I’m correct, the rule is rope to be at 45 degrees when anchor is out. That what works for me.

[Odyssey]

17 minutes ago, JonC said:

Longer rope and flatter angle the better I think, 

That’s what I use 🙂 

When fishing out of Cardiff it would usually be in about 60ft of water max. So just let out of the rode until the clean stuff came out the locker and you’d be fine. Water so silty white rode goes brown