ANCHOR ROPE AND RODE LENGTH

[albatross]

Good evening all I have a question. I have an 1801 parker center console, that my son and I are going to fish from, off the North Carolina Coast. My question is when fishing at anchor in a max. of 80 feet of water what is the feeling, of the length of anchor rope and rode for a 15 lb. danford anchor. I know the rule of thumb is 3 to7 times the water depth, but what does your experience tell me .

Thank you

Paul

 

[sparky]

For a real sea anchor, a shot of chain equal to the length of the boat, and at least 3x the max water depth of nylon 3-strand or 8-plait rode. Use good shackles, wire them shut with SS wire, and do a proper splice between the rode and chain, or a good SS thimble.

Anything else is just a liability in my eyes. You never know when things will go wrong, and you need enough anchor to save your rear end. I've seen too many people end up in the rocks when they anchored up for fishing, and run their batteries out or had a motor problem, and "all of a sudden" a gale blows up. Their 8# anchor with 4' of chain and 50' of crappy line just wasn't enough to save them.

Your anchor on your boat is like the brakes and tires on your car: Its your last line of defense between a disaster and a good story for the family.

 

[albatross]

Sparky
Thank you for your response. AL

For a real sea anchor, a shot of chain equal to the length of the boat, and at least 3x the max water depth of nylon 3-strand or 8-plait rode. Use good shackles, wire them shut with SS wire, and do a proper splice between the rode and chain, or a good SS thimble.

Anything else is just a liability in my eyes. You never know when things will go wrong, and you need enough anchor to save your rear end. I've seen too many people end up in the rocks when they anchored up for fishing, and run their batteries out or had a motor problem, and "all of a sudden" a gale blows up. Their 8# anchor with 4' of chain and 50' of crappy line just wasn't enough to save them.

Your anchor on your boat is like the brakes and tires on your car: Its your last line of defense between a disaster and a good story for the family.

 

[gray duck]

Rig it with wire ties so you can get it unhooked. And don't attach it to your stern to pull it up - like the Tampa football players - that's why they sank/flipped. If it is hung up, attach to bow and pull at angle watching line.

 

[ppem45]

Great explaination sparky, I know what it is and your explaination made me feel like I learned it for the first time. I just did mine this spring and did almost what sparky said. I used 275' of 8 plait rode and 25' of 1/4 galvanized chain on a Delta 15lb plow. I also redid my rode and added 100' of good 3 strand nylon just in case. I used the best hardware I could buy and feel that I would not do anything different if I were to do it again. My 2120 PH is equipped very well with everythiing else and I did not want to spare any expense or quality of work on such an important safety tool.

 

[tara11]

What if you went with 50 feet of chain, or is there a good reason why only use as much chain as the length of your boat, I have always wanted to know the reason, I would think more chain would be good, but I have no idea.

 

[Porkchunker]

Chapman's recommends 1 to 1.5 times the boat length in chain. Total length of the anchor rode (line and chain) should be 5-7 times the depth of the water you want to anchor in.

BTW, 80' of water off the NC Coast takes you a long way off shore to find. Just how far out are you going in a 21' boat?

Dave

aka

 

[albatross]

Chapman's recommends 1 to 1.5 times the boat length in chain. Total length of the anchor rode (line and chain) should be 5-7 times the depth of the water you want to anchor in.

BTW, 80' of water off the NC Coast takes you a long way off shore to find. Just how far out are you going in a 21' boat?

Dave

aka

Our boat is 18 foot and you can get into 80 feet depth about 12miles off the carolina beach inlet, to do that the forecast would have to be good, watched closley while we are out there, and a relatively flat sea would also be necessary.

Al

 

[sparky]

What if you went with 50 feet of chain, or is there a good reason why only use as much chain as the length of your boat, I have always wanted to know the reason, I would think more chain would be good, but I have no idea.

That is a minimum. More chain would be beneficial in many extreme circumstances, but it is heavy, hard to handle, and probably not worth it for day-to-day anchoring. Its up to you, I was just suggesting a minimum.

For example, our main anchor on our 42' research boat has a 45# fluke anchor, and 40' of 3/8" chain, then 600' of 1/2" nylon 3-strand. We've anchored in as much as 300' of water with that system sucessfully. The storm anchor system is a Navy 105# anchor, 75' of 1/2" chain, and 600' of nylon 3-strand. That's held the boat in a hurricane.

Our 26' landing craft R/V has a 45# danforth (brand) and 15' of 1/4" chain. We can anchor in moderate currents with just the anchor and chain on a piece of line equal to the depth, no scope needed. Our backup system is the same anchor, just with 40' of 1/4" chain, and 350' of nylon 8-plait.

 

[jeffnick]

... but what does your experience tell me...

My experience, although not popular in many circles, tells you to forget the chain altogether, use that space for more line. It's not like you'll be out there overnight. I'd have 2 300' lengths of rode -- you might not even need to use the second 300 feet. The Danforth will work fine in the sandy bottom unless there's current - then it will have a tendency to skate = go flukes up and either never get to the bottom or just bump along (even with 2 boat lengths of chain). If you're anchoring over a wreck, you might want to take special precautions as mentioned above, or get/make a wreck anchor. But then again I don't fish. YMMV.

More here.
http://www.geocities.com/jeff_nicholas/ ... chor1.html

 

[sparky]

It's not like you'll be out there overnight.

then it will have a tendency to skate = go flukes up and either never get to the bottom or just bump along (even with 2 boat lengths of chain).

How do you know that an unforeseen circumstance won't keep you "out there overnight", or overnight and in a storm.

With 2 boat-lengths of chain, I've never had a Danforth go flying. With line-only, all the time. Plus, chain doesn't take any more room in the anchor locker than line.

Remember, your anchor is not only a "2-hour lunch break" anchor, its also a "crap, my engine died, and there's a storm coming." anchor.

 

[mildew2]

Just took a Delaware boating safety course and their rule of thumb is that the anchor line should be at least 7 to 10 times the depth of the water.

 

[albatross]

Hello, Albatross

Yer fishing the other side of Cape Fear from me. Gotta ask, how do you get in 80' water 12 miles out? Fishing the "30-30" area? One of my favorites.

As far as your anchor...........you don't need such a heavy anchor. Get a Danforth 5H (#94019). Weighs only 5 #'s and very compact. I use 10" of 1/4" stainless steel chain and 300' of 3/8" line to anchor at Horseshoe (23DVCC Parker).

I got the 80 feet from the north carolina shipwrecks cape fear and frying pan shoals map