Anchor Rope

Hi Guys,

Just wondering what your prefered Anchor setup was.

I was thinking of just getting some standard Blue Polyproplene rope from a builders merchant. Would save quite a bit of cash over buying 200M of 10mm Nylon rope form a Marine supplier.

This will of course be attached to about 8 - 10 foot of Chain. Any suggestions for Chain type? SS or Gal, what mm chain are you guys using out there?

Cheers in advance,

Kev

Hi Mac

My setup is a 7.5kg bruce, 16ft of 6mm gav chain, and 300m of white 10mm poly rope.

Ive had problems with the anchor dragging while in depths of 300ft plus, even with over 800ft of rope out!! so will probley upgrade the chain weight to sort that out.

Any depths below that is no problem. One other wee thing Mac get yourself an anchor yanka, simple but very effective piece of kit, saves a lot of hard work :wink:

Hi Kev,

My current setup is a 5kg bruce and 8' 8mm galvanized chain to 50m - 15mm polyester spliced to 400' 12mm polyester.

I would be careful with that builders rope, I did try a 100' length for using on a reef with a grapnel, it's crap, no stretch whatsoever, even in 50' it soon broke loose, there maybe a cheap blue rope that fishermen use that maybe has stretch in it, but they both float as well, polyester or nylon sinks and both have good stretch, I would not go less than 12mm as well.

I would imaging the stainless chain could be expensive, that galvanised lasts very well, just make sure it is galvanised and not zinc plated, that rusts in no time (done that :roll: )

Don't forget to trip the anchor as well, just a 6mm cable tie wrapped around twice works fine for me.

Like Alistair says the Anka yanka method works well, don't be in to big a hurry to try that though, ideally get someone to show you that method.

Sean,

Hi Kev,

You should google and read as much as possible about anchoring to make sure you understand the theory behind whats happening when you drop an anchor.
You will get a lot of s*** but most of the good ones will recommend chain length of AT LEAST the length of the boat.
I use this cheaper rope with no problems but just make sure you check the business end regularly and cut off any frayed rope and retie. I am also only fishing off the east coast and not in depths of 300' +

Hope this helps

Yappo

Just a couple of observations - chain length will depend on its weight - I have about 10 ft of 8mm - which has a good weight.

I used to use a 2.5 kg Bruce on my Raider 16 and it never dragged in 30-60 ft of water, but it is on the light side - I have gone to 5kg,

Get some decent three strand rope - Western Marine often has 100ft lengths on special offer. I have 8mm. This is strong enough to hold just about any boat - the only reason to go thicker is ease of handling. However, if you retreive with the Alderney (or AnkaYanka) ring method, you aren't pulling any weight so 8 mm works (for me)

Rather than use a closed ring (which is inconvenient) or an expensive AnkaYanka to retrieve with the Alderney method, buy a big spring carabina, and chainsplice (backsplice) the anchor warp (rope) to the chain - goes through a treat :D

Just to add another note - you need the weight of the chain to be heavier than the anchor - not only will the anchor shaft be kept parallel with the sea floor, but the chain will balance the anchor hanging from your Alderney ring, following retrieval, otherwise it will drop back down to the seabed.......

Beware of cheap blue rope. Anchored a year or two back on the swilly and the friction between the roller (which must have been jammed thinking about it) and the rope as the boat pitched and rolled had worn away half of it by the time it came to heading back in.

Waynes world moment.

Stay away from the Blue (liqurish) rope.

i have 220m of polyprop 10mm.
7.5 kg bruce
38 foot of 8mm galv chain.

all for a 165

never slips even in really deep water.

the chain length is extreme due to the depths we work in so shallow water up to 50m would require less.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I have a 5k bruce copy. I will start with about 10 foot of Galv 8mm or 10mm chain. I will stear clear of the polyproplene rope as advised. Anyone know a decent rope supplier? I am paying a visit to a place on the long mile road (Dublin) tomorrow. They have "marine rope" in 100M colis, so I'll pop over and see if it's suitable.

If anyone knows a supplier of some decent rope in Dublin please let me know.

Kev

Mac

Western Marine in Bulloch Harbour do all sorts of rope and chain. :lol:


Yappo

One of the problems with the Marine suppliers is the cost. It's like if what you want is for "marine" just double it and add some change. 10mm rope goes for about €1 plus per meter. Thats quit a bit of cost. As you get better ay anchoring, it might be an option as you will only rarely have to cut away from a snag, but seeing as I am only starting out, I don't want to buy top notch straigt off. I'll give them a bell anyway Yappo and get some costs off them.

Kev

Hi Guys,

Got this all sorted... Thanks for all the advice.

I found a supplier on the long mile road for rope and chain. 100M of 10mm rope for about €40 and 25 feet of Galv 10mm chain for €35. Excellent prices. Rope only comes in 100M lenghts so will need to be spliced together for bigger lenghts. I am only using about 14 foot of the 10mm chain at the moment, I will add more if it is ever needed. Chain comes in at about 8kg with a 5kg Bruch copy. Hopefully this will be all I ever need.

I have not tried the rope out yet, but it looks and feels of very good quality. I will let you guys know how I am getting on.

Kevin

Update on this one guys....

The chain, although is savs Galv on the box seems to be zinc plated as Sean Mentioned above. It's not heavily rusted after only a few trips and me rinsing the anchor locker after each trip. :twisted: :twisted: I was using 10mm chain and TBH, it seemed quite heavy. I will be on the look out for 8mm. On the other hand, the rope is excellent for the price.

Kev