Some of use who have graduated to smaller boats in our old age, i.e.
<30', use nylon anchor rodes to avoid the weight and hassle of chain
and winches. Unlike chain, nylon will not drop neatly into a chain
locker of its own accord. It must be handled gently and stored properly
to avoid kinks and hockles. This is how I do mine.

First, I am a believer in lightweight, efficient anchor gear. My main
anchor is a FX16 Fortress. My secondary anchor for Bahamian mooring is
a Danforth HT 12 with sharpened flukes. This works well in grassy
bottoms that cause trouble for more conventional gear. My wife can lift
either one, a major concern. Attached to each anchor is a boat length
of 5/16 chain. The primary rode is 1/2" Yale 8 strand brait with an
alleged breaking strength of 8300 lbs. Yale Cordage states that this
type of line is particularly suitable for anchor rode and has greater
elastic stretch than either twisted or double braided nylon of the same
diameter. They assure me that the line can withstand a repeated strain
of 20% of breaking load without damage. This works out to about 1600
lb., enough to hold my boat in a 60 kt. wind. Any more wind and I set
multiple anchors or scurry to a sheltered mooring.

So here is how I handle my rat's nest of anchor rodes. For a cruise
along the Hudson River or the ICW, where I usually anchor every night,
I tie a milk crate to a forward cleat and simply flake the rope into
it. Brait flakes neatly without hockles. The short length of chain
piled on top keeps everything in its place. Rain and spray, or a bucket
of water, washes the mud off the line. The rode is 150' long, more than
adequate for most East Coast anchorages. Incidentally, my boat has
weathered two hurricane near misses and one direct hit with this anchor
gear without dragging. A long rode certainly helps. It's the other
boats drifting by I worry about.

Additional rode, and other spare lines, are coiled up on electrical
extension cord storage reels, available at any well stocked hardware
store. These are simply hand held reels with a grip that allows the
reel to rotate and a small handle that allows the line to be wound up.
The ones I buy, made by Kord Manager, cost about $5 at Walmart or Home
Depot. They store about 100' of 1/2" nylon rope or 150' of 3.8" nylon.
I splice a shackle to each end of the rope to enable me to fasten one
to another to get a really long line. These storage reels are a good
way to keep moderate lengths of rope or electrical extension cord
without messing up a storage locker.

Too bad you guys with bigger boats. Stop being a slave to chain. Once
you hit 80 you have to make life easier. I've got a day sailer and a
canoe ready for my dotage.

Larry Z

The key to anchor rode piling correctly in the anchor locker is that the
haws pipe for the line has to be located directly over the deepest part of
the anchor locker. I have seen MANY boat manufacturers ignore this and place
the haws pipe too far forward, thus the line drops on the bow incline
instead of the deepest point. This is a necessary principal for anchor
windlass installation.

I had a 25ft Parker pilot house fishing boat that I used for many things but
one was offshore wreck fishing. I loaded it with 400 ft of marked anchor
rode and about 20 ft of chain. I was often anchoring in 100 ft deep water
(on nice, no wind days). The original factory installed haws was completely
mis-placed. When I added the windlass, we made up a new deck plate out of
reinforced starboard and relocated the haws over the deepest point.

Now to Danforth anchors - that fishing boat had a Danforth. I've used them
on many other boat types as well. I can tell you that more than once when it
dropped, the chain tangled in the flukes and it would not set. For this
reason, I am not a fan of Danforth anchors. This tangling can also take
place if the anchor comes out and has to reset, or especially if the boat is
turned 180 degrees from original deployment.

R,

-----Original Message-----
From: great-loop-bounces@lists.trawlering.com
[mailto:great-loop-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of
lrzeitlin@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2012 2:42 PM
To: great-loop@lists.trawlering.com
Subject: Re: GL: Easy storage of anchor rode

Some of use who have graduated to smaller boats in our old age, i.e.
<30', use nylon anchor rodes to avoid the weight and hassle of chain and
winches. Unlike chain, nylon will not drop neatly into a chain locker of its
own accord. It must be handled gently and stored properly to avoid kinks and
hockles. This is how I do mine.

So here is how I handle my rat's nest of anchor rodes. For a cruise along
the Hudson River or the ICW, where I usually anchor every night, I tie a
milk crate to a forward cleat and simply flake the rope into it. Brait
flakes neatly without hockles. The short length of chain piled on top keeps
everything in its place. Rain and spray, or a bucket of water, washes the
mud off the line. The rode is 150' long, more than adequate for most East
Coast anchorages. Incidentally, my boat has weathered two hurricane near
misses and one direct hit with this anchor gear without dragging. A long
rode certainly helps. It's the other boats drifting by I worry about.

Too bad you guys with bigger boats. Stop being a slave to chain. Once you
hit 80 you have to make life easier. I've got a day sailer and a canoe ready
for my dotage.

Larry Z