The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Things to Know About Anchor Chain

"Morgan's Cloud" on the hard at Billings Diesel and Marine in Stonington, Maine, with a pile of anchor chain frozen to a pallet at her bow during one of the three winters we spent at Billings refitting the boat.

One of the cool things about running this site is that gear manufacturers are now beginning to recognise the purchasing power and general clout that you, our readers, wield. So now when I ask a whole bunch of questions about a manufacturer’s products—many of them dumb, I’m sure—they are more likely to find the time to educate me than they once were.

This seems to be true of most all of the manufacturers we contact these days, but the good folks at Peerless Chain, manufacturers of Acco Chain, bent over backwards to educate me and sort out many of my misconceptions about chain by providing not just one, but three experts during a recent conference call I had with them.

Here are some useful things we learned.


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More Articles From Online Book: Anchoring Made Easy:

  1. Introduction
  2. 4 Vital Anchor Selection Criteria and a Review of SPADE
  3. SARCA Excel Anchor—A Real World Test
  4. SPADE, SARCA Excel, or Some Other Anchor?
  5. Rocna Resetting Failures and Evaluation of Vulcan and Mantus
  6. Some Thoughts On The Ultra Anchor, Roll Bars and Swivels
  7. Specifying Primary Anchor Size
  8. Kedge (Secondary Anchor)—Recommended Type and Size
  9. Third Anchors, Storm Anchors and Spare Anchors
  10. Anchor Tests—The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Silly
  11. Making Anchor Tests More Meaningful
  12. We Love The Way Our Anchor Drags 
  13. Things to Know About Anchor Chain
  14. Selecting a Chain Grade
  15. Anchor Chain Catenary, When it Matters and When it Doesn’t
  16. Anchoring—Snubbers
  17. Anchor Rode Questions and Answers
  18. Q&A: Hybrid Rope And Chain Anchor Rodes
  19. Anchor Swivels, Just Say No
  20. A Windlass That Makes The Grade
  21. The Perfect Anchor Roller
  22. Install A Wash-down Pump—And Save Money!
  23. Anchoring—Kellets
  24. Anchoring—Chain: Stoppers, Termination and Marking
  25. 20 Tips To Get Anchored and Stay Anchored
  26. Choosing an Anchorage
  27. Choosing a Spot
  28. 15 Steps To Getting Securely Anchored
  29. One Anchor or Two?
  30. Two Anchors Done Right
  31. It’s Often Better to Anchor Than Pick Up a Mooring
  32. Yawing at Anchor, The Theory and The Solution
  33. Yawing at The Anchor, an Alternative Cure
  34. How To Use An Anchor Trip Line
  35. ShoreFasts—Part 1, When to Use Them
  36. ShoreFasts—Part 2, Example Setups Plus Tips and Tricks
  37. ShoreFasts—Part 3, The Gear
  38. Gale And Storm Preparation, At Anchor Or On A Mooring
  39. Storm Preparation, All Chain On Deck
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Chris

John, please include some content on gypsies as well. I find getting a match-up is not always as straight-forward as it should be.

Donna Evenson

Hi John, thanks for the wonderful article! It was a pleasure speaking with you. I just want to add a couple of clarifications to your article in regards to the embossing (stamping) of the G43 and G70 chains. The “ISO Short Link” dimension G43 that we manufacture and is used for anchoring, has a “G4” stamp on it. We also manufacture our standard “NACM” dimension chain that has the “P4” or “P43” stamp on it.

The G70 Chain can be stamped “P7” or “P70”.

Please let me know if you or your readers have any more questions.

Thanks, Donna

Colin Speedie

Hi Donna

I’ve only one question – how and when will we poor people in the benighted EU be able to get your excellent product?

I tried for ages to source G70 chain in Europe, and failed miserably – we have G40, and it’s been fine, but like John I like the idea of all chain and putting the weight in the anchor. If we could have sourced G70 we’d have been able to go down a size in chain dimension, and had an all chain cable.

Best wishes

Colin

Donna Evenson

We have several U.S. distributors who would be willing to drop ship product to you. It would be the ACCO brand, which is the chain featured in this article.

Colin Speedie

Thanks Donna

We’re heading slowly in your direction anyway, so we may well pick it up when we get there!

Stephen Brady

I know this is an old link, but i’m getting ready to purchase 275′ of 5/16″ G4 supposedly ACCO, but the links are stamped G43. Is this ACCO?

Stephen Brady

John,
Thanks for the reply. Your stamping of G43 is contrary to the ACCO’s statement, “The “ISO Short Link” dimension G43 that we manufacture and is used for anchoring, has a “G4” stamp on it. We also manufacture our standard “NACM” dimension chain that has the “P4” or “P43” stamp on it.”
I just completed some research and found that West Marine’s ACCO 5/16″ ISO is stamped G4 and CMP’s Titan is stamped G43. A lot of boating news groups are stating ACCO’s quality going downhill and prematurely rusting.
I’m confused as to what to purchase.

Steve Dashew

Hi John:
A note re snubbers and shock loading. One of our Sundeer 64 ketches went through the big hurricane in Grenada some years back. She was anchored with Grade 7 Acco/Peerless 3/8″ chain, secured at the deck with a Maxwell chain lock, connected to an 80kg Bruce, and NO SNUBBER. She had headsails removed, but her very bulky main and mizzen were on their booms, and she was unattended. She was one of the few boats at anchor to survive. After this we ceased to worry about shock loads.
Steve

Nick Kats

Steve
This is good to hear, but it changes nothing for me. A taut chain undergoing shock loading is at high risk of tearing out the anchor, damaging the bow, or snapping the chain. It is very easy to put on a snubber (in this situation I would use a few snubbers) to spread out the shock should it happen.
Nick

Andy Fennymore-White

A word of caution for all the European readers. We were buying 200m of Grade 40 DIN 766 chain 5 years ago from an English well known chain manufacturer. (Claimed that they made the chain in the UK.) We fortunately asked for a sample and had it tested. The 1/2″ 13mm chain was claimed to be 3 Ton proof tested (and 8.6 t Break load) but yielded (initial distortion) at 2.8t and broke (actual destruction of the link, not a distortion) at just over 3.7tons. When we contacted them and offered the test result, they did not even question it. They just asked if we wanted to place the order! We bought from a Polish manufacturer (AIP) whose chain passed our test with flying colours. WL 2.1t, Proof L 4.3t, BL 8.6t. Check before buying if possible and do not believe the manufacturer’s claims. And always get a copy of the test cert and keep it on file.

DONNA EVENSON

Andy –
We too have heard of these types of stories, but Peerless Chain Company who manufactures the ACCO brand of marine chain, does proof test all of our marine chain and can provide a certification for any of the chain we manufacture and sell. I do agree that consumers should expect quality product from the manufacturers and ask the appropriate questions before buying a product. Glad to hear that you were able to obtain quality product for your boat.

Best Regards,
Donna

Doug Bruce

John,

More good info us usual—thanks.
How does one decide what length of chain to carry for normal situations; e.g., places that do not require anchoring in extreme depths?
Thanks, Doug
P.S. The picture in your Rocna vs. Spade article is “Bluewater”, our Tayana 55 which you may identify as such if you wish.

Mike

We carry 50 to 60m of 3/8 or 10mm chain: this will allow us to anchor in up to 25m in normal conditions.

Mike
White Princess