The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Selecting a Chain Grade

JHH5-14740

In the last chapter we covered chain types, based on an interview with two engineers at Peerless Chain, which makes the Acco brand that we recommend.

Now let’s look at chain grades with a critical eye, based on our own decision-making process when we last replaced the anchor rode on Morgan’s Cloud.


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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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Scott Flanders

John, very well thought out. We had elongated links added to the ends of Egret’s 3/8″ G4 chain at the factory allowing the larger forged shackle pin you suggested. For those who don’t have elongated links with existing chain, Wichard makes a special forged stainless steel shackle that well exceeds the chain’s strength.

We also had the chain re-galvanized twice. Once in the U.S. and once in New Zealand. The New Zealand re-galvanize was much better.

S.

Victor Raymond

Hello John,

This is excellent. Rajah Laut came with 1/2 in chain. It was a bit rusty at one end so switched it end for end. Sooner or later I am going to have to go through the same process as you have just done but I appreciate your blazing the trail. In the end I suspect the gypsy issue will be the hard one to swallow.
Thanks again for an excellent review (as always.)

Victor Raymond

Hi John,
Who wouldn’t like the thought of moving up to 400 feet AND still have a weight savings?
I wonder if there is any recycle possibility with older but good chain? Maybe ACCO as a manufacturer would be interested in a buy back program? I am probably dreaming here.
Thanks again.

David

What are your plans for the gypsy/wildcat issue? (Gyspy Wildcat sounds like a great name for a band, no?) We wanted to use 5/16 G70 for our system but our windlass mnfr (Lewmar H3) doesn’t offer a gypsy for it. They also don’t have a gypsy for 3/8″ HT (G40), which was Plan A, shot down in flames. We love the windlass – has performed flawlessly – but the sparse gypsy offerings are an issue. We ended up with 5/16th G40, which worries me a bit. I wasn’t aware that a custom gypsy was even a possibility. Have you heard of other windlass manufacturers offering them, or is that the sort of thing you can order from a good machine shop?

Eric Klem

John,

You are correct that most wildcats are cast although there is usually a bit of post machining and broaching for the keyway. I also think that your assessment that it would be too expensive to have a single unit machined is probably right. The block of raw material alone would be quite expensive. Looking at one, you would really need to build one that is 2 pieces bolted together (many already are) because otherwise the tool aspect ratio wouldn’t work since it gets pretty narrow pretty far into the part. To do the keyway properly, it should be broached(more $$) although you can sometimes cheat and machine one that is close if the depth is small relative to the key size. Lewmar actually has a bunch of .dxf and .stp files available so you would stand a pretty good chance of being able to put a model and drawing together for a shop.

If you can buy it rather than getting it custom, that will definitely be the way to go.

Eric

Eric Klem

I think that you made an excellent choice for your situation. I keep hoping that galvanized G70 with end links will become more readily available than it is now. For the time being, I use a size larger of G43 due to ease of purchase but I certainly wouldn’t mind going a size smaller with a higher grade.

If you old chain’s only problem is that it makes a mess, you have enough chain to set up a whole bunch of whaler sized moorings. Our mooring chain (much larger than 7/16) is old anchor chain from a much larger vessel that I used to work on which discarded it due to the galvanizing getting thin which doesn’t matter a bit to me when it is sitting down in the mud.

Eric

Henrik Johnsen

Hello..!
We used to have 60 m (200 feet) Stainless steel 13 mm anchor chain on our 47 feet, alu sail yacht, but when it started to show some corrosion in the welding’s we found it wise to have it removed. We also had some thoughts of getting a longer chain. A new SS was out of the question due to the cost, so we started the research on what to do. Mainly based on the many clever thoughts about anchoring from John here (thanks’ a lot..!!), we decided to go for a 10 mm (3/8”) G70 chain.
We ended up getting 120m (400 feet) Italian made 10 mm (3/8”) DIN 766 RINA certified Aqua7 Cert (G70) hot dip galvanized chain. On our request it was delivered with pear-shaped end links making it possible to fit shackles big enough to match the MBL of the chain. The new chain weighs just 2,3 kg (4,6 Lbs.)/meter so even if we the doubled the length, it only added the total weight with 50 kg (100 lbs.).
Until recently we used to have (at least) three anchors on board, located at the front in the anchor locker, but we´re getting more and more happy with our 55 kg SPADE as our main anchor. This summer we spent 6 weeks sailing north of Spitsbergen (80` North) and we just had to reset the anchor once, due to heavy kelp, so we told the old 35 kg BRUCE good bye..! That´s make us down to just two anchors, with a 35 kg SPADE as our second, giving us just 15 kg (30 lbs.) added weight all over.

David:
We have a LEWMAR Ocean3 windlass and had to get a new DIN 766 10 mm gipsy, witch it took us about 8 weeks to get..! Our dealer here in Norway told us they´re having a hard time getting spare parts from Lewmar on a general bases. Obviously Lewmar don´t pay much attention to the after market, witch’s a shame since they have very well functioning products.

Jon Valen-Sendstad

interesting to hear about your chain decission, I am in the same situation and plan to change my 90 m 12 mm chain (of unknown quality and origin) into 100 m of 10 mm. Can you tell me what vendor/manufacturer to contact ? And what was the cost of your 120 m ?

Jon