Most of the chapters in this Online Book are about anchoring systems for larger boats, say 40 feet and up, venturing far, using many big anchors and lots of chain.
But what about smaller boats? What compromises can we make, particularly to save weight and space, both at an ever-bigger premium as the boat gets smaller?
Here’s how we approached that problem as we upgraded the anchoring system on our new-to-us J/109:
What We Got
The boat came with a massive Fortress that was too big to fit in the bow locker, and a dinky old Danforth.
But, on the bright side, she also came with a surprisingly beefy removable bow roller and the anchor locker that, despite the problem with the Fortress, is huge for the size of the boat.
That said, the last thing we wanted to do on this performance boat was add a lot of weight forward, and we were also faced with the problem of making the anchor system functional and safe for a septuagenerian (me) with a bad back, sometimes single-handed.
I used to anchor with all rope rode, except the last 5m which was chain. Chafe was an issue and we tried lots of things to prevent with varying degrees of hassle to rig. Current boat has round faced nylon blocks screwed onto the stemhead cheeks, in front of the roller, works well.
Hi Alastair,
So far we have not had any issues with chafe at the boat end. The anchor roller is fairly well made to avoid chafe and also I think the lower stretch of Dacron helps. That said we do carry these chafe guards which have worked well for us in the past: https://www.morganscloud.com/2010/12/09/chafe-pro-review/
Hi John,
A very thorough write up and agree with your solutions.
We also go into reverse with Spade and chain hanging above the seabed and headed for deeper water: cleaning some mud/clay, even with a deck wash, can become very tedious. After initially going in forward, I changed to reverse, in part, because the thought of all that dirty water flowing past (and into?) my raw water intake to the engine made me nervous.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
This is definitely one way to go. We considered a similar set-up for Sherpa for the same reasons, weight in particular. we went down a different route with lighter chain etc. but it was difficult to decide, and with Sherpa being heavier (6T) we had more room to decide to go down the chain route. But, we haven’t got it finished to my satisfaction yet and will make more mods this winter.
The one thing that was perhaps the deciding factor was the need to veer more cable than chain, as many of our favourite local anchorages are tight and (in some cases) busy. Light boats on warp rode can scoot around in these places, where the wind (because of the hills around) is seldom steady in direction. Not only is there more room for nudging your neighbour, but the rope rode is vulnerable to their props, especially when extended. Knowing many of the lovely anchorages in Nova Scotia this is far less of an issue, but around here it would worry me.
And thank the Lord for Jimmy Green Marine, one firm that always delivers!
Hi Colin, John and all,
For years, before Alchemy, and when coastal cruising in generally mud anchorages, our ground tackle consisted of a significant chunk of chain (50, later 75 feet of 5/16th G4 if memory serves) and then nylon 3 strand rode.
This meant, for most anchorages, we were primarily on chain and it was the chain that swept the bottom when swinging around. I would now go for lighter, but stronger, chain (grade 70?).
I liked the idea that the chain was on or near the bottom for those anchorages where there was the occasional wood stove or mushroom mooring etc. left littering the seabed.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Yes, that is the advantage of more chain, but the downside is the rope to chain splice and all the issues with that. Definitely a trade off: https://www.morganscloud.com/2010/09/07/rope-chain-anchor-rodes/
Hi Colin,
Good point on the rode getting around the prop or keel. Definitely a worry. I will publish a tip on what we are doing about that. That said, if I were cruising your home waters again, I would want all chain too.
We also get by with a braided rope rode & chain leader, without a power windlass (I do have a basic manual one that is sometimes used for the final few metres once the chain is coming up). It’s not as convenient as a windlass and all-chain, but it’s fine for what we do.
Yes, this belief is supported by the soil mechanics involved. Holding power comes from fluke area, setting depth, scope of pull, and seabed material type. Anchor weight affects the leading-edge cutting pressure (which governs how easily and deeply it will set). Heavier anchors of a given pattern have larger fluke area, which increases holding power. But weight does not directly affect holding power, and if you bury an aluminum and a steel anchor of identical pattern to the same depth in the same seabed, they will have roughly the same holding power.
Modern anchors aren’t better than ancient ones because they’re heavier – they’re better because they are shaped so that they reliably set deeper into the seabed. Twice the setting depth yields eight times the holding power, for the same fluke area.
The steel anchor’s main advantage is that, with a submerged density of 6.8 g/cm3 vs. the aluminum one’s 1.7 g/cm3, it’ll have four times the leading-edge cutting pressure during that critical early phase of setting when weight is the main thing getting its tip into the seabed. Once the tip’s dug in and it’s oriented for the setting pull, this doesn’t matter so much, since your boat’s propeller is providing most of the force to bury it deeper.
The steel anchor’s other advantage is its abrasion resistance, hardness, and strength. It won’t get chewed up nearly as fast as Al where rock and hard sand are involved, and it won’t bend or break as easily if it gets jammed between boulders.
Carrying one of each, and using the aluminum one most of the time when in mud and soft sand, is a fine way to save your back without any real downsides to safety or performance.
Hi Matt,
Great analysis. I was aware of most of it, but not the actual numbers, so very useful, particularly the exponential effect of bury depth.
The setup on our Dragonfly 32 trimaran has worked well for us for the last two years since we purchased the boat. We have a Quick electric windlass mounted by the factory inside of our bow anchor locker. The factory supplies a lead weighted anchor rode (10m of lead filled line and 40m of line, line is a double braid polyester that uses an eyesplice and shackle for connection to the anchor). For a conservative scope, we try to anchor in 6-12 feet of water max which on the Gulf coast is very easy to find. We use a (again factory supplied) stainless steel Ultra spade anchor. Despite some criticism that SS anchors are for marina queens, it has set and held flawlessly every time we have used it. Being on the Gulf coast, we always anchor in sand or mud. Our backup anchor is an aluminum Fortress carried (assembled) in one of the floats on the boat. We have it out on a trampoline ready to use if needed when we are at anchor. We do use a bridle with the anchor to dampen any tendency to swing.
We did try using 30 feet of chain spliced to 3/8” 3 strand nylon. Initially it seemed to work well but we then had an issue with the 3 strand braid not feeding properly through the windlass resulting in a jam, blown fuse, and eventually the line breaking (thank goodness we had the spare anchor and rode at the time). It might have been operator error but maybe not after reading John’s comments about 3 strand in this article. We are going to stay way from that type of line as the double braid feeds smoothly and consistently through the Quick windlass and the lead filled rode portion is certainly user friendly.
I think the lead filled line is an acceptable solution for where we cruise because of the predominate sand/mud conditions. If we were in an area with a rocky bottom, we’d certainly go back to chain and double braid line.
Hi Bob,
That’s interesting about weighted line. As you say, not a good idea if there is anything that will chafe on the bottom, but otherwise an alternative to the problem of chain splices jamming.
On the Ultra, I actually think it’s a good anchor, but worry about thew way it attaches to the rode: https://www.morganscloud.com/2019/11/11/some-thoughts-on-the-ultra-anchor-roll-bars-and-swivels/
LMAO – I asked for 15 ft of chain to build my anchor rode for my Liteboat XP which is a 300lbs, 20ft expedition boat 🙂 Old habits die hard since my previous boat was a heavy displacement. Seeing the chain I cut it down to 10ft but I guess I should cut it out more 🙂
I’m using an aluminum fortress though and think it sets better with more chain …
Hi Richard,
Actually the Fortress is the only anchor I know of that sets better with less chain, not more. The reason is that the stock must be lifted to start the set process. I have that directly from Fortress.
By the way, I love y our boat, way cool!
Hi John,
Great article. I chose a Spade S160 as my “best bower” several years ago and have not been disappointed in its performance, despite very high starting expectations!
I’m now looking to purchase an A140 as a backup/stern anchor (I want the aluminum version to reduce weight and make it easier to handle). However, I have had zero luck so far getting the Florida-based distributor’s attention, even though I purchased the S160 from him originally (I’m honestly not sure what the problem is).
Do you mind sharing where you bought yours? I’m assuming it’s a Canadian source, but perhaps they would ship down to the U.S.
Your site and advice are extremely valuable — thank you for everything you do!
Regards,
Jane A.
Hi Jane,
I got mine from Florida, direct from Spade. Sorry to hear that they have not responded, not good. Generally they have been pretty good. Try giving them a call and ask for Brian. Also here is his direct email:
Thanks, John. I’ve been dealing directly with Brian (and in fact met him a couple of years ago when I picked up my S160 in Florida). I assume he genuinely doesn’t know when he’ll be getting more anchors in, but it’s been three or four months since the first time I emailed him about buying the A140 and I haven’t gotten anywhere. I’m on the verge of buying the aluminum Sarca Excel instead (I can’t wait forever for the Spade, and will need to purchase something relatively soon) but I really do want the Spade.
Hi Jane,
That is frustrating. I have run into this kind of thing before with them, the principles in France just don’t seem to be able to execute on these supply issues. A great pity.
Hi John,
I like your thinking and conclusions. Probably I’m at least as fanatic about saving weight as you, so I’ve always seen rope rode as worth the extra hassle it definitely brings, (as well as some benefits, as you mention.)
The claim that the chain leader should be twice the boat length also doesn’t make sense to me. If there is a relationship to anything, it should be the depth of the water we intend to anchor in. Perhaps one could find a proportion that would prevent chafe and help keeping the boat reasonably stationary in fairly light conditions?
We’re aiming at replacing our ground tackle this winter, but now have about 30 meters (98 feet) of chain and then the same type of 8-braided rope, 22mm (7/8 inch), which in our case might be nylon. Compared to your boat, our 12,2m (40 foot) cat is about 50% heavier and probably more than twice the windage, so we must have significantly bigger dimensions on all. We do have an electric windlass, which can also be operated from the helm.
I think a mixed rode has to be either like you do it, to really save weight, or have a chain long enough for most anchoring. Then a significant rope section for the deep stuff. In our case, the chain should be either just a few meters, or about 50 meters (164 feet). Anything in between, like we have now, seems just wrong, if I haven’t missed something.
Our cat sails quite OK, but is definitely far more of a cruiser than your J109, and meant for longer trips, so I have to admit I’m leaning towards the longer chain option. Maybe I’ll come to my senses. 🙂 I’ll talk to Jimmy Green.
Hi Stein,
Makes sense to me, particularly your point about avoiding a chain splice at a point that will have to go over the windlass a lot.
Hi John,
Yes, the wear on the splice in the windlass was indeed part of what I was concerned about, but forgot to say clearly. With our current setup, that happens close to every time we anchor. I do my own splices, which is OK on new rope, but a proper PITA on used rope. Can take hours. Anyway, I’ve done it a few times when distrusting the strength of the rope fibers inside the last chain link.
Also, the splice keeps that link wet longer, which seems to increase corrosion. Perhaps it’s just extra wear on the rust protection layer in the wildcat, because of the transition, but it doesn’t look that way. Either way, when I re splice, I also cut off some chain links. Perhaps this is another reason to choose a normal splice and a shackle. At the moment that seems better to me. Especially if the chain segment is long enough to usually not get the rope on the windlass.
However, I don’t like the idea of a thimble there. It’s another hard item that could damage the rope. It may also make the transition a bit big and lumpy to pass the wildcat gently, which can also create extra wear on the rope. I think a better solution is a Dyneema chafe protection sheath on the loop. This would protect the part of the rope that have triggered my lack of trust so far. I haven’t tried this solution though, so I may miss something.
Hi Stein,
I’m not suggesting a thimble and shackle in the case where it must pass the windlass. However, if we go with just 2 meters of chain we can often get away without having to run it through the windlass. For example, for our spare rope rode on the M&R 56 we used the warping drum for hauling the anchor and then just wrapped the chain, and a couple of turns of rope around it. Worked well and allowed us to use a full on splice and shackle to attach to the chain.
As to thimbles being a problem, I agree, but a lot of that is because people, including me before I leaned better, use open throat wire thimbles on rope, instead of closed throat solid thimbles.
Hi John,
That makes sense. On our cat, the windlass is 2,5 meters aft of the roller, so this could work for us too, if we were to go for a really minimal chain length, but I think we won’t. When/if I try the splice with chafe protection, I’ll report back.
About the open thimbles; yes I’ve learned that lesson too, partly by seeing the rope damage they cause, but mainly by reading about it here. Sometimes we don’t connect the dots until it’s explained clearly… 🙂
Hi John,
Thanks for the report on this, I especially appreciated hearing about the polyester rode. I have anchored with a hybrid rode a lot including on one boat we owned and our family boat growing up. I do prefer chain from an anchoring standpoint but boy is it heavy and not appropriate for a weight sensitive boat. We definitely felt like we were on the end of a bungee a few times with a lot of nylon out on a hybrid rode, the shock loads were maybe mitigated but the average load must have been high. Next time I am in the market for a backup rode I will take a look at polyester.
It strikes me that everyone seems to have a preferred weave for anchor line. I haven’t tried double braid but I did try nylon brait and didn’t like how easily it caught on things. I always just used 3 strand and the only real complaint was that it took up a lot of space. We never had problems with things like hockles, I have generally had quite good experience with this construction excluding unconstrained multi-part purchases and Hempex which is just a terrible material. Like any type of line, it is very sensitive to how it is handled, if the twist gets messed up in 3 strand then it becomes a mess.
I too have never understood the idea of relating the chain length to the vessel length, I just don’t see any reason for correlation. We used 30′ of chain for a while which was a pain but still didn’t provide a lot of benefit. We ended up switching to 60′ for a few specific tight anchorages we use often where we wanted to swing like the rest of the boats. Even with this, we had a rode chafe on something which caused it to need replacement in a single overnight (not close enough to an end to shorten). The 60′ did fix the swing issue for those specific anchorages but it made cleaning a much bigger pain. I have not tried the 2m that you use but I can definitely see the argument for it.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Good point on the drawback of Brait being it’s susceptibility to snagging. So far we have had no issues with that, but it’s certainly a potential issue. And good to have your confirmation that the rules of thumb on chain length are not well supported, thanks.
My setup on the Wauquiez Pretorien (displaces 14,000lbs) is a steel Spade, S-100, 44lbs with 5/8″ braid and one boat length of chain and a manual windless. My cruising grounds on East Cost U.S. with good holding. I did the math on the same similar setup with the aluminum Spade and two meters of chain which should save me about 40lbs on the bow. Remove the windlass and save even more. I am now wondering how this would effect effect the motion and handling? Using two meters of chain on the bow, seems pointless to use a windless as we only use our windless to haul the 35′ of chain and the 44lb steel spade.
Hi Dan,
I think that depends on your plans, so hard for me to say. That said, while there is no question that getting that much weight out of the bow would reduce pitching a bit, I think that, given you are all set up with a windlass, I would probably not remove it, if for no other reason than it would adversely affect resale value. Also the Pretorien is a much bigger boat than our J/109 so the weight saving would not be as beneficial.
John,
Thanks for the response. I agree and changing my setup does not make any sense. Especially when I sleep so good on my setup in the great holding we have! Next, I will attack my tools to see what weight I can loose. So much fun putting the boat on a diet!
Hi Dan,
I wish more people thought about weight the way you do!
Considering polyester brait, does any one have thoughts on New England Ropes Regatta? 12 strand braided polyester. Definitely requires some practice to splice. It is readily available on this side of the pond.
Hi Carl,
I have never used it, but it does not look that different from the stuff I’m using, so I would guess it would work. I missed that option when I was searching for our rode.
We have a Corsair 37 tri with steel spade and 15 ft of chain. In the Bahamas I sometimes saw the nylon rode contacting rock and coral, so we bought 50 ft of Chafe-Pro tubular nylon to cover the rode starting at the junction with the chain. We sewed the nylon to the chain and rode at each end.
Hi Peter,
That’s an innovative solution. I use the same stuff on my mooring, so I’m a fan. How is it holding up?
Feeling better about my setup now! For a few years now I anchor in the Bristol Channel regularly on my 10 kg spade with a 15kg spade in reserve held nearer the fin keel. My 9.5 metre Winner is around 4 tonnes and like many Dutch boats has a small anchor locker, so the smaller spade fits in well on a few metres of chain with plenty of oversized octoplait coping well with very large tides. All handled by me hauling by hand with engine assistance if the weather is boisterous. Given my connective tissue problems, I like large diameter octoplait from Jimmy Greens as it’s kinder on me! The 10kg spade has never dragged yet, however the spade table would suggest I need the 15kg to hold her. So if I was setting up on a poor bed or in a predicted storm I would drop the 15kg spade and probably shackle on an extra length of Dacron rode which is stored in the fore cabin. I use one of JG extra strong shackles to connect the 2 rodes if I’m in deeper water at high tide or the conditions are getting really unpleasant. My fore cleats are in a similar position to yours on the J, so I have a strong anchoring cleat on the foredeck aft of the locker. This can also be used to deflect the rode gently to my jib sheet leads back to a primary winch if necessary. Sadly winching will remain manual as I like a simple boat. Given my short chain is oversized it can take the long splice from the larger octoplait and abrasion has not been an issue.
Every 6 hours the spade simply works its way around with the tide without me needing to get out there and reset. Only when winds are really whistling through the rigging can my boat lie to wind against the tide here. My friends with electric anchor winches seem to have regular problems with most of the current models on sale in the UK: I’m happy to avoid that and need to keep my bow light when sailing out west usually beating into the wind.
Hi Huw,
If you can anchor reliably in the Bristol Channel, that’s all we need to know that your anchoring system works!
And yes, adding a cleat is a great idea, although I would not do that because of the hit to the resale value of a racing one design like the J/109.
One thought, don’t completely discount getting an eWincher. Having one does not add any complexity to the boat since it’s an add on we don’t have to use, but it could dig us out of some very serious yogurt.
Hello John,
I just recently got a Pearson 36-2 centerboard which weighs in at just shy of 16,000lbs. The boat didn’t come with a windlass and it has a similar style chain locker as your J/109 so the hatch with a dedicated space. There really isn’t any good place for a windless and while something could probably be hacked together to make it work. There also isn’t really any good spot for an anchor locker down below without quite a bit of reworking in the V-berth. Also been hesitant about putting that much weight forward considering the larger of the two water tanks is in the vberth already will cause the boat to nose down noticeably. So I was considering generally following suite, but using a steel spade as the primary bower, some chain and the rest dacron. My current cruising grounds is in the gulf around Mississippi, but I am planning on going much further abroad at some point. So I just wanting to get a bit of an opinion on this.
They also make winch drill bit adapters to turn any cordless drill into an ewinch.
Hi Daniel,
That’s a bit bigger boat than I would be comfortable with this system on, particularly if you are going further afield, but a lot of that would depend on how strong and robust you are. Also, while winch bits for drills do work, and I have even tried them, they are not a patch on an eWincher so I would recommend the real thing: https://www.morganscloud.com/2020/10/05/ewincher-electric-winch-handle-review-part-2-the-competition/