I use 30 feet of chain because I got tired of all the cruisers anchoring with 
all chain and me having to be way off to allow 7:1 scope swing room. Having 30 
feet of 5/16 and anchoring in usually 8-15 feet of water works well. I have no 
windlass now, but I wouldn’t mind one. IMHO much past 35 feet and lack of a 
windlass will be painful with the correct size chain and anchor.
Joe
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I

From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Frederick G 
Street via CnC-List
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 10:52
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Cc: Frederick G Street
Subject: Re: Stus-List Windlass rebuff

Also, anyone who cruises in tropical areas NEEDS chain, to avoid chafe on the 
occasional chuck of dead coral...

Fred Street -- Minneapolis
S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI

On Aug 17, 2016, at 9:18 AM, Chuck Gilchrest via CnC-List 
<cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com>> wrote:

Chuck,
Avoiding chain on anchor rode means you’re giving up one of the most important 
aspects of the rode: the catenary effect of shock absorbsion.   By allowing 
some of the chain to lie on the ocean (or lake) bottom, the effort that it 
takes to lift the chain off the bottom before the line goes taut, serves as a 
shock absorber to wave, wind, or current.  Also, using chain on an anchor rode 
means you can get by with a somewhat shorter scope in a crowded anchorage 
without worrying that your anchor will break free.
Using only rope between your clean and the anchor allows for very little 
catenary and as such, your cleat and the anchor rope is bearing the entire 
shock load of the boat all the time.  If I had only rope on my anchor line, I 
would make sure I had a proper anchor rode snubber, rubber or otherwise, to 
manage those loads.
On Half Magic, we use 25’ of 5/16” Galv BBB chain spliced to 200’ of 5/8” 
NovEight Novabraid 8 plait rope with a 25lb CQR anchor (which is probably a bit 
light for the size and weight of the boat).  We rarely anchor in more than 20’ 
of water where we sail although we might rethink that if we decide to cruise up 
in Maine or Nova Scotia.

Chuck Gilchrest
S/V Half Magic
1983 Landfall 35
Padanaram, MA

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