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Thread ID: 83154	2007-09-21 08:04:00	Anchor Chain	TideMan (4279)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
593720	2007-09-23 03:57:00	Yea, I just had a look at mine - 6m.	rob_on_guitar (4196)
593721	2007-09-23 07:09:00	I used to work with an anchor winch manufacture. We would have suggested 6mm short link chain, minimum length as the boats length.	gradebdan (2186)
593722	2007-09-23 18:13:00	I have one of those folding anchors for our dinghy. It's designed to release when pulled vertically. I need to use a length of chain before attaching rope (make that: LINE!) so that the anchor lies flat until I pull on the rope and lift the chain off the bed. But how long does the chain section need to be? If I make it too short, it won't work at holding the anchor flat, but if I make it too long, the anchor will be too heavy to lift. And what size chain is best? A short length of heavy chain, or a long length of light chain? Anyone have any clues? We call that chain a bending shot..and it is usually six times the length of the anchor shank (typically: Danforth and the US Navy's stockless Mark IV)...a little more or less. It should be about the same diameter as the thickest part of the anchor shank. Your anchor sounds like a modified Fluke-type. They dig in well, resist directional changes however but will lose hold if turned more than a few degrees. Stay with the six-times shank length rule for it too. The theory of the length of the craft as the determining factor assumes that the whole craft will rise and fall in the wave action. A dingy just won't matter, and an aircraft carrier won't rise parallel anyway, negating that rule of thumb. What's really good about yours is that it is an easy to release model when you get it tending up and down just prior to aweigh. It does not however, penetrate kelp or sea grass well. Beware. Sitting high in a kelp forest and not on the bottom won't work at all. You just don't EVER want to have the anchor standing "up and down" or aweigh. It will never do anything as a marine chandelier. The idea is to allow the anchor chain to "ride" on the bottom when there are swells and waves that might upset the anchor if it were actually moved. A dragging anchor doesn't hold you very well. That "bending shot" will take up the minor actions of the boat when it rides the swells, etc. The scope of the anchor line is more important on some designs over others. Ploughs require generally 3 to 4 times the depth to distance away than a true penetrating anchor like German designed Bügel, or the New Zealand designed Rocna. It (the total weight of the chain) needs to be substantial, but not so much so that it is too hard to handle by you...after all you don't have a steam powered windless to haul it up again. I like KenESmith's answer..he sounds reputable and a good seaman. It seems we never forget our "practical factors" from when we used to be in the Navy. You could always use an old typewriter for an anchor though..they are like a paper cup in that if you get it snagged, you aren't gonna lose much by leaving it where it is.	SurferJoe46 (51)
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