MacGregorSailors.com

My '98 MacX came with 100 feet of really cheap 3/8ths three strand nylon line. I noticed after a few uses that it had little "spikes" sticking out that would cut my hands when feeding it through my hands and that it became stiff and unflexible. Having dragged the galvanized Danforth style anchor from not having enough scope, I researched and bought a Fortress anchor, twenty-four feet of 3/8ths chain, and 200 feet of 1/2 inch New England Ropes three strand nylon rode. Before stowing on the boat, I laid the rode out in my backyard with the chain and anchor attached and stretched out my two hundred foot tape measure parallel but about a foot apart. Using the Rustoleum black spray paint I carry in the van to touch up the trailer at the launch ramp when the boat is at the dock, I sprayed a ring of paint on the rode by twisting it as I sprayed the paint so it's fully covered on all "sides" every ten feet, with extra marks at fifty, 100, 150 and 200 feet (remember to measure beginning at the anchor, not the rode, this gives a total rode of 225 feet including the chain).

Yes, New England Ropes is one of the most expensive. Yes, it's worth it. The line is flexible, has about double the breaking strength of the cheap stuff, and besides, I grew up in New England.

Then I did the same for a second anchor mounted at the stern, the 17lb Bullwagga. And the spare anchor is a 4 pound Guardian (made by Fortress) aluminum anchor with ten feet of chain and 150' 3/8ths nylon rode. This little sucker outperformed the Bruce style Claw anchor and others in mud and sand, but forget it in weeds, reeds or grass. Also, I tried it without any chain as an emergency "throw" anchor, and although I could throw it and feed out the rode okay, it wouldn't set without the chain.

Lastly, both my emergency "Rescue Throw Rope" in a bag and my Lifesling rodes are "stuff" style, not coiled lines, as the instructions for these emergency devices state. Just stuff the line in by shoving down while holding the line and then release, bring the hand up, grab, and shove down again. With the stern anchor, I began by coiling the rode, even giving a little twist at the top of each coil to prevent the figure eights, but it ALWAYS tangled. Now, I have a duffle bag I stuff the rode into and it feeds out perfectly every time, no snags.

Jeff Stagg wrote:Yes, New England Ropes is one of the most expensive. Yes, it's worth it. The line is flexible, has about double the breaking strength of the cheap stuff, and besides, I grew up in New England.

The way things are these days, you'll probably find out that their line is actually made in China!

(Just kidding!)

Jeff Stagg wrote: ... and 200 feet of 1/2 inch New England Ropes three strand nylon rode. ... Yes, New England Ropes is one of the most expensive. Yes, it's worth it. The line is flexible, has about double the breaking strength of the cheap stuff, and besides, I grew up in New England.

Then I did the same for a second anchor mounted at the stern, the 17lb Bullwagga. ...

I followed Jeff's experience on the Bulwagga anchor, though mine is mounted on a bow roller. It sticks "absolutely" in any bottom I've found. (I admit I haven't found many grass bottoms, but it's "supposed" to work there, too!) Since Bulwagga came to market, another good choice has been arrived, the Rocna, a 'scoop' or 'plow' style. If I didn't have the Bull, I'd likely choose the Rocna. According to an anchor shoot-out by Sail Magz (Oct 2006), the Bulwagga, "... comes as close to 'throw it overboard, its sure to catch something' as any of the anchors we tested."



Regarding nylon anchor rodes, I have a different recommendation. Instead of 3-strand, I prefer braided nylon 12-strand. It completely eliminates the "lay tendency" of 3-strand that contributes to tangles. Also, I like the 3/8ths size rather than Jeff's 1/2-inch, since it has ample strength for our weight of boat and it's less expensive and easier to stow. YMMV. Nylon 12-strand braid is available from many houses, New England uses "MegaBraid" as their brand, and Yale's is called "Brait." I have both, but prefer Brait. I bought 260 feet of it at $.50/foot, the 200 as a rode and 60' as a long-line, a "beltline" around the boat, for docking.

My sailing vicinity is quite shallow, and I found that all that factory rope stored in the anchor locker was totally unnecessary and troublesome. I removed much of the anchor rope, and the anchor locker and hook performance are much easier now. The anchor locker isnt all cramped full of rope. The shorter anchor rope has worked well for me. Sailing in an area of 3' to 30' doesnt require the factory length of anchor rope IMO.

5 weeks with my newly purchased X and I'm very grateful to this site. Thank you.

After going through this post and other anchor related ones, I ended up getting a Guardian 11 from Fortress for $60 and 20'/150' of chain/rode. Which is holding pretty good for now.

I took some rough measurements of my anchor locker and thought it could be useful for future readers if I shared them here.

So here's a google's sketchup file and an screen shot of it.

message got blocked because I'm a newby and URL's are not permitted for me... so I'll wait..to finish this up.

Once again thanks

Anyone know of a online source for "Brait" with a pre-splices eye for use as an anchor rode? I'd like about 200' of 3/8"

PM me the link and I'll post it for ya, fcfmiami.

-Kevin

On edit, here's the links from fcfmiami:

fcfmiami wrote:Large Image
http://eltiempopasa.com/anchor%20locker.jpg

Small Image
http://eltiempopasa.com/anchor%20locker-sm.gif

Sketchup File
http://eltiempopasa.com/anchor_locker.skb

We bought a pre-made 3/8" x 200' Yale Brait anchor line with stainless thimble from Hamilton Marine.

The best resource for playing with catenary I've found is "Tuning an Anchor Rode".

catenary effect is with most anchors there is a few like the Super Max that it does not apply.

If you would like to use less chain/Rode get the lighest SuperMax and put it on a bow roller. It holds my boat at 4200 RPM's with my 50 hp, about 1000 pounds of pull with a 3:1 scope or less.

eric3a wrote:CraigSmith:
Please cite your sources to say I am wrong. Possibly anchoring techniques have evolved and I am not aware of something but I am quoting what I and generations before me learned at Merchant Navy Academy. I did the calcs when I was a kid and know the results show anchor chain is good for strong holding.

"Le mouillage" "La ligne de mouillage".
Sorry it's in French... But thats' where I learned it. Shows clearly the varisou forces at play during anchoring and that increased catenary increases holding power.

Eric your main mistake here is to assume that what applies to large ships also applies to yachts. Most of the factors involved do not scale. This should be clearly obvious by a brief consideration of what is typical on a small yacht (some chain, but lots of nylon, and a comparatively large anchor) and what is normal on a ship (massive chain, no rope, and a comparatively tiny anchor).

eric3a wrote:

Catenary from chain or point loads like a kellet do nothing for the ultimate holding power of the anchor in decent holding with a decent anchor, so there is little point in concerning yourself with it.

Again, I'd love to see some calcs on that.

How about a computer simulation?

This is a somewhat extreme example. A 33lb (!) kellet on what might be used on a 40' boat. Even with a comparatively small 300daN force on the rode it can be seen that the kellet contributes hardly any benefit...



At a more serious 1000daN (serious winds), it is totally useless...



On a 40' boat you might use a 20Kg anchor. Considering the Rocna 15 and other similar sized new generation anchors have been proven to hold well in excess of 1000daN at less scope than this scenario (6:1), it should be clear the kellet is a waste of time.

eric3a wrote:

In rough weather any amount of chain will quickly be pulled bar tight

Disagree.
I have anchored small boats in very strong winds (Force 10 and 11) very successfully with lots of chain (50 meters). The trick is to ensure you have enough chain to keep the portion next to the anchor horizontal.
The weight of the chain serves as great shock absorber: When a new shock pushes the boat back, the boat has to lift chain/reduce the catenary.

The catenary issue is effectively dealt with above. Regardless, a good anchor well set will hold irrespective of catenary given adequate geometrical scope. Lastly, catenary is not an effective shock absorber, especially on smaller boats - you must use rope or dedicated snubbers. For a long length of line, polyester 8-braid is ideal, for shorter lengths, nylon.

P.S. John @ John's boat stuff is not what I would consider an authoritive source; he is only repeating what is considered general knowledge and contains several misconceptions. You might find this website more informative: http://alain.fraysse.free.fr/sail/rode/rode_b.htm
(Just noticed Moe posted this link above).

-------------

Craig Smith
Rocna Anchors
www.rocna.com

Duane Dunn, Allegro wrote:Anyone know of a online source for "Brait" with a pre-splices eye for use as an anchor rode? I'd like about 200' of 3/8"

Duane,
I missed your question when posted about 2 weeks ago. However, I discovered 3 things when I set out (several years back) to follow Moe's recommendation for a Brait anchor rode.

1) Hamilton is Yale's premier vendor of Brait ... might even be linked right from Yale's Brait product page.

2) As evident on Moe's link, Hamilton charges just over $1.00 per foot.

3) Annapolis Performance Sailing sells Brait for half the price, $.54 per foot (linked here). You can either pay the extra hundred bucks to Hamilton, or you'll need to learn to splice your own SS thimble.

BTW: Eyesplicing single braid is actually very easy. I bought the Splicing Wand from Brion Toss. Have done a half-dozen eyesplices in 12-braids (Vectran & Regatta) during the past week or so. I'm replacing my cockpit lifelines and babystays. The wand is about 50 bucks.

Frank C wrote:2)As evident on Moe's link, Hamilton charges just over $1.00 per foot.

My link is for a 200 foot rode for $110. That's 55¢ per foot, Frank. Same price as I paid two years ago. Ironically, in that post I thanked Duane for recommending it. We've come full circle!

Frank C wrote:3) Annapolis Performance Sailing sells Brait for half the price, $.54 per foot (linked here). You can either pay the extra hundred bucks to Hamilton, or you'll need to learn to splice your own SS thimble.

Actually, you can either pay APS $108.54 for 201 feet of line and $4.55 for a 3/8" thimble ($113.09), or save yourself $3.10 and some time by ordering it from Hamilton Marine for $109.99 (assuming free shipping from APS like HM).

..

The price of $227 at the Hamilton site was for a whole reel instead of just a 200' rode. Strangely, I recall about that same contrast from when I first looked, several years ago. Must have selected the wrong page back then, too. Thanks for the correction Moe. Brait is Grait!

FWIW, I purchased 260 feet, expecting that I'd use the extra 60' as a longline (a full perimeter dockline). Before cutting it I discovered a surplus coil in West Marine, 100' of Megabraid for only $30, so I just left the rode at 260'. That lets me anchor in a 50' total depth with a scope of 5:1. (Anchorages are frequently 35 feet, plus tides & swell).


Incidently, splicing single braid is not '4 bucks' easy ... I'd just buy it at that price. But for lifelines and babystays you need an eyesplice on both ends, AND the resulting total length must meet a very close tolerance, at about 60 inches. The local rigging shop charges about $10 per eyesplice, and they add a $24 surcharge for defining length to a tolerance of less than one inch!

As a home project, the challenge is in setting the length accurately, plus it's rewarding, of course, to see the results. I've also done an eyesplice in NER's StaSet double braid ... not fun, IMO ... but splicing single braid is basically a taper and a tuck, takes about a half hour while watching the News~!

Brait is absolutely wonderful. And as I recall, Frank, you got that 260 feet at a great 42¢/foot deal. It's great you have the skill now to do it yourself. I don't have the time for it, and wouldn't do it often enough to be proficient. So when it comes to our anchoring, I'd rather have an eye done by someone who knows what they're doing rather than my own work. I was impressed by well done ours was.

--
Moe