Marking anchor chain

[Joe CD MS 300]

I have a hard time judging how much chain I let out. It was much easier when I would let a nylon line out by hand and could count one hane aher the other. One thought was to get some small bottles of auto touch up paint in a few colors to mark the chain maybe every 25' or so but the thought of having paint on the deck seems like an accident waiting to happen. Anyone ever use color wire ties for this. I would not think that they would interfere with the chain as it goes over the windlass gypsy.

Anyone got any tricks for marking chain or keeping track of how much is out?

Joe

[Russell]

I have used both rustoleam spray paint, and wire ties. The spray paint is prettier but does not last long when your anchored full time. I prefer wire ties these days, they still break off and wear out but are far easier to replace then repainting. I dont use multi colors, I use a single color but different numbers of them to note different lengths. 1 for 25, 2 for 50, 3 for 100. They do wear out and break when abraiding on the seabed and sometimes going through the gypsy, but stand up far better then paint in the long run and far far easier to replace. See one broken? 2 seconds to replace it either when dropping the hook or pulling it up, just throw a couple in your pocket before you go forward to do either.

I have seen some slick italain made chain markers, that wedge into the links, available in about 4 colors. They apparently do not pop out from being in the gypsy. I have seen them in the Budget Marne stores throughout the caribbean but have yet to meet someone who uses them. If they do indeed work then they would be ideal.

[fenixrises]

Hi Joe,

What I have found effective is to use strips of old sailcloth.
Make them about 1" wide X 12" long.
Thread the piece thru a number of links and put a stopper knot in each end.
I mark my chain at 50', 100', 150'. As the chain nears the bitter end I put a double long piece in the chain as a visual alarm...The End Is Near!!
They easily comes in with the chain and last a pretty long time. Old sailcloth is free!
They are very visible in daylight.
Black is supposed to be easier to see at night without light.

Take care,
Fred

[jerryaxler]

I use the wire ties after trying the florescent paint route. I use florescent ties of several colors. I usually put 3 or 4 ties per measure and replace them as they pop off which is not as often as you might think.

[Voodoo Child]

Ony my Crealock 34 I use Yellow rip stop nylon cloth and a black permanent marker. I (like previous post) cut the cloth in to 3" by 12 " pieces. I marked the depths 25, 50, 75 all the way to the end using the marker. My entire rode was 300' - 150 for 5/16" inch Hi Test chain and 150 for 3 strand nylon (I use a rope to chain splice). The pieces are passed through and tied.

I have had zero problems running everything though my electric windlass. I added additional pieces when I got near the final 50 feet but rarely have to put out that much rode (except for when Katrina arrived).

[Tom Keevil]

We passed about 2' of brightly colored line (actually just one strand of some cheap polypro line), back and forth through the links. Several colors of line provide the information you need, and they are easy to see when chain is running out quickly. They run through the gypsy without problem and last a long time.

[Joe CD MS 300]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going with with Russell's wire tie idea as I don't have any old sail cloth or multicolored scrap line laying around. A bag of day glow wire ties was about $3 at Home Depot. This is the type of nonsense piddling boat tasks I do to prevent withdrawl symptoms when I'm 450 miles from the boat.