Marking anchor rode with Sharpie

[Dean Abramson]

Short answer: don’t do it.

I meticulously marked our brand-new 8-plait rode with black and red Sharpies. They were given lots of time to dry. They looked wicked spiffy the first time we dropped anchor. But unfortunate, after having been used (gotten wet), the red ink bled all over other parts of the line down in the chain locker. The black did not bleed.

My marks are still distinguishable from the random red splotches, but you know something? Those splotches bug me.

I cannot guarantee that black won’t run too, but MAYBE it is safe. I dunno.

[mgphl52]

That's why I wove PVC tags into my rode...

[Carl Thunberg]

It's amazing how many seemingly great ideas turn out this way. My dad once built a beautiful replacement rudder for our first sailboat, which was a Newport 17. Problem is, he made it out of wood. It floated like a cork. Of course, being a kid, I lacked the discretion to resist busting out laughing.

[Steve Laume]

I use those tags, on the nylon section of my rode, as well. For the 90' section of chain, I use these: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?na ... &id=535733 They slip between the links and I was surprised that I have never lost one. The traditional methods world call for bits of line, leather and rags but I could never remember what all of those stand for. With the chain inserts I just put in the number to equal the length. So 2 for 20' 3 for 30' and fill in the rest as you see fit. Those two sets of markers work very well on Raven, Steve.

[jbenagh]

Steve, those sound like a good idea!
Jeff

[Joe CD MS 300]

Used colored wire ties on our all 250’ chain rode. Red for 1st 50 ft, orange for second 50 ft, yellow 3rd for the next 50 then green for the last 100. In my mind going from red to green on the color chart made it easier to associate red with danger to green for safe as more rode is let out. Each 50 ft section is marked in 25 foot increments, eg one red wire tie for first 25, then two wire ties for second 25, then one orange, then two orange, etc. Maybe colored rigging tape could be used in a similar manner on a rope rode?

[John Stone]

We use 1/2" nylon webbing. Abut 2" long. We sew one on to the link with #6 sail-makers thread every five fathoms. One tag at 30'. Two at 60'. Three at 90'. four at 120'. at 120' we reverse the sequence. Then three at 150'. Two at 180'. One at 210'. After the half way point we mark each tag with a stripe from a black shapie so there is no doubt about where we are on the chain. The nice thing is you can swap the chain end for end and you have the same marking system sequence on the other end.

About 1" of the webbing sticks out like a flag. They run right through the gypsy and after four years have never come off. At the half way mark, about 120', we reverse the sequence and go back so 30' from the bitter end there is only one tag.

[Tod Mills]

I use those tags, on the nylon section of my rode, as well. For the 90' section of chain, I use these: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?na ... &id=535733 They slip between the links and I was surprised that I have never lost one. The traditional methods world call for bits of line, leather and rags but I could never remember what all of those stand for. With the chain inserts I just put in the number to equal the length. So 2 for 20' 3 for 30' and fill in the rest as you see fit. Those two sets of markers work very well on Raven, Steve.

I've heard great reviews for those chain markers, but, like you, I do not have an all chain rode and concluded, with my 70' of chain, about the only place I would be likely to actually use them would be in the sheltered creeks off the Chesapeake.

Do you often anchor in places where you have less than 90' of rode out?

I went with 70' after hearing the reasoning of a more experienced sailor than I: With his boat, a Rhodes Meridian 25, which is not too dissimilar to mine, nearly all the time he anchors in shallow enough water (east coast/gulf coast) that he puts out the 70' of chain plus enough of the nylon part of the rode to act as a snubber, saving having to tie or use a chain hook, for a separate snubber. At the same time, he has essentially an all chain rode for purposes of minimizing sailing at anchor so his boat behaves similarly to other boats with an all chain rode in a tight anchorage.

[Cathy Monaghan]

I use these anchor rode markers:

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?p ... id=5565534

I’ve used them with braided anchor line, and now with plaited line. They are easiest to use with 3-strand.

We do our boating in the northeast USA. We seldom anchor in less than 10’ of water because the anchorages are deep and the tidal range is anywhere from 6-15’. So you definitely need more than 70’ feet of anchor rode to safely anchor with a combination of chain/line rode. Remember that you must use the depth of the water at high tide, plus the distance from the water to the anchor roller then multiply that by no less than 5. With an all chain rode you can multiply by 4. So we are seldom anchored on less than 120’ of rode.

[Neil Gordon]

I use these anchor rode markers:

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?p ... id=5565534

I’ve used them with braided anchor line, and now with plaited line. They are easiest to use with 3-strand.

We do our boating in the northeast USA. We seldom anchor in less than 10’ of water because the anchorages are deep and the tidal range is anywhere from 6-15’. So you definitely need more than 70’ feet of anchor rode to safely anchor with a combination of chain/line rode. Remember that you must use the depth of the water at high tide, plus the distance from the water to the anchor roller then multiply that by no less than 5. With an all chain rode you can multiply by 4. So we are seldom anchored on less than 120’ of rode.

I use the same markers. Since they mostly live undisturbed and in the dark, they last a really long time.

Good points by Cathy on anchoring where there's significant tidal range and putting out sufficient scope. I'll add this:

Say I like to anchor in a minimum of 10' of water. That's my closest approach to shore, of course, and not where I drop the anchor. The anchor's more likely to be in deeper water, let's say 15' at low tide. Add 9 for the tidal range, plus 3 for topsides and I'm at 27 feet. 5x calls for more than 130 feet... safer would be 7x, or about 190'. If you're sharing an anchorage, don't be shy about asking your neighbors what they have out and how much of that is chain... if you swing 180 degrees on a wind change, if you're at 190' and your neighbor has half that, you might have a problem. If your neighbor is swinging on all chain, in light air the chain might not move much at all. That makes it more likely your swing circles will overlap.

[Cathy Monaghan]

If this was Facebook, I’d click on the LIKE button for Neil’s post.

[Neil Gordon]

If this was Facebook, I’d click on the LIKE button for Neil’s post.

Yeah, well, next time you're over on Facebook.

[Kickin Bears]

That's why I wove PVC tags into my rode...

+1!

+1 for minimum 7x anchor rode scope of max anchoring depth for calculations too

[Dean Abramson]

I am not using the rode tags because we have an electric windlass, which I think would chew them up.

It seems that with use my red splotches are rinsing out.

We have 100’ of chain and 150’ of plait. Usually we want more than 100’ feet of total rode (with a 10’ chart sounding, we are looking at 20’ up here at high tide), so some nylon is serving as a snubber. I like this combo.

[Dean Abramson]

It's amazing how many seemingly great ideas turn out this way. My dad once built a beautiful replacement rudder for our first sailboat, which was a Newport 17. Problem is, he made it out of wood. It floated like a cork. Of course, being a kid, I lacked the discretion to resist busting out laughing.

Okay Carl. I’ve thought about this for three weeks. I am now willing to come forward and say “I don’t get it.” What is wrong with floating boat parts?

Are you saying the boat’s arse was sticking up in the air? Even with people in the cockpit?

Please enlighten the naval-architecture-challenged.

Confused in Tenants Harbor,

Dean