Ratio of chain on anchor

[Relaxed]

Hi All.

I was wondering what the average length of chain to anchor rope is?

I have a 4.55 meter boat and a 50m anchor rope.

Cheers Andy.

[toymod]

I have heard all sorts of things from the length of your boat to 1 and half of your boat. I have a 16ft f/glass and I have around 4metres so my bist guess is something like 3/4 of your boat length (I have never had an issue yet).

But i suppose it will depend on the size a nstyle of ancor as well.

[krazyfisher]

it depends on the type of bottom, type of anchor, depth of water.
I have been using 2mtrs of chain on a reef pick i only use chain on reef to stop the rope from rubbing, but when fishing gravel bottoms I use 4meters of chain to hold the sand anchor down. never had any problems in and 18ft glassie. only used to use 1mtr in my old poly. overnight is another thing I than double the chain.

[Escapee]

I work off the theory that the chain should be the same length as the boat. I have a 5.75 m Cruise Craft Outsider and use 6m of chain on the reef pick and the plough. Never had a problem. Whichever way you go, i think it is better to have too much chain instead of too little.

[Escapee]

I work off the theory that the chain should be the same length as the boat. I have a 5.75 m Cruise Craft Outsider and use 6m of chain on the reef pick and the plough. Never had a problem. Whichever way you go, i think it is better to have too much chain instead of too little.

[krazyfisher]

what is the reason for the length of chain we use mine is to stop rope rub and to hold the anchor better as the chain works as a buffer between the boat movement and the anchor. is that the reason or is there another?

[Leo_N.]

Chain is mostly to hold the anchor down and keep it working. If a reef pick is vertical it has less chance of holding. It is even more critical for sand anchors, as they are designed to dig in to the sediment if pulled horizontally, but pull out if pulled vertically. The chain keeps the movement of the boat from pulling it vertically and ripping the anchor from the sediment.

[Navi]

I use the same length of chain as my boat and it has worked every time I even took it to tangalooma ( sheesh what a trip ) and my brother in law had a 6 mtr seafer he dragged anchor and tied off to me which held both of us ....


Cheers Chris 8-)

[devocean]

If you are wreck fishing thick chain at least thelength of youtr boat is a must. Trying to anchor on a particular spot is hard enough so you want something that will get your anchor down quick without to much drift.

[toymod]

Yes spoke to a few people and it is the length of your boat by general rule ;)

[Glen.m]

I agree, the length of your boat. But the anchor size must be right.. and don't just chuck it all over, lower in a controlled manner to run the chain out for best results.

[Cheech]

Like most, I have similar as boat. 6m on a 5.5m glass boat.

But what is really important to me is to use a thick enough rope (if most of your fishing is in reasonably shallow water). I use 14mm so it is pretty easy to lift it up. (10mm is fine for offshore if you use a float). I recently went on a tinnie that is way lighter than my boat and only had a couple of metres of chain, but I found it harder to get the anchour up than on my boat because the rope was only about 10mm.

Cheech

[rockape]

The main thing is to have enough rope out in the first place so that the chain can do it's job. Enough rope is especially important when there's some swell and chop around. And if you've got a good deckie :o or bouy then it's no worries when it comes to pulling it all up!