Ask the Expert
How To Mark Off the Depth on Your Anchor Rode By Captain Art Pine
##Julian Richards at West Marine in Annapolis.
What’s the best way to mark off the number of feet on your anchor rode: the combination of rope and chain to which your anchor is attached? We asked Julian Richards, an experienced delivery captain and professional rigger and currently the satellite rig shop manager at West Marine store in Annapolis. Here’s what he had to say:
Q
Some boaters take pains to mark off the depth along their anchor rode and some estimate it by sight as they anchor. When do you need to consider marking the distance on your anchor rode permanently in advance, and how should you go about it?
A
There’s no requirement that you attach depth markings of any kind to your anchor rode, but usually you have enough to worry about when you’re anchoring; marking your rode permanently certainly makes the job easier. My own advice is to mark your rode permanently if your boat is 25 feet long or larger, and you’re likely to want to anchor in water that’s 10 feet deep or more. If your rode is mostly rope, with 15 or 20 feet of chain attached directly to the anchor itself, then you’re going
to want to maintain a 7-to-1 ratio for scope—that is, let out seven feet of anchor rode for every one foot of water depth where you’re anchoring, which translates to letting out 70 to 84 feet of anchor rode. If your rode is made entirely of chain, you’ll need a scope of 4-to-1, which calls for 4 feet of rode for each foot of water depth. Either way, keeping track of how much rode you’ve paid out can be confusing if you don’t mark it in advance. You’ll also want to count in the distance between your anchor rollers (on the bow) and the distance to the water when you figure your scope. If your bow is five feet above the water and the water depth is 10 feet, your scope should be 15 times seven, which calls for paying out 105 feet of anchor rode instead of 70 feet. If your rode is made up completely of chain, you need to pay out 60 feet of rode.
Q A
How far apart should your depth markings be?
Whatever you prefer. As a rule of thumb, if your depth marks are five or 10 feet apart, that can be distracting, and it’s totally unnecessary. I mark mine at 30-foot intervals, and that includes the part of the rode that’s made of chain. So the first marking on the rode is 30 feet from the point where the anchor is attached to the chain. The second is at the 60-foot mark, and so on. That gives you a running total all along the line, without all the confusion. You’ll also want to place a special warning marker about 10 to 15 feet from the bitter end of the rode (the end farthest from the anchor), which you want to tie off to a cleat or permanent fitting.
Q
What’s the best way to mark the depth on your anchor rode so you know how much you’ve paid out?
A
That depends on what kind of rode you have: all rope, rope and chain, or all chain. If part of your rode is made of threestranded rope (by far the most popular among recreational boaters), I’d recommend using small rectangular plastic strips of plastic that are pre-printed with numbers signifying the length of rode up to that point (see drawing #1). You can Drawing #1 Follow us!
continued on page 32 PropTalk.com April 2018 31