anchor setup advice appreciated

[beerbelly]

although i carry an anchor mine is purely for emergency use. at home my boating is launch, day out, recover. back on the trailer until next day out .i never need an anchor if im fishing i just drift . while on holiday if its left in the water its on a pontoon or swing mooring . if i went ashore for a beach bbq i may use my anchor but its not happened yet . so for an emergency use anchor that i would probably only ever use if i had an issue in difficult sea / weather conditions i would rather have the added security of a length of chain would give . but thats just me

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by mikehhogg

on a 10,000 ton ship the chain is the key part of the anchoring system but on a 1000kg rib its about as useful as the male nipple. How many people actually overnight on a rib . I presume we are talking about Ribs. a couple of feet of chain may help the anchor to dig in faster,but is a pain in the you know what to haul back in and tends to leave nasty rust stains . Then again Doctors differ and patients die. I guess whatever works for different ground and different situtations.

It has nothing to do with weight or strength, it’s the mechanics of how anchors work. Chain or some kind of weighting (leaded line) is necessary to make the anchor work properly. The chain also acts as a shock absorber, this reduces shock on the tying off point & makes being at anchor a more tolerable experience.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by mikehhogg

on a 10,000 ton ship the chain is the key part of the anchoring system but on a 1000kg rib its about as useful as the male nipple. How many people actually overnight on a rib . I presume we are talking about Ribs. a couple of feet of chain may help the anchor to dig in faster,but is a pain in the you know what to haul back in and tends to leave nasty rust stains . Then again Doctors differ and patients die. I guess whatever works for different ground and different situtations.

I’ve never overnighted on a rib but I have anchored one overnight - that makes it even more important it holds! I’d agree with you though that for a nice little lunch stop a chain is extra weight to haul back in and possibly overkill BUT an anchor isn’t just a toy to let you have lunch it’s a critical piece of safety equipment which stops you ending up in danger and in that case you want it to set as quickly as possible and stay set. I think even if I had a tender I’d want a little chain on there.

I don’t know why you are getting rust stains though. Just use decent chain - mine is from a previous boat so 20 yrs old and has no rust.