Have you ever broken your chain?

[starchaser 2011]

never saw an anchor chain let go, but have broken plenty at work. Always a shock load.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by cfarrar

Nick, if ordering enlarged end links, would it be practical to specify 2 or 3 large links at each end, so you could cut off an end link if it became especially corroded or worn? Or do you think that's silly and unnecessary? Or maybe it wouldn't fit the roller assembly?

When it gets bad you turn the chain end for end. When it gets bad again, you replace it. Or re-galvanize if it is below G7 grade, which weakens too much from re-galvanizing. It already lost 30% from the first galvanize iirc...

By the time both sides look bad, the rest will also be bad, so I don't think it's wise to spend money into multiple enlarged links. Also, I think you can get high tensile shackles that fit and match G4 grade so the large end-links are only needed for G7. The trouble is that I never see those shackles available...

cheers,
Nick.

[Dave852]

We broke a 10 mm anchor chain a few weeks ago in the Bahamas. If was somewhat rusty, not stuck together rusty and we were anchoring in about 8' of water. We had 75' feet out and were in the process of setting it. A shock load for sure but not crazy. So needless to say 260' went on Craig's list the other day. As we had just purchased the boat I have no idea if it was g4 or not. 3/8" g4 fits the gypsy and that's what we will replace it with. When we pulled it off and inspected I did not have the broken link of course but I suspect it was inferior chain as I could not see any reason that would cause it to break. It was not stamped so probably made in China.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW,

While riding out cyclone Lisa in 1991, anchored in Denham Bay on Raoul Island in the Kermadecs, a neighboring vessel broke her chain. The vessel was a ferro brigantine, the Solano, some 55 ft LOD, and perhaps 30-40 tonnes displacement, but I don't know that number for sure. She was anchored on 100 feet of 1/2 inch chain and a huge (135 lb) Danforth anchor, in about 30 feet of water, sand bottom, NO SNUBBER. We were experiencing gusts around 60 knots from differing directions at the time, and I believe that the Solano, about 2-3 cables away had the same conditions. I will not comment on the advisability of her skippers behavior.

The vessel was then deliberately run ashore and subsequently broke up in short order.

I have no knowledge of the quality of the chain involved, but much of the boat seemed to have been done on a limited budget.

Other than that, we also knew a smaller ferro ketch, Oceanus II, that had had problems chafing a rope rode. He purchased some second hand chain from a Mexican fisherman. Shortly thereafter, in quite mild conditions the chain parted and the boat went up on a beach and suffered extensive damage. When I inspected the remaining bit of chain it was severely rusted. IIRC it was 3/8 inch which was appropriate for the size and weight of the boat.

So, yes, chain does break in the cruising community, but there are usually extenuating circumstances. I believe, as others have posted above, that if the chain is of good quality and not corroded severely breakage is unlikely.

Cheers,

Jim

[forsailbyowner]

I've had chain break due to my negligent actions. While fitting out when first buying Magic I had her in a tight spot across from a friendly marina that let me use their facilities. She was there for almost a year with 5 lines spiderwebbed in different directions. One was 5/16 chain. During a typical summer fl storm with gusts of around 50 I came back to find the boat had moved about 20 feet. The chain had worn very thin where the links rub together. It would have been noticed easily and taken out of service if it were an anchor that was checked out once in a while.

[ka4wja]

Kettlewell,
Yes, I HAVE snapped/broken (right in the middle of a 300' length) a brand new 5/16" anchor chain in use, with a snubber....and with nothing else on-board "letting-go"!!!


You asked for actual first hand experiences, and I have one to relate to you that happened to me, while I was on-board, anchored during a strong Cat 3 Hurricane...it's a long story, but ALL true and documented!!! (and taught me a frustrating lesson: do NOT believe what is delivered is what you ordered and paid for!!!)


So, here it is summer of 2004, in S. Florida.....and I had just bought this boat in April, 5 months ago....
It's Sept 2004, and I'm docked at my private dock, in Sewall's Point, FL, just a mile from the Atlantic, and just about 1.5 miles from the St. Lucie Inlet....
The dock is just a few years old and in fine shape with plenty of nice big, sturdy pilings, cross braces, etc.......(and haven't been hit by a hurricane here in decades...)

Sept 4th and 5th, 2004.... we had a direct hit of Hurricane Frances (Cat 3 at landfall just 1.5 miles from my dock!)....I have a large / wide slip, with no less than 24 lines (mostly 3/4" double-braided), lots of fenders, etc. and I even deployed two anchors....overall I was extremely well-prepared....
Well Frances moved slowly ashore (right over me) at about 3kts....and she blew and blew, and we had winds > 110kts for hours and hours....and winds ~60 - 70 kts for about 36 hours....
Well, luckily, no damage to my boat!!!
BUT...
But almost the entire dock next door and part of their boat house (probably 75' - 80' length of dock along with half dozen pilings) broke loose and got stuck on 4 or 5 of my outer pilings.....and there was no way to disengage this mess during the passage of the eye (I tried).....so, during the passing of the backside of Frances this windage (and "water windage") proved to be too much for my pilings to hold.....
After the worst of the storm had passed I had lost 4 of my 5 outer pilings (2 had snapped the lines running to them and 2 others had the lines torn off them by the debris of the dock next door) and had sustained damage to the dock itself and had 3 or 4 dock pilings leaning / partially dislodged (but no snapped lines and only a minor amount of chafe on a few)....
The good news was NO damage to my boat!!!
Bad news lots of dock repair to do, need lots of new pilings, etc....and no electricity on-shore for the next 8 days!!!! (I used my 6KW Fisher Panda on-board, with cords running up to the house, to run the fridge, lights and TV in the house, 6 - 10 hours a day for a week...)

Now, on the night of Sept 13th, we have electricity again, and I've installed a new satellite dish, etc.....(dealing with my Alzheimer's stricken father throughout all of this as well)....
Now comes the really bad news....
There is another Cat 3 Hurricane (Hurricane Jeanne) heading along a similar track and is due to hit us in about 10 - 12 days (Sept 24th or so).....(yes, a forecast from 10 days out is NOT very reliable, but after a couple days of the forecast staying the same, you DO get a certain feeling....)

{Remember that 2004 had already been a rough year for hurricanes in Florida / US ...in addition to the direct hit from Frances, I personally had glancing blows from Charley (which devastated SW FL and inland Central FL), and some effect from Ivan....and FL, the US Gulf Coast and SE US collectively had been hit with half dozen or so storms within the past couple months...There was quite a bit of damage and now a shortage of marine equipment and supplies....}

So, with no outer pilings, severely damaged dock, etc. here....and NO un-damaged docks, etc. anywhere around...I was forced to go with my Plan A (anchor out, in a secure location) to survive this next hurricane.....
But, I know I'll need more than my 60lb CQR (came with the boat just 5 months ago!) and 44lb Bruce.....
{My earlier Plan B, staying at the dock, was a decision I made to appease my Dad (who was dealing with Alzheimer's and my Mom who thought it best to keep my Dad calmer.....but my Plan A was always going to be anchored in a secure location.....and unfortunately around here the most "protected" areas are all too shallow for my 6.5' draft, so I'd be only partially protected, when anchored securely....}

So, a-shopping I go....on-line and on-the-phone....

I found ONLY ONE big anchor in all of the state of Florida.....a 90 lb Delta in Titusville (about 100 mile drive up the coast) and as luck would have it, I also found 300' of Acco 5/16" G43 ("HT") chain (in Titusville)....both at West Marine, but I wasn't worried about the cost at this point, just needed to be prepared.....
(I had already made up a very heavy-duty "hurricane snubber", using the 1/2" thick 316 stainless ABI chain grabber type plate, and two 30' lengths of 5/8" 3-strand nylon, with chafe guards.....)
I went to the West Marine store, paid for my order, and picked-up the big Delta anchor....but the 5/16" G43 Acco chain was at the Lewis Marine warehouse a few miles away (the same place where they told me they didn't have any chain in stock, just the day before).....
So, I drove there and they loaded all 300' of the chain into the back of my Dad's old Mercury Sable wagon (what he called his "work truck").....
Got the chain and anchor down on the boat that afternoon, and proceeded to get things better organized over the next few days....

And, as it looked like we were going to actually get another direct hit from a Cat 3 hurricane (Hurricane Jeanne) in about a week, I put together a plan and started preparing, again!!!

This time I would use my new 90lb Delta anchor with 300' of chain and my big hurricane snubber as my primary anchor.....and my 60lb CQR with 225' of chain / 50' of 3/4" nylon as my secondary anchor....and my 44 Bruce with 50' chain and 250' of 3/4" nylon as my third anchor....
(and I could still tie to shore, in a few spots, if needed...)

I was well prepared, had all anchors set in good (and backed-down on 'em hard after they'd set for hours).....I'm in about 12' - 14' water depth, with soft sand / silt bottom....and I dove on the anchors to make sure they were set well....I had my snubbers set and chafe guards secured....
(I have 3 LARGE bow cleats, with huge backing plates, and they held without issue!!! I think you can haul my 30,000lb Catalina 470 out of the water with a crane, using just one of these cleats!!!)

Well, on Sept 25th and 26th, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne (Cat 3 at landfall, just 1 mile from my boat/dock) makes a direct hit on me, and again I'm on-board during the whole storm.....(as usual I had jacklines secured on deck and foulies/harness at the ready.....)

As the eye-wall hit, it was like before (being in a washing machine), but I was on the ham radio having fun (in the middle of a Cat 3 Hurricane!) talking with friends and passing on barometer readings and wind speeds to some on the "hurricane net", etc....
Wind speeds were about 120 kts sustained (with higher gusts), but the last speed I saw (before I lost the wind transducer) was 124 kts....
And, then after a particularly lengthy gust (heavy cell in the eye wall), my boat lurched and moved very rapidly astern.....
I was below at the Nav Station, and immediately headed out into the cockpit (and into the heart of a Cat 3 Hurricane)....what I saw wasn't pretty!!!!
It seemed I had drug anchor and had moved quite a distance (50 - 100 yards) in just a few seconds.....and my stern pushpit was up against an outer dock piling.....
I had my Yanmar idling (in neutral) for the past few hours and now was the time for action ..... yeah right, me and a 75-hp Yanmar against 120 kt winds of a Cat 3 Hurricane!!! what was I thinking????
But I crawled to the helm, laying across the helm seat hanging on (yes, I was tethered-in), at 3600-3880 rpm I was able to just barely move the boat forward a few inches!!! And, after about 3 - 4 minutes I realized there was little hope, but still kept at it for about 15 - 20 minutes....and then the eye of the hurricane was upon me.....

Now, here's the answer to your question about anchor chain breaking.....
During the eye of Hurricane Jeanne, I went up on the bow and while I expected some slack lines / snubbers, I saw my main hurricane snubber lines and my new anchor chain hanging completely slack!!!
I thought I'd motor up some in the calm of the eye and reset my snubber....
So, I pulled in on my chain.....and it pulled very easily.....and then I grabbed it and hauled it hand-over-hand, and knew something as really amiss!!!
I ended up pulling in about 150' of chain, with nothing on the end of it!!
Yep, my brand new 300' length of chain had snapped right in the middle!!!
And, I still had the backside of a Cat 3 hurricane to survive!!!
What to do now???
Good news / bad news = Hurricane Jeanne was moving much faster than Frances did just 3 weeks earlier.....so I had less time in strong winds, but less time in the eye as well....(and Jeanne's winds were a bit stronger!!!)
And, the eye was starting to get windy.....and within the next few minutes the eye wall was approaching and there was no time to do much....
I tossed the chain out as far as I could throw it, and hoped for the best....

Well, I won't bore you with details of wind gusts, bent pushpits and scraped paint.....but suffice to say, I survived with no major damage....but by the time I was done with "hurricane repairs", I had a new pushpit, a couple new stanchions, new lifelines, and new blue awl-grip on my hull!!!


So, how/why did I break my brand new 5/16" chain???
Well, that became quite obvious a few days later as I was cleaning up after the storm....
I spent some time underwater w/ my Scuba gear on trying to retrieve my brand new 90lb Delta anchor, and the other 150' of chain.....
I found it quite quickly by trolling with a grapple hook off the back of my dinghy....
But, what I found under the water was amazing!!!
This big Delta anchor was buried so deep in the sand/silt, that using a shovel under water, I could just touch it beneath the river bottom after digging for 30+ minutes.....it was dug into the river bottom so deep, I could NOT reach it with my finger tips, when I laying on the river bottom (extra lead weights).....
Another 30+ minute of digging and was ready to go ashore for another tank of air, and then attempt to haul it up....
But, as luck would have it I surfaced to not only find my sister sitting in my dinghy waiting, but the Martin County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol boat (with twin 250-hp outboards) standing by to help!!!
The deputy and I couldn't budge that big anchor, but after about 5 - 10 minutes of "engine-power" we had it broke loose and hauled it up....
What a great anchor!!!

Well, that afternoon, I looked closely at the chain to see if I saw any problem.....
What did I see???
I saw that it was stamped "BBB", and not "G4"!!!!

Yep, I ordered and paid for Acco G43 5/16" chain, and what was loaded in the back of the old wagon was BBB chain (which we all know has a lower working load and breaking strength!!!)

After cleaning the chain, and hauling it up to the house and putting these two lengths back into the back of that old wagon, I took it along with my receipt, back to West Marine....
They apologized and promptly ordered me 300' of Acco 5/16" G43 chain (which arrived in about 3 - 4 weeks), but there was nothing else they could do....
After all, it is the vessel's owner / skipper (me) who is/was responsible to everything.....
So, even though in my heart I believe my minor damage during Hurricane Jeanne was the "fault" of Lewis Marine (their warehouse loaded the wrong chain), it was in fact my responsibility to notice/recognize this.....

So, kettlewell, there you have it....
I warned you it was a long story!!!

That's how I personally broke brand new 5/16" anchor chain, in use, with snubbers, etc....and nothing else "let go" on-board....
A good testament to not only the big Delta anchor (which is now my daily-use primary anchor on the bow roller), but to my whole boat....
Now, if I had just looked at that chain before they loaded it.....oh well, live an learn!!!!

BTW, I've also got another experience on-board during a Cat 3 hurricane (this one in 2005), but no dramatic chain breaking that time, as I was using the Acco 5/16" G43 chain.....(so for me vs. major Cat 3 hurricanes, it is John = 2, hurricanes = 1.....not a bad record...)


Fair winds...

John
s/v Annie Laurie

[Dave852]

Cool story, if we had more people like you putting that kind of effort into looking after their boats during hurricanes our insurance rates would be lower. Of course some might say you we're reckless as well but you get my vote.

[ka4wja]

Dave,
Thanks for your vote!!!

I was raised in S. FL, the Bahamas, Caribbean, the Med etc. and spent much of my childhood out cruising with my family...
I've been thru many storms / hurricanes in the past 50 years....

And, for those who may cringe at my story, please be assured that I'm far from reckless!!!

Fair winds...

John
s/v Annie Laurie

[Kettlewell]

Great story well told John, and good work on your part! After Hurricane Bob, with only maybe 100 mph, we had the same problem retrieving two Fortress anchors in Cuttyhunk. It took me most of a day to retrieve them. I would windlass the bow down as far as it would go, then motor as hard as I could while jumping up and down on the stern of the boat. I think eventually it was more the tide's work that pulled them to the surface.

[Capdave360]

Interesting question. I've spent about 2,800 nights on anchor, all but a handful on a full chain rhode. Never broke one. Have broken snubbers, usually assisted by chafe. Have broken dock lines in a surge...

Running a Camper Nicholson 60 I once got a 60 lb. CQR stuck in Newport harbor between Fort Adams and town, though not under the cable on the chart, we were off that line as the diver later verified. We had a big windlass and a lot of electricity to run it, and tried every trick in the book to break that anchor out - must have had the bow down 8"+ before stalling the windlass, getting passing motorboats to give us a wake, motoring around it, backing off it, pulling from different angles, etc., etc. Hacksawed the chain and went sailing. Diver recovered the gear later, no visible damage to the 3/8" chain but we discarded that piece anyway.

[Kettlewell]

Newport harbor is full of junk on the bottom. I have dredge up old bicycles, car tires, rubber boots, and lobster traps. You were probably hooked into a dump truck or something like that.

[jnrdafoe]

While the question was about breaking chain I would like to ask about clevis/shackles used at the anchor. Using 5/16 G4 chain has anyone used a titainium clevis? They don't seem that expensive in the big picture and eliminate the "weakest link". Thoughts-experiences?

[Snowpetrel]

I have broken chain 2 times, and seen it break once on another boat.

The two times it broke on me was way back years ago on my parents 45 foot ketch. At the time money being tight we only had 30 meters of 1/2 inch long link chain of uncertain origin.

The first time it broke was road steading off east cape NZ, waiting out a SW gale. A decent willywaw came down of the hills, caught the Gaff mainsail that was sitting in the lazyjacks and blew it halfway up the mast. She put her rail down and took off on a reach like a scalded cat and with an almighty bang came up tight on the chain (no snubber...). for the next day we sat there, no more problems (we had lashed down the main). But when we hauled the chain one link had opened up about 2mm at a weld. lucky it hadn't let go completely!

The second time was having a lunch stop at the Rangitoto islands near Durville Is, Cook strait. We were anchored in deep water on a short scope. The wind swung onshore and increased bringing a nasty chop into the bay. We should have dropped a snubber on the chain. Occasionally you could feel the boat jerking as the chain came tight, but we were just about to leave.

No sooner had we started the engine when with a jolt all 20 tonnes of boat jarred on the chain as the loads from wave, wind and momentum all conspired together. The chain broke and I was saved the backbreaking task of winching up the 75lb danforth by hand.

A few days later a diver found the anchor and the missing link, the weld had broken and it was opened up into a big "C" shape.

The other boat that I saw break her chain was using 1/4 inch chain (grade unknown) on a heavy 28 foot boat. I was on my folkboat nearby with all three anchors out in a decent onshore blow (NW?) in Anchorage Bay Abel Tasman. That night his chain broke but his second anchor held him. He decided to get 5/16 chain...

The morals, commonsense really, buy good chain of the right size for the weight of the boat, use enough skope and a decent snubber. Saying that, the old crappy 1/2" chain survived many hard blows in the Marlborough sounds and Chatham Islands before it was finally "retired". The 1/2 inch short link normal grade chain they now have is still going strong.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by ka4wja

Dave,
Thanks for your vote!!!

I was raised in S. FL, the Bahamas, Caribbean, the Med etc. and spent much of my childhood out cruising with my family...
I've been thru many storms / hurricanes in the past 50 years....

And, for those who may cringe at my story, please be assured that I'm far from reckless!!!

Fair winds...

John
s/v Annie Laurie

I don't trust WM. It would not surprise me if you had been sold a cheap Chinese copy.

[bizzy]

WE USE 10MM S/S/CHAIN ANYONE KNOW WHAT THAT IS RATED FOR ? IT IS STAMPED ,NOT SURE OF THE NUMBERS . THANKS