Is it possible to haul in all chain by hand?

[northoceanbeach]

I have heard that for worldwide cruising you just can't beat all chain. That some destinations have shard coral bottoms and you rope will get cut, even if you have fifty feet of chain in front of it.

Is this true? If so, can a boat under thirty feet carry all chain in the now and not be to front heavy?

Is it possible to hail it on by hand or is a windless necessary. I have been happy with my mix of rope and chain, but then I've only anchored in the pacific Norwegian. If it's time to get new gear, might as well get stuff that will be appropriate for all conditions, even if I don't need it today.

[Cheechako]

You will never have enough chain for all circumstances, everything is a compromise. I think 150-200 ft of chain is a good compromise with nylon backup. Hauling is a real pain though. If you are in 50 ft of water, what does that chain and anchor weigh?

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

You will never have enough chain for all circumstances, everything is a compromise. I think 150-200 ft of chain is a good compromise with nylon backup. Hauling is a real pain though. If you are in 50 ft of water, what does that chain and anchor weigh?

It weigh exactly the same as 50 feet of chain plus the anchor. Mathematical fact!

[Cheechako]

haha, now if we just knew whether it's a Danforth or CQR! But then again... does it weigh less in water? What does a bucket of water weigh in water?

[valhalla360]

Yes there are areas where more chain is nice but it's the extremely rare situation that its required.


Unless you are in exceedingly deep water or have an exceedingly heavy anchor, pulling it up by hand is very doable (I'm assuming you don't have physical disabilities).


With or without a winch, you should be motoring up to the anchor, so you are only hauling in the slack not pulling the boat to the anchor. Likewise when you break the anchor free, take a wrap or two around a cleat and let the boats engine pull it out.


Also, I'm assuming a 30-40' boat. If you are talking about a 60-70' boat, everything gets bigger and at some point, it's too big to handle with manpower alone.

[exMaggieDrum]

I know very few offshore cruisers who enjoy pulling up chain rodes. Let's say you are in 50 feet of water with a 30 lb anchor, and that you have "lightweight" Grade 40/43 5/16" chain. Each foot of chain is about one lb. So you haul in all the rode you had out by hand, which may be 200-250' total, but the last 50' is dead weight straight up. That starts out weighing 80 lbs and gets lighter by one lb for each foot you bring in, but never lighter than 30 lbs for the anchor.

And you are always pulling up 50 lbs until you get the anchor free. If you pull up one ft at a pull, and you have 200' out (not really enough except for a quick lunch stop in protected waters) you end up with 150 reps at 50 lbs and then 50 reps at 30 lbs plus whatever chain you still have to get up.

You can do it if you are in good shape but it is not something many people would want to do very often. It is certainly possible to rig to pull up with a halyard, or back to winch for rope rode part, but if chain you have to change your chain attachment point every time you get as far as you can with each pull (e.g. every 5' perhaps). It becomes a very involved process.

You will want a minimum of 50' of chain and it is preferable to have more, if not all chain. Yes, it is heavy, but you size the chain for your boat size. There are lots of articles on how to do that (with lots of different opinions). And windlasses are not cheap but smaller ones are less expensive than ones for bigger chain and anchors.

And the installation of a windlass is a moderately big project, especially an electric one.

There are sailors out there without windlasses, but not very many, and many who have started out without them, put them in later. One other issue is how long it can take to pull up anchor and get underway. Sometimes it is important to get away fast as possible. That is unusual but there are times when it can be necessary.

Just my personal preference but I would not own a boat without a power windlass. I am amazed by those who just have manual ones and can't imagine what it is like without even that. Actually, I can imagine it and wouldn't do it.

[Robin3]

It has been a long time, but we had a 33 foot westerly ketch back in the 19th century with a manual windlass and all chain rode. The manual windlass was so slow we never used it and it seized up I eventually bit the bullet and installed an electric windlass, changing at the same time from the original 90 ft of 8mm to 180 ft of10 mm ( 3/8) chain and a bigger (45lb from 35lb) anchor. I was much younger and fitter back then but with the electric windlass anchoring ( and re-anchoring if not perfect first time) became a simple pleasure. The 41 footer successor to that boat came with 200ft of 10mm chain and a 35lb Delta, with a Lewmar electric windlass. There was one occasion when the windlass failed and dropped all the chain in 30 feet of water and I had to haul it ( twice) by hand, it was possible but not pleasant and I rebuilt the windlass just as soon as I could ( Pawls broke up). Now at age 70 and after 2 total hip replacements and recovering from a bad stroke 3 years back, when we lived on a 47 foot motor yacht we are back now living on dirt and have a 36 foot sailboat with an all 3/8 chain ( 150ft) rode and 45lb Delta, naturally with an electric windlass. We live and cruise the East coast ICW and islands so never very deep waters. Even now I could haul chain but not from choice that is for sure

[ozsailer]

Please also add to the equation the weight of your boat, - sound funny, not when your trying to haul your anchor in and you have wind and or current against you. Obviously you will not be hauling the weight of your boat but you will be pulling against the forces opposing you. It will make the job of retrieving the anchor a lot harder or near impossible - especially if you are single handling and not able to take the strain off the anchor off the boat when retrieving the anchor..



Greg and Sue
SV Sunshine

[scuba0_1]

Knew a sailor that was dragging in big wind needed to move. They're windlass decided not to work at that moment. Using the engine and pulling the chain was impossible. They ended up dumping it with a float. Sometimes it just might be impossible.

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[Sandero]

Possible? Anything is possible. But it's pretty insane to be hauling up chain without mechanical assist. Also when you haul in chain you are also pull the boat toward the anchor and that includes the windage.

Anyone in the right mind would not consider not having a windlass if they were anchoring frequently.

[RTB]

We've been cruising for 3 years. No windlass. No autopilot. No problem. Getting the anchor up first thing in the morning is my workout, and gets me going. It's only fair. My wife doesn't have a dishwasher (so we're even).

Captain Ralph, anchor man.jpg Views: 413 Size: 409.0 KB ID: 107839" style="margin: 2px" />

Mind you, we rarely anchor in anything more than 20'. I usually look for 8-12' to drop the hook. I'm guessing in Cali or the PNW, anchorages are deeper.

Our boat is 36', with all 5/16" HT chain, and a 35# Manson Supreme. Oh, and I'm 63 and weigh 135# in cruise trim.


The OP has a Cape Dory 28. Surely a 25# anchor and maybe 1/4" chain is all that's needed. I'm not sure how much weight he can add to the bow, without upsetting the balance. Anyone?

Ralph

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Please also add to the equation the weight of your boat, - sound funny, not when your trying to haul your anchor in and you have wind and or current against you. Obviously you will not be hauling the weight of your boat but you will be pulling against the forces opposing you. It will make the job of retrieving the anchor a lot harder or near impossible - especially if you are single handling and not able to take the strain off the anchor off the boat when retrieving the anchor..



Greg and Sue
SV Sunshine

My philosophy is only ever lift slack chain even if hauling by hand in flat calm with no current, pull a bit then wait for the boat to move a little towards the anchor, when the chain slackens pull in the slack. A chain stopper helps take the strain before the next bit of slack. I installed an up/down windlass control at the wheel so we can work it from there whilst nudging the boat towards the anchor. In practice one of us watches from up front and points to where the chain is laying so the other can work the engine and wheel to orientate the boat and line it up before pulling up the slack when it is in the right place, as in straight over the bow roller. We also have windlass up/down foot switches on the bow we do have to occasionall move the chain in the foredeck anchor locker to prevent it volcano piling under the hawse pipe but i have a telecopic fish gaff now so the chain can be easily pulled from a standing position to lay it out more neatly in the locker. a bit of 'guile' designed to help overcome senility.

[Reefmagnet]

I've had all chain on my <30 foot boats in the past and my approach was to use 1/4" HT chain. This chain allows more length for the weight and is very easy to haul manually. In fact it was much easier to haul than a rode consisting of about 30 feet of 3/8" chain with 1/2" nylon.

[bletso]

I have done it, but we do have a manual windlass that works well and doesn't require batteries. Have over 200ft 3/8 chain.

[AiniA]

In four years all over the world I don't think we saw one cruiser who was not using all chain. I can't remember anyone pulling it up by hand but I am sure there were a few. I think it is doable in benign conditions but would quickly become impossible with any significant current or wind.