Anchor Chain

[kindredspirits]

looking for opinions......I need to replace my anchor rode and here is my situation. I boat in fresh water (Great Lakes) so no salt to contend with. I'm looking at 100' of 5/16 HT chain plus 150' 3 strand. West Marine wants $547.00 for the chain alone. This product is hot dipped galvanized. I've got a local chain supplier that has a zinc galvanized chain for $275.00. We don't anchor that often, so I'm thinking of saving a few dollars on the zinc chain. Any opinions with fresh water use?

 

[sugilbert]

IMHO, the cheaper chain will be just fine. I use 100' also, but have no idea if hot dipped or cold galvanized. Have no signs of deterioration after 10 years of use.

 

[TJM]

I would agree. Fresh water use only and not a heavy user. Just inspect it every few months and you should be fine.
I would be concerned a little about the load rating on the chain more than the corrosion in your application.

 

[Good Grief]

Sounds like the same chain, except one if from a marine dealer and the other isn't ("hot dipped" is the most common method of zinc galvanization - one of the cheaper methods of galvanization - I'd bet the local guys' chain is hot dipped as well . . ..)

Are you replacing an all 3-strand rode w/ chain/3-strand mix? if so, depending upon your boat, the added weight of 100' chain may be significant.

 

[kindredspirits]

I am going to run 100' of 5/16 HT chain and splice my existing rode to that. I currently have about 190' of 5/8 rode but I'm going to shorten it about 20' to remove the wear area. My typical anchorage is about 15-20' deep so I'll probably be on all chain the majority of the time. I'll be adding 100 lbs. to the bow but I don't expect this to be a problem. I took my gypsy down to the discount chain guy and his 5/16 HT chain had long links and wouldn't fit the gypsy. So, I ended up buying the West Marine chain. They had to ship in 100' as they didn't have enough in stock but I should have it Thursday in time for the weekend. They did discount it quite a bit which made it an easier decision. For anyone shopping for chain, I would definitely recommend taking your gypsy with you to make sure the links are correct before you buy chain. Also, West Marine's prices seemed high when I was first shopping, however with the discounts they applied they got competitive with their prices.