Anchor Rode Installation: The ultimate guide to installing your anchor securely

In today's video, we're going to discuss how to connect an anchor to a boat. Most boats use a connection made of rope and chain, though smaller boats may only use rope. This connection is called the anchor rode, and it must be long enough so that when the anchor is deployed, the force pulls the anchor horizontally, allowing it to establish the best grip on the ground. This is important because all anchors work based on their shape, not their weight. The proportion of chain and anchor should be appropriate for the boat's weight. The heavier the boat, the heavier the chain and anchor need to be. The length of the rode is determined by the depth of the water in which you plan to anchor, which we'll discuss in more detail in a future video. If chain is used, there still needs to be a connection between the chain and the boat made of rope, as rope has the ability to absorb and dissipate force. On our boat, NV, we have 100 meters of chain because we often anchor in 15-20 meters of water due to our deep draft. For added safety, we also have an extra 20 meters of rope attached to the chain, which allows us to anchor in stronger winds or deeper water if necessary. All boats need a minimum length of rope attached to the chain to ensure that when the rode is fully extended, the entire chain has passed through the gypsy of the windlass and the rope runs through it instead. This is important because if the chain is inside the gypsy after the rode is fully extended and the rope is in tension, continuing to operate the windlass could cause the motor to become powerful enough to break any rope connecting the chain to the boat, even Dyneema. If this happens you risk losing your actor and all your chain. This is a common mistake, as many boaters fear that if the rope is too long, the chain might fully exit the gypsy and they won't be able to retrieve it, hence they keep the rope short to ensure the chain doesn't completely exit the gypsy. A solution to this is to use a rope designed for the windlass to grip or to use the engine to motor forward. When choosing the rope to connect the chain to the boat, it's always best to use a mooring line, as it has better stretchability. To keep track of how much chain we've released, we mark it at regular intervals. This helps prevent us from releasing more chain than necessary, such as when we're in very deep water or experiencing strong winds. There are various ways to do this, but in our case, we used spray paint to mark every 10 meters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you'd like to support us on Patreon, our website https://www.patreon.com/SailingNV or with a one-off donation via https://ko-fi.com/sailingnv or paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/sailingnv or if you'd like to help us buy something we need, you can check out our amazon wish list https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1G2NJ0EGJLKR0?ref_=wl_share #boatmaintenance #boatlife #yacht