Ground Tackle for 6 Ton 35' Rasmus... Generally Speaking

[Charleston Rasmus]

I’ve heard from wise sailors that a good ground tackle system is like a life insurance policy. Allie Rose is a 1972 Hallberg Rassy Raasmus, likely weighing in six tons, I’ve already preemptively done some work to my system. I’ve used a galvanizing zinc-based paint on the current anchor chain to mark distances, and used interlux bilge paint to repaint the anchor locker itself. I also used ospho on the anchor (no paint thereafter) for whatever corrosion forestalling effect this may have (likely little to none since it was not followed up with paint - I don't like the look of painted anchors). I also put a gasket on the lid, to diminish any noise that could result from banging. Here’s where I’d like to go with this project, and the questions that I have.

I currently have three anchors on the boat. A claw anchor is my primary anchor, and also have a CQR and a Fortress anchor.

I’d like to replace the current chain and rode with new chain and rode. My thought is that 200’ of G4 HT Galvanized chain (⅜”) with 200’ of 8 plait nylon rhode spliced thereto is what I want. Here are my questions:

1) Is my proposed system adequate?
2)Where is the best supplier in terms of “bang for your dollar” to order a half spool of chain? Or suppliers that you may have gone through in the past that you've received good customer service from.
3) What do you use to mark distance on the chain itself? I’ve heard everything from paint to zip ties works, but didn’t know if there was a “gold standard” that is most preferred if I’m going to be spending an absorbent amount of money on "up-fitting" this system.
4) The current chain pipe is terribly oriented, and doesn’t work well to feed the chain back into the locker. A replacement chain pipe from lumar (their 8-13mm pipe) is $300 - money I’d really prefer not to spend. If I have to. What would the best orientation for it be? More importantly, does anyone have a manufacturer they have had experience with before for this part? I guess it's technically seated just fine for now, but chain just doesn't feed well into it.
5) I sanded down, and did one coat of interlux bilge paint to clean up the locker. If I'm going to be repainting my decks, is there any point to adding a second coat of bilge paint? Any reason why one would use kiwigrip or other nonskid paint in the locker itself? I presume not to both - but wanted to ask.

Additional Purchase I'm not sure that I need, but would love to know more about their necessity
1) Do I need to install a chain stopper, or the current paracord to eyelet system I have provide the adequate protection that I need from accidental anchor release?
2) I don’t have an anchor bridle. One purchased from mantus (⅝” rope, 28’ long) appears to be fairly common, and costs $200. Is this something I should/could make myself? Does anyone have a mantus bridle that they’ve seen last the test of time?
3) The other pieces that I believe I need to add to the system are a swivel (to connect the chain to the anchor), and an anchor hook (to attach to the chain from the bridle). Similarly, mantus appears to make very common stainless steel swivels and hooks as far as I’ve seen at my marina. Any experience with these products? Are they both necessary?
4) Lastly, is there any reason to ever have an after anchor mount and/or anchor roller? Has anyone ever routed chain into their aft cabin before, attached to anchor on a mount/roller that is permanently on the aft of the boat?

The long and the short of it is simple - I want to have this “life insurance”, without breaking the bank. If anyone is willing to provide input on the above referenced questions, it would be greatly appreciated! The more feedback you can provide in terms of priority of the aforementioned purchases, the better. I attached a top down photo of the anchor system as it currently is set up.

[Contest31]

Your rode system is more than adequate for your boat, (3/8" G4 is massively strong) although you don't say what weights your anchors are. Be very cautious with "off brand" generic copies of famous anchors. Recent anchor testing has shown that original, name brand Bruce Claw anchors set and hold (and importantly RESET) far better than cheap copies. This seems to carry across all of these older anchor styles including Fortress. Personally, I would ditch all your old style anchors and get an overweight modern style anchor, maybe a Mantus M1 or M2 (or some other modern anchor) for the bow (something in the 40+ pound range for your boat) and keep your other best anchor of whatever kind for the stern. I have a 35 pound M1 for my 10K pound 31' boat - it's more than adequate, and the next size up should be more than adequate for yours. My second anchor will be either a Spade or a Mantus M2, again oversized, haven't fully decided yet. Spades are incredible anchors. And a Fortress makes a great "snorkel hook" or lunch hook or what have you. Light, and holds super well in sand. If you want to become an anchor nerd, get deep into the anchor testing on Youtube by a guy named Steve of S/V Panope.

Get a piece of heavy wall pipe of some kind from an online metal or fiberglass supplier. I've seen fiberglass or G10 pipe/tubing used and so long as it's heavy walled it seems to last fine. Is bronze better? You bet. Stainless is great. Can you use black iron pipe? If that's all you have. Make sure it's plenty big enough to take chain plus mud plus chaos of twists etc. Chain going in and out smoothly is really, really important - doesn't matter how big the rode is if it's all piled up below, tangled up.

Make certain sure that your windlass gypsy will take HT/G4 chain. Not all will. Don't just assume, then buy a bunch of chain, then figure out that every 10th link it kinks up and skips or won't come off the gypsy easily. I bought a brand new Lofrans Royal and it's made for BBB, to my surprise. They sell a G4 gypsy which literally costs as much as the entire windlass. Is G4 stronger? Yes. But chain breakage is not why anchor systems fail - it's usually inadequate anchor size, inadequate snubber length and design, not getting the hell out of Dodge when you can, etc.

Swivels are a good way to start a fight. Some swear by them, others can point to all the ones that fail and say "See, I told you." Personally, I don't have one and have not seen that it mattered. I can see the point with chain twist if you're pivoting around the anchor for a week, around and around, then your chain is like a barber pole, but it's just one of those things where people that don't use them never need them and people that do use them swear by them and have stories about how they saved the day. Flip a coin. Practical Sailor just did a good piece on swivels and KONG brand was one of the only ones that didn't fail at far less than rated strength.

I don't know why Mantus charges so much for their bridle system, but you can obviously build your own for a lot less.

Yes, you should have a stern anchor ready to go, with rode either attached or ready to throw on in a hurry. Depending on your lazarette/aft cabin situation you can route your rode through a hawse pipe or come up with your own system. But a stern anchor is sort of an emergency brake and needs to be ready in about 10 seconds - no fumbling for shackles or trying to find the end of the rode in a pile of chain.

That's all I know. Skip Novak is a massively experienced high latitude sailor and he basically uses 1 anchor - it's too big, and the chain is too big, and too long, and thus it never fails. And he'll anchor in 40 knot winds for a week. He's not one of these "I have seven anchors" guys. He says have one massive, perfect anchor and rode system, and maintain it, and it won't fail. People buy light anchors as though they're going to have to take them backpacking or something - it just sits there, fixed to the deck - get an extra 10 or 20 pounds and sleep better.

[Charleston Rasmus]

My game plan has shifted and evolved.

I plan on selling the CQR anchor on the bow.
I plan on storing (the current primary anchor) Claw anchor midship.
I plan on purchasing a Sarca Excell, 30kg/66lb, to serve as my primary anchor - adopting the oversized anchor approach.
No shackle. 200' Chain, 200' Rhode.
Install chin stay/lock into the deck of the bow.

I need to figure out what size chain I have. Any best practice to figure that out? G4, BBB, 5/16, 3/8, so many questions...

For the stern anchor, I plan on routing the chain into the locker within the aft cabin (there's plenty of room to do this). I'd like to have it mounted on some type of a tiltable roller. Any recommendations on this? I suppose that alternatively I could use a pulpit mount for a Fortress anchor and that'd be good enough, but I do like the idea of a roller if possible.

[atomvoyager]

Contest31 has made some good points. To add to that, length of anchor rode depends somewhat on budget, space available and how deep of anchorages you expect to encounter. You should be able to anchor in less than 45' depths as a rule unless you are headed someplace know for deep anchorages so you might get by with as little as 150' of chain and 100' nylon rode. And you can always add nylon on the rare occasion you need it for deeper water. A 45 lb anchor is big enough and all round easier to deal with. In a rare situation when it isn't enough, deploy the second anchor as well. 3/8" G4 is adequate if G4 fits your chain wheel.

I can't help you with the correct deck chain pipe or placement since the entire deck bow layout, windlass, top opening chain locker door that is blocked by the chain seems an awkward design that will remain awkward to use. If you solve it let us know what you came up with. It's not in the picture but I'm thinking you want a bridle to serve as a snubber because you don't have a proper bow roller? Whether using a single snubber or bridle, you can make your own using a cheap galvanized 3/8" chain hook.

I haven't found a good source of chain. All the sources I know of misrepresent their G4 chain as being hot dipped galvanized when it's really a poor plating type of thin galvanizing that wears off and rusts quickly. Decades ago the chain was reliable triple hot dipped with a thick coating that lasted many years and there were galvanizing shops to get it regalvanized when need by most of those shops have disappeared. If someone has a source for quality chain I'd like to hear of it. meanwhile, I buy the poor quality stuff from West Marine at a deep wholesale discount with free shipping and plan on having to replace it within a few years, which is crazy I know but what's the alternative?

A chain stopper is nice to have if you have a secure place to mount it not on a flimsy hatch or just rely on your bridle of snubber to take the load off the windlass.

While it may be nice to have a stern anchor system ready to deploy most people get by stowing a second Danforth type anchor in a bag in a cockpit locker and brought up when needed to deploy off the bow, stern or take out by dinghy.