[Vlad]

I need an advice, please!
I’ve bought a Quicksilver inflatable Heavy Duty 4.30 meters boat with 30hp Mariner two stroke outboard engine. I have 4kg anchor with 2meters chain.
What rope do I need for the anchor?

 

[ed2sdad]

We just use polyprop.

Different people will say different things. I cannot comment to be honest.

PM somebody like ChrisP for a quick answer.

 

[Afishionado]

I need an advice, please!
I’ve bought a Quicksilver inflatable Heavy Duty 4.30 meters boat with 30hp Mariner two stroke outboard engine. I have 4kg anchor with 2meters chain.
What rope do I need for the anchor?

It's not so much the breaking strain of the rope but the 'holdability' if that's a word. You would be perfectly OK with 8mm nylon but it is thin and therefore hard to hold when pulling up an anchor. Idealy 12mm Nylon is just about as thin as one would want to go but at a pinch on an inflateable you could get away with 10mm. Nylon sinks so does polyester, polyprop floats and does not feel good in the hand. Over all Nylon is best. The economy end of the Nylon rope is 3 strand twist 12mm. Expect to pay 50p to 80p a meter in small quantities. How long? Well you need to look at a chart or find someone to tell you how deep the deepest area is where you normaly fish, and then X it by 4. If you want a bench mark you need to be looking for at least 50 meters of rope certainly not less.

Afishionado

 

[Vlad]

Thanks for the great and detailed advice Afishionado!
Where can I find sea charts on the net? Do you know any sites?

 

[Cascars]

I dont think you will anything very detailed on the net. What area are you in? If in the South East I have a couple fo old ones somewhere that you can have. Maybe someone else will have an old one for you if you are in a different area.
The cheapest place I have found for anchor rope is Jimmy Green Marine. Google them for details.

 

[kveite]

You could use 8 mm polyester rope (for boats up to max 1000kg), you should use it with a 6mm chain. Are you planning to go fishing at anchor, or is it for emergencies only. If you want to fo fishing at anchor I'd suggest a bit longer chain (eg 4 meters). It makes the boat behave better in waves and protects the nylon from the rocks.

You could use lead-core, but I don't like it. It's often used bij sailers on smaller boast, who only use the (umbrella) anchor when having a swim. Chain and polyester is a lot cheaper and even better then lead-core.

And buy enough anchor rope, don't settle for 30 m. You'd need at least 2 times the depth your anchoring at. And if you've got enough space on your boat dubbel that lenght. There is no better spare anchorrope than the one connected to your anchor.

 

[blueskip]

Thanks for the great and detailed advice Afishionado!
Where can I find sea charts on the net? Do you know any sites?

Vlad
Why not buy the CD from RYA Admiralty Charts for your area, about £38 I think, you can then sit at home & study where you want to go in comfort, look for those interesting spots on your PC, it also gives you the GPS numbers, so that when Father Xmas brings you a GPS you can go "spot on":yeah
blueskip

 

[Rajabatis]

You could use 8 mm polyester rope (for boats up to max 1000kg), you should use it with a 6mm chain. Are you planning to go fishing at anchor, or is it for emergencies only. If you want to fo fishing at anchor I'd suggest a bit longer chain (eg 4 meters). It makes the boat behave better in waves and protects the nylon from the rocks.

You could use lead-core, but I don't like it. It's often used bij sailers on smaller boast, who only use the (umbrella) anchor when having a swim. Chain and polyester is a lot cheaper and even better then lead-core.

And buy enough anchor rope, don't settle for 30 m. You'd need at least 2 times the depth your anchoring at. And if you've got enough space on your boat dubbel that lenght. There is no better spare anchorrope than the one connected to your anchor.

8mm? Bit hard on the hands too thin I feel. 10 or 12mm makes a big difference. 220mtre polypro coils on ebay for 17.99 plus post. I need that for were I fish but I think you can get shorter lengths pro rata on price.

 

[Vlad]

Thanks to all for the great advice! It really helped!

 

[monktonlad]

Thanks for the great and detailed advice Afishionado!
Where can I find sea charts on the net? Do you know any sites?

Hi Vlad,

have a look on this site... http://mappe.c-marina.com/partners/ucina/portsearch_main.asp?jInstalled=true#

just click on an area to zoom in or drag your mouse to form a box round the area you are looking at.

It will give you a rough idea as to water depth etc but always go for an admiralty chat for more detail.

Hope this helps.

Malcolm.

 

[dpross1971]

Hello Monktonlad

I have been loking for a site like that for ages.

Tell me, about the depths:

a) are they in metres, feet, fathoms (not that obvious to me, unfortunately)?

b) do they signify depths at bottom tide or top, and then is it neap or spring?

Thanks in advance.

Pross

 

[Afishionado]

Hello Monktonlad

I have been loking for a site like that for ages.

Tell me, about the depths:

a) are they in metres, feet, fathoms (not that obvious to me, unfortunately)?

b) do they signify depths at bottom tide or top, and then is it neap or spring?

Thanks in advance.

Pross

You didn't hope for a simple answer did you? 0)

Depths in Meters (3.3ft)

Depths are measured on the basis of the water being at the average of the low water depth throughout the year ( That's the simplest answer don't worry about the details)

Don't bother your self adding the current water depth over the indicated depth as in general terms for fishing it doesn't matter. UNLESS you have a huge tidal movement like the Bristol Channel for example.

If you want to do the maths you need a tide table for your chosen area. This will give you at any point in the day a figure that represents the hight of the water in addition to what the chart says.

Afishionado

 

[monktonlad]

Hello Monktonlad

I have been loking for a site like that for ages.

Tell me, about the depths:

a) are they in metres, feet, fathoms (not that obvious to me, unfortunately)?

b) do they signify depths at bottom tide or top, and then is it neap or spring?

Thanks in advance.

Pross

Hi Pross,

if you click on the word legend that is in red at the bottom of the map you will get another sceen pop up with all the symbols and what they mean.

In answer to your question

a) the depths are in metres

and b) if they are the same as an admiralty chart then they are known as chart datum. Your tide table will give you a depth of water for a given port and this is the height above chart datum.
For example, if you look on your chart for a given point and the depth is shown as 7 metres, you then look at your tide table. (today Margate high 20:38 at 3.7metres)
If you were going to be at that point at high water, then add 3.7 metres giving you 10.7m.
If the number on the chart is underlined then that is a drying height.

This is based on my limited knowledge and I am sure there are people on here who will be able to either explain it better or correctly if I am wrong.

Malcolm.

 

[ChrisP]

Hello Monktonlad

I have been loking for a site like that for ages.

Tell me, about the depths:

a) are they in metres, feet, fathoms (not that obvious to me, unfortunately)?

b) do they signify depths at bottom tide or top, and then is it neap or spring?

Thanks in advance.

Pross

The chart will be drawn to WGS 84 datum, the default datum for GPS, this means that as long as you havn't changed the datum on your GPS set any positions you take off the chart will be able to be entered into your GPS without converting them.

Depths shown in feet


They are always the depth of the water at the lowest astronomical tide (a theoretical minimum the water can ever go) In practise there will never be less water depth than shown on the chart.

 

[monktonlad]

You didn't hope for a simple answer did you? 0)

Depths in Meters (3.3ft)

Depths are measured on the basis of the water being at the average of the low water depth throughout the year ( That's the simplest answer don't worry about the details)

Don't bother your self adding the current water depth over the indicated depth as in general terms for fishing it doesn't matter. UNLESS you have a huge tidal movement like the Bristol Channel for example.

If you want to do the maths you need a tide table for your chosen area. This will give you at any point in the day a figure that represents the hight of the water in addition to what the chart says.

Afishionado

It wasn't a simple answer and you beat me to it while I was figuring a way to describe it

 

[ChrisP]

The legend shows the depths in meters but I have just checked my local area and they are depths in feet, I have checked this on Garmin's G chart software, RYA local chart and the Amiralty chart of my local area.

Just sent an email to C map to confirm, bit dangerous if they do have it wrong as I suspect.

 

[Afishionado]

The legend shows the depths in meters but I have just checked my local area and they are depths in feet, I have checked this on Garmin's G chart software, RYA local chart and the Amiralty chart of my local area.

Just sent an email to C map to confirm, bit dangerous if they do have it wrong as I suspect.

Chris, I didn't want to argue with a company like Cmap, but I was confused by the depths shown for my area too. (West Solent & Dorset). I clicked the 'ledgend' marker and sure enough it said the depths were in meters. But I really do think the markings are in feet on the bit I looked at.

I'm glad you made the point.

Afishionado

 

[monktonlad]

Chris, thanks for noticing that..

I just got my chart out and sure enough the depth on that site is in feet despite the legend saying metres.

(I did think it was strange Margate harbour drying to 8m when we don't get much bigger than 5.1m round here).


Malcolm.

 

[ET-OPO]

They are always the depth of the water at the lowest astronomical tide (a theoretical minimum the water can ever go) In practise there will never be less water depth than shown on the chart.

Take care, this theoretical minimum depth can be less than that stated!!! Depending on weather, (wind driven swells mainly) water minimum depth can vary by 0.5 meter in my area!!! And thats not weather in the local area, it can be weather hundreds of miles away. Local knowledge!! Every thing on charts must be treated as 'approximate' or 'average'?

ET's OPO

 

[TomBettle]

Vlad
I used to have a little 430HD and it was good fun.
Be careful with your hooks(!) and keep the keel blown right up as it tends to fold up when you hit a wave.

To be honest, it is such a light boat at I think it was about 150Kg inc engine it needs very little to hold it in place.
I found a tiny 2kg grapnel anchor, couple of metres of 6mm chain and then any old rope will do as it doesn't suffer a great amount of tide resistance.
The comments about thin rope being difficult to haul are very true, but minimised with your little package (ooo err misses).

Have fun in her, but be safe!
Tom