Do I have enough rode out?

November’s 13th, twenty seventeen

I woke up wondering if I had deployed enough rode? This is an admirable quality for a ship/boat captain, perhaps not so when sleeping ashore in a condo. So unable to shake the sense of inadequacy in the rode department I googlized  the subject. The anchor rode is the line/chain from the boat to the anchor.

I guess all this dream thinking about the anchor should prompt me to lay out the chain in the yard and mark it so that I actually have a clue about rode length. The dilemma, how much chain is the right amount. The consensus I found this morning is gently drop your rocna and let the boat drift back to about 5 times the depth of water from your anchor roller. Then let the boat work on setting the hook for an hour or so prior to backing on it with the engine, never using more than 25% of your working revs… This is today’s consensus.

Once set, if your anchor is the right size for your boat you can shorten to 3 to 1 with only a 10% loss in holding power. Sometimes shortening is required if the anchorage becomes badly populated. Or, if the wind comes up you can lay out more. I should be able to sleep now but the day has begun. ML is up and it is time to head to the yard and FRACAS. I have one last piece of hose to remove and that will be tackled first.

We had a face-time call with H last night (his mom helped). Poor little guy misses his Nanny and Pop Pop. Hopefully he doesn’t miss us as much as we miss him.

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