Marine shops in Erie PA

'Supposed' to be heading to Erie, PA this coming Tuesday. Plan to start installing my windlass this afternoon and need to get some 1/4" G4 chain. Anyone know of a shop in that area that might have it? Going to call Fox Chapel Marine here in a few but that's an hour the wrong direction. Figure if anywhere in Erie has it I'll just swing by there and get it. BTW-was planning to get about 20' but called my local shop. They don't have any but said he recommends about 6' for our 25' 7500lb boat?

I would say it depends on how you use your anchor. If just for a few hours, and you rarely or never leave the boat on anchor, 6' is the norm because it's light.

If you anchor overnight, the rule of thumb is about equal to the boat length. Since your putting in a windlass, weight of hauling it up is less of an issue.

Lots of online vendors will sell custom lengths of chain spliced to custom lengths of rope. Defender is one option I use.

swaterhouse said:

I would say it depends on how you use your anchor. If just for a few hours, and you rarely or never leave the boat on anchor, 6' is the norm because it's light.

If you anchor overnight, the rule of thumb is about equal to the boat length. Since your putting in a windlass, weight of hauling it up is less of an issue.

Lots of online vendors will sell custom lengths of chain spliced to custom lengths of rope. Defender is one option I use.

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Thanks. We never (and likely will never) overnight on the hook. Talked to a guy at our marina yesterday with a Four Winns 288 and he said he only has 12' and never has an issue. We rarely get strong current or much wave action on the Ohio River and if we did we probably wouldn't be out there anyway. But at some point we may go to Erie and I know currents and waves are stronger there. Still wouldn't be overnighting. Thinking 10-15' should be plenty. Would like to buy the chain locally due to shipping charges but may have to order it

We boat primarily in the western basin of Lake Erie and anchor while at the beach and when perch fishing. Our anchor rode is all rope, no chain. We have never had an issue. Boat’s dry weight is just under 3800 #’s. We have two anchors on board. The main anchor is slightly oversized for the boat (13# fluke style). The second is one size smaller. We typically use the smaller anchor because it is easier to retrieve (no windlass). We do use the larger anchor at the cove on the north side of Kelly’s Island. That area is a rock bottom and the larger anchor grabs better. Other areas of Lake Erie are sand or mud.