Anchor Rode Marker?

R

Raeoflight

Member
Sep 29, 2015
117
Pickwick, TN
Boat Info
1999 SeaRay 460
Engines
Twin diesel
Does anyone here mark their anchor rode so you know how many feet you have out? I've seen the plastic clips but sun and windlass seems like these wouldn't last. I'd like a nylon or other material strip to weave into the rope or tie to a link in chain that would go through the windlass. I'd rather stay away from painting increments on the rode. Seems like it'd look goofy. Any ideas from folks here?
 
I used the colored rescue tape to mark my rode, and after 5 seasons of use, only the first tape on the chain portion needs replacing (travels through the windlass most often). The kind of tape I used is the one that you have to stretch and then it chemically bonds to itself.
 
There are kit's out there, have also heard of people weaving different colored yarn or string into the rode, or even marking it with a sharpie. I don't have a windless, so I just used electrical tape, 1 band = 10ft, 2=20ft, 3=30ftetc. I just went to 50ft since we rarely anchor in more than 20ft and never overnight. They have held up fine for 3 seasons now.
 
on a previous boat I put a piece of large heat shrink wrap every 10' on the rode......once the wrap was shrunk tight with a heat gun it never budged....the wrap was made of plastic so water did not bother it........I did not have a windlass on that boat so I don't know if the piece of wrap would interfere with the operation of a windlass or not....

cliff
 
I just used orange marking paint every 25 feet. I'll drop the paint to just below the surface, or bring it back in, no one really sees it but me.
 
I paint my chain rode with this sequence:

8'-a 6' all white section so I know I'm getting close to the anchor
25'-2' long red
50'-2' red plus 2' white
75'-2' red plus 2' white, repeated
100'-4' red
150' 4' red plus 4' white
200' 8' white section
250' 8' red section
 
I have yellow tape on mine, but have't figured out how far the spacers are. Bought it that way - that's a 2017 "project"......

You will not look dumb - its a good idea
 
1 wrap of red vinyl tape at 10'
2 wraps of red vinyl tape at 20'
3 wraps of red vinyl tape at 30'
4 wraps of red vinyl tape at 40'
1 wrap of green vinyl tape at 50'
2 wraps of green vinyl tape at 60'
3 wraps pf green vinyl tape at 70'

That's about as deep as I'd need to go in the lake!
 
I asked this question many years ago and received this suggestion; learn the count as your chain goes out and apply that knowledge to the line part of the rode. My 50 feet of chain goes out on a 5 count, 100 out at 10 and so on. After learning this I've not needed marks as I can get it fairly close. One must keep count and remember it; if one does not want to do this put markers on the rode.

MM
 
The ideal solution is to purchase a rode counter. I've got one on my helm and once calibrated works great. If you have chain there are plastic inserts that come in a variety of colors. I have those too and are great when you're at the bow.
 
I used electrical tape for each 10' and then duct tape at 50' and 100' on the rope part of the rode. I have 40' of chain and I have no markings on that since I always let all of that out anyway. After 5 years with the windless, the tape is still on there.
 
Black spray paint first 5 feet. Red spray paint last 5 feet. White spray paint every 50 feet. We have 260 feet of chain. We let most of it out when we anchor as we anchor in 50+ feet most times. After the chain we have 350 feet of rode. It is not marked. Deepest water we have anchored in is 90 feet. Figure if all the chain goes out and we are on rode we shouldnot move too much with all that weight on the bottom. We did slip anchor in 90 feet once.
 
My 1994 400 Express has a Good brand rope windlass that comes with a color coded anchor line. Different colors indicate lengths of 10-20 feet, 50-60 feet, 100-110 feet, etc until 10 feet before the end of the 200 feet of line I carry. At the end of the season, the blue color at the 50' mark faded completely out of the line, so I went to Michael's crafts store and purchased nylon fabric dye. I mixed it up following the directions into a disposable chafing pan and then dunked the appropriate section of line into the dye. I now have a dark blue section of line right where it is supposed to be. I will tell you next season how it turns out, but I think this will work perfectly for me. PS, I made sure it was dry before pulling the line back into the boat. If it works well, I may do the other colors to freshen them up as well. If you are curious, colors are Red, Blue, Orange, Green and Red. Good also supplies a stick on label with the colors and lengths that you mount at the helm for quick reference.
 
My last two boats have been all chain. Used paint on the previous boat but that just faded, chipped or pealed. A real pain to repaint at the dock. This boat, i just went to West Marine and picked up nylon rope that could be woven snugly within the chain. Conveniently, they have both chain & rope in one place to see what works best. I initially thought that I might need to secure each section with a zip tie but it hasn't been necessary. Never had any problem interfering with windlass. The nylon rope is available in a variety of color choices and can be purchased by the foot. I put 1' neon yellow sections every 25'. Georgia red clay fades it out occasionally but it's pretty easy to replace.
 
I used colored zip ties last season and they held up well which surprised me since they were cheap Harbor Freight ones. I put about 10 of them on each chain link I wanted to mark.
 
I use colored tape, easy to install and replace.
 
could always install one of these.......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/152041990651?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

$_35.JPG
 
To what do you attach the counter? Is there some kind of transducer on the winch end or????
 
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