Rode Counter Question

Two Buoys

New Member
Jan 22, 2007
39
Does anyone have any suggestions/experience on adding an electronic rode counter to a windlass?

I have a 2005 390DA with a Lofrans windlass/all chain rode.
 
Ive heard of painting links every so many feet, say 25, and a different color paint 5 or so feet before total rewind, so the anchor doesn't mark the boat while retreiving. Simple, but effective. :thumbsup:
 
My boat came with 300 feet of color coded rode. You can see it from the helm and there is a chart by the windlass switch. We anchor in a cove that we know quite well so we know the color to wait for when deploying the anchor from the remote switches on the bow pulpit. If this system appeals to you, buy color coded rode. It does work.
 
Our rode is chain/rope combo. I like the idea of color coding. Can you dye line? Will it last? Will it compromise strength? What about dying one foot of the rode every so many feet (different colors, repeating scheme) so you would easily know 30 feet, 40, 50, etc. A few years back I bought a pack of the little marker tags to put on the rode but never did it, misplaced them since. One foot of colored rode every so many sound like it would be easy to see and interpret. Any thoughts?
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far, but I can't see the rode from my cockpit. I am looking for any options that can be used at the cockpit.
 
I guess no one here has experience with an electronic chain counter. It seems like a big undertaking to retrofit, but would be very helpful in your situation. Let us know what you find out.

When I had an express boat I did as the others have suggested, marked the chain with paint. I found that I had to really watch for the marks to go by and always had to go to the bow to do a final fine-tuning of the amount of chain.

Another suggestion for doing it on the cheap would be to time your release of chain. If you know the the windlass releases x feet per second, just count the number of seconds and you will have a good approximation of the amount of scope.
 
Amberjack01 said:
Our rode is chain/rope combo. I like the idea of color coding. Can you dye line? Will it last? Will it compromise strength? Any thoughts?

Our rode has 30 feet of chain and the balance is rope. The rope is stained and bleed on my bow pulpit the first few times it was deployed. It no longer does this. I doubt Tiara would use something that degrades the strength. Yes, it lasts and no, it does not compromise strength. Even if you are unable to see the colors from the helm, you could deploy from the bow or go up front and check the color after you are dug in and adjust accordingly.
 
We can see our rode from the helm so it sounds like a good project for a dry day before the boat goes in the water would be to mix up some "rit?" dye in 5 gallon buckets, let out the rode and every ten feet or so dye 1 or 2 feet of the rode. Then when deploying just count the number of dyed segments to figure out the length!

Of course if you can't see the rode from the helm, just as easy to tell a helper at the bow "let out line to the tenth colored segment" or whatever works for the water depth.

Sounds like another commisioning project!
 

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