Pay attention because there will be a quiz.
Scope is the amount of anchor rode that's been deployed. The basic rule of thumb is that scope should be about 7 times the depth of the water where you're anchoring. At least that's the number when you use primarily nylon rode. With chain the scope is often reduced to 5:1. But regardless of which ratio one uses, you can't do jack unless you know how much rode you have out.
Today, I finally got around to marking the rode on 3 of our 4 anchors. The spare anchor under the v-berth will just have to wait until I have some reason to pull it out of storage,
There are ongoing discussions about the best way to mark chains and nylon lines. Some swear by paint, some by tying colored rags at particular intervals, usually with some arcane code to decipher what the rags are telling you. Lately I've read a lot of opinions about using colored nylon wire ties. On our old boat, the previous owner had used commercially-available markers with actual numbers written on them. I decided to go for a combination of a couple of strategies.
For the chain, I opted for the wire ties. I used red for 10', green for 50' and yellow for 100'.
For the nylon I used the numbered markers. In this photo I used a combination of both:
Question #1: How much scope is represented in the above photo?
a.) 60'
b.) 10 fathoms
c.) 160'
d.) 260'
e.) Scope? I ain't got to show you no steenkeeng scope!
Question #2: How much rode has been deployed if the following marker shows up?
a.) 135'
b.) 180'
c.) 30 fathoms
d.) 165'
e.) Rode? If you mean chain, say chain!
You've probably noticed that I've left the tails long on the wire ties. The internet brain trust assures me that this won't interfere with the windlass and, it appears that they're right. This is nice because the cut-off tails are notoriously sharp.
Bonus question: In the above photo, if you let this marker reach the surface of the water, assuming that you are using the correct amount of scope, what is the maximum depth of the water that you're anchoring in?
a.) 26'
b.) 19'
c.) 43'
d.) 29'
e.) The what?
2 comments:
If it was a really hot day when one was furling out the "rode", how many beers would it take to do the job?
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
Answer below
If depends on... who is letting out the rode and who is sitting on their butt and how long of a journey the beer ad to take to get boatside. The longer the carry... the less one drinks. And lastly ...it will take fewer beers if lulu is in the galley fixin up somthin real good!!!!!!
p.s.
1 c 160
2 b 180
and for the bonus question a 26 now bring on the beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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