Whenever I decide to spend a night on board at anchor, there are two problems I have to solve. The first is determining the depth in an anchorage. In areas with big tidal ranges, it’s especially important. Handheld electronic depthsounders are available but I, like many other open-boat cruisers, don’t own one. The second problem is deciding how much scope I have out. I can get pretty close by measuring the rode in arm spans, but it takes longer than just feeding it out and is a nuisance when I lose track and have to start again.

Alex Zimmerman

Plastic flagging tape is inexpensive, easily threaded between the strands of a three-strand rope, and in my experience, stands up well showing little or no deterioration after six years and several hundred anchorings.

I came up with a single, simple, cheap solution to these problems, one that I have used on three boats so far. I insert small strips of colored plastic flagging tape into the anchor line to mark lengths, so that I know how much line I am letting out. When I feel the last of the chain coming to rest on the bottom, the marked rode then serves as a lead line: the length of the rode that I’ve paid out, minus the 21′ of chain gives me the depth. When I know the depth, I can take the local conditions into account, decide how much rode to use, and pay it out using the markers. They take the chain into account and directly indicate the scope.

Read this article now for Free!

Ready for a second free article? Create a free account by entering your email address and a password below.

— OR —

Subscribe now for $29.99 a year and have immediate access to all of our content, including hundreds of small-boat profiles, gear reviews and techniques, adventure stories, and more! You can also browse our entire archive of back issues starting from September 2014, as well as post unlimited classified ads. This is an extraordinary value!

Subscribe Now or SIGN IN