DYI color coded anchor line

[giff1]

I changed out my old Good windlass last year to a Maxwell. I used the Maxwell 8 plait anchor chain-rope and it is all white. I liked the Good color coded line so to know how much line I had out.
So I have this idea to color dye every 20 feet of my new line. I thought I'll put everyother ten feet of line in a 5 gal. bucket of fabric dye, red,blue,green etc.
Has anyone done this before? If so ,what dye did you use and which dye to not use. I don't want to use a dye that runs when wet or that might harm the line. Any thoughts out there.

The Thread heading should be (DIY color coded anchor line) but the Edit Post does not let me edit the heading to the post.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I color coded my anchor chain using spray paint. The last 8' or so before the anchor hits the top when I'm pulling it is all white so I know to slow down the windlass. After that every 25' I painted it with a 1' red area followed by a 1' white area. I picked those colors so I could easily see the red during the day and the white at night when using the spotlight on the rode. At the 100' mark I painted a Red-White-Red so I'd know I'd let out a hundred feet of chain.

 

[Loneranger]

I use different color zip ties in mine - lighter to darker. The windlass will eventually cause them to pop off so I usually put about 5 at every mark.
clear = 25'
yellow=50'
blue=75'
black=100'

I found this as a neat option for chain if only I could find this on a site I can read.

http://www.osculati.com/cat/Scheda.aspx?id=239

John

 

[wetpaint]

I use golf colors......Red, White, Blue.....Easy to remember and same generally for guests although they dont touch my chain or rode........

 

[Ka1oxd]

You can find tape that can be woven into the braid to mark off feet. I saw them somewhere.

 

[Pack66Dad]

I tried those markers from west marine that you weave into the rope but I can't ever remember what color means what depth and I can't read the text from the bridge. I like your idea about coloring the rope. I just slow up when I see chain on mine, that means the anchor is 30' away :smt001

My friends who have BAB's paint their chain like Gofirstclass, that works great..... for chain.

 

[JOHN R.316]

I did my line in the following manner 10' no color 10' red 2' no color 10' blue all you need is two 5gal. Spackle buckets and fabric dye. donot forget to follow all directions on dye bottle (vinegar) remove line from buckets let dry. Color lasted about 4years in salt water.

 

[Lord Farringdon]

Like GFC, I spray painted mine. Lasts a season but it's no hassle to respray since I remove the rode from the boat each season for a thorough check anyway. I have tried ribbons etc but frankly its impossible to see them. Now I spray 2 metre segments at specific points which means I dont miss a marker because I looked the other way momentarily!

Anchor

Chain
1st metre: Yellow (lets me know the anchor is about to launch onto the boat and I should be ready to switch off the windlass)

10 metres: White

20 metres: Blue

30 Metres: Black

Rope:

10 metres: White

20 metres: Blue

30 metres: Black

Last two metres Yellow/Black striped (To warn me I am about to potentially lose the whole shooting match if the last time I messed with the rode I forgot to shackle it properly!)

My colours are based on white for light or shallow water, blue for mid depth 'blue' water and black for dark, deep water. I simply repaeat the scheme sequence on the rope as I do on the chain. So a white section of rope tells me I have 40 metres of rode out.


Terry

 

[At Ease]

I used Rescue Tape to color code every 10'. It's been on for two seasons and no problem. I even wrote the exact footage on with a Sharpie and it's still visible. The nice thing as it won't get ripped off by the windlass like the interwoven tags can.

www.rescuetape.com

 

[Pack66Dad]

I used Rescue Tape to color code every 10'. It's been on for two seasons and no problem. I even wrote the exact footage on with a Sharpie and it's still visible. The nice thing as it won't get ripped off by the windlass like the interwoven tags can.

www.rescuetape.com

That sounds like a great idea, got any pictures?