Don't waste your money! How to maintain your anchor chain | S2 Ep 52

A high-quality anchor and chain are two of the most essential components of your boat.

Every night you spend at anchor, you're relying on these key pieces of equipment to keep you and your boat safe.

In this video, we'll explore the best ways to preserve your anchor and chain, with a special focus on the galvanization process.

Most anchor chains are made from steel.

The lifespan of an anchor chain depends on various factors, including the quality of the steel, how well it’s maintained, and the environmental conditions in which it’s used. For instance, tropical waters, with their higher temperatures, can be more corrosive to chains compared to cooler, temperate waters.

In our experience, if properly maintained, anchor chains can last between 7 to 10 years. When we purchased NV, we suspected that our anchor chain was already a few years old. During our major refit in Fiji, we decided to store the chain in a barrel full of oil. This oil layer helps prevent further oxidation by keeping the chain from coming into contact with oxygen.

It’s now been two years since that refit, so we estimate our chain is about seven years old. Last year, we began noticing some corrosion. In this situation, the most effective way to extend the life of your chain is to re-galvanize it. Galvanization involves applying a protective zinc coating to the chain, preventing rust and corrosion.

However, we hadn’t yet found a galvanizing service in Indonesia, so, in the meantime, we applied a water-repellent grease, similar to lanolin, to protect the chain.

Luckily, while in Borneo, we found a company that could carry out the galvanization process, so we took advantage of our time in the marina during Tao’s birth to have the chain re-galvanized.

The Galvanization Process:

Cleaning: The first step is thoroughly cleaning the chain and anchor to remove dirt, grease, rust, and other impurities. This is usually done using abrasive blasting or acid pickling.

Fluxing: After cleaning, the chain is dipped into a flux solution, typically zinc ammonium chloride. This helps prevent oxidation and ensures the zinc coating bonds well to the chain's surface.

Heating: The chain is then heated to a high temperature—typically around 450°C (840°F)—until the zinc becomes molten.

Dipping: The chain is immersed in a bath of molten zinc, where it stays for several minutes. This allows the zinc to bond with the steel or iron at a molecular level, forming a zinc-iron alloy coating.

Cooling: Once coated, the chain is removed from the molten zinc and allowed to cool, solidifying the protective zinc layer.

Inspection: After cooling, the chain is carefully inspected to ensure an even coating. The thickness of the zinc layer is also checked to meet specifications. A thickness test ensures the coating is thick enough for long-lasting protection but not so thick that it affects the chain’s performance.

Finally, you can assess the degree of corrosion on your chain by measuring its diameter. We're about to measure ours now and hope it’s still at the original 10 mm we started with. The diameter of the chain directly corresponds to its breaking strength, so if the diameter is reduced, it indicates a loss of strength.

00:00 Intro
00:22 Anchor info
00:43 Our anchor
01:44 Galvanisation process
08:13 The result after the re-galvanisation
09:40 Checking chain thickness
10:59 Installing the anchor and chain back onboard

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