Chain marking recommendations

There is no formal specific colour sequence used to mark chain on leisure boats.
For our chain marking sets the approach I have gone with is an extended version of "Rub Your Balls With Grease" or "Red Yellow Blue White Green" which seems the most popular. So those are the first five colours and they they are repeated in various shades.

The intervals at which they are placed is entirely up to the boat owner / skipper and our guide plate allows this flexibility. Below are our recommendations for different anchor chain lengths with one common factor...place the first markers about 1m on from the anchor chain so when they appear you know the anchor is about to come on to the boat...a specific anchor marker is provided with every set for your guide plate.

Chain marking intervals for 25m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat. 
  2. every five meters with a different colour as below
  3. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)
1 2 3
A 5 10 15 20 Ø

 You will need a 6-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for







Chain marking intervals for 30m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat. 
  2. every five meters with a different colour as below
  3. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)
1 2 3
A 5 10 15 20 25

 You will need a 7-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for







Chain marking intervals for 35m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat. 
  2. every five meters with a different colour as below
  3. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)
1 2 3
A 5 10 15 20 25 30

 You will need an 8-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for







Chain marking intervals for 36-40m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.  
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below
  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)
1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30

 You will need a 7-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for







Chain marking intervals for 41-50m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30 40

You will need an 8-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for


 



 

Chain marking intervals for 51-60m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30 40 50

 You will need a 9-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 61-70m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60

You will need a 10-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 71-80m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 5
A 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70

 You will need an 11-position chain marking set as below

 


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 81-90m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

 You will need a 12-position chain marking set as below


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 91-100m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 5 meters with a different colour up to 20m for shallower anchorages
  3. every 10 meters with a different colour from 20m upwards as below

  4. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3 4
A 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

You will need a 13-position chain marking set  as below


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 101-110m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 10 meters with a different colour upwards as below

  3. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3
A 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

You will need a 12-position chain marking set  as below


Buy a set for






Chain marking intervals for 111-120m chain

We would recommend you mark

  1. with red just above the anchor so when it is about to reach the boat you can position it correctly, clean it if necessary and slow down retrieval so as not to slam it up onto the boat.
  2. every 10 meters with a different colour upwards as below

  3. with a stop sign as close to the end of the chain so the markers come out of the windlass just before the chain locks tight (assuming you have it attached to the boat!)

1 2 3
A 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

You will need a 13-position chain marking set  as below


Buy a set for






For longer chains we are able to make a custom selection of markers and a guide plate to suit. Depending on the length of your chain and the number of positions you want to mark it may be necessary to mix colours at the various positions. We can work with you to put together a bespoke set for marking your chain along with a larger guide plate to reflect the mixed colour sequences.

In store our guide plates and colours go up to 15 colours / positions. We are able to provide such a guide plate to indicate up to 48 positions on a chain.

    Please contact us to discuss your requirements.