The wildcat on the Ideal or Galleymaid will have the size stamped on it. You can get different size wildcats for different chain.
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On mine, which is all chain, I don't tie it off. It used to be attached to a shackle that was simply screwed into the keel/stem, but that proved to be a bad idea the day my buddy kept his foot on the "down" button too long and I left 400' of chain on the bottom of Long Island Sound. When we finally recovered it with a grapnel, I wanted something failsafe so I bored a hole through a short piece of telephone pole cross arm, slid the chain through the hole, and bolted it back to itself.
You should always secure the end of the chain to the boat with a piece of line, preferably some type of aramid line such as Amsteel. You never know when the day will come when you have to dump the chain in an emergency.
Keep a sharp knife stowed in the forward cabin so that when day ever comes, you will have something to cut it with.
There should be a padbeye on the floor of the locker.
ALWAYS use some line spliced in the chain to attach it to the eye. The line will slip against the gipsy and prevent damage to the windlass. The line allows you to cut the rose loose in an emergency
If you don’t have a pad eye you can tie a big knot at the end of the line so it can’t go thru
As Kelpy said but us a piece long enough that if you let out all the chain the line comes out on deck, makes it easier to cut in an emergency if it is on deck. Also mark the chain in a way that you know when the end is about to come on deck. Came within about 30 seconds of having to do this in Fiji when a small cruise ship was dragging down on us with no one on board, luckily a guy got on board at the last second and got it started and moved out of the way. Had a bit of extra laundry to do that day. John
Battery powered grinder with 41/2" cutoff wheel will make the chain disappear over the bow roller PDQ.
Unless it’s raining or high seas are spraying seawater everywhere or you need to stop and recharge batteries.
Why get wet, when you can lean into chain locker from fwd cabin to do the deed. Milwaukee 18v could cut my 3/8" chain 20 times, and still have enough juice to cut anchor up as well. Oh and it cuts nylon rode, not so sure about knife on hi test chain.
Must confess that knife does better at filleting fish.
Ouch, glad you recovered it! I was close to Oyster Bay for Dolan's fireworks four years ago when a nautical nitwit caught/cut my anchor line. He must have had spurs because we didn't feel a thing. I noticed we were drifting but hard as we tried the following weekend, we never could find my stainless plow anchor. $$$$