BBB Chain

For a very long time, BBB was considered to be the epitome of perfection when it came to anchor rode. BBB is very strong, galvanized to protect against corrosion, and produced in a calibrated method that allowed it to run smoothly through a windlass. 

The biggest advantage that BBB chain has, which also led to its eventual decline in modern day usage, is its weight. BBB is considered to be the heaviest chain available for a given strength. The links of the chain are formed from low carbon steel wire, and the size of the link is actually referring to the size of the wire that was used. For example, 5/16 BBB was formed from a 5/16" wire, while 1/2 BBB was formed from a 1/2" wire.

Common dimensions for BBB chain are 5/16", 3/8", and 1/2". Larger and smaller links are available, but these are the three sizes that you will encounter in most marine chandlery stores.

5/16 BBB has a working strength of 1,900 pounds; and a breaking strength of 7,600 pounds.
3/8 BBB has a working strength of 2,750 pounds; and a breaking strength of 11,000 pounds.
1/2 BBB has a working strength of 4,500 pounds; and a breaking strength of 18,000 pounds. 

The interesting thing to note is that the breaking strength is 4x grater than the working load, giving this type of chain a significant safety margin. When the chain is manufactured, it is then subjected to a rigorous test of strength, followed by a close inspection of each individual link. This strict quality control set BBB chain apart from other link forms that were in production at the time.

Aside from strength, the next important factor to consider is the weight of the chain, as this directly affects the holding power of your anchor that is desperately trying to hold onto the bottom! 

5/16 BBB weighs 1.1 pounds per foot.
3/8 BBB weighs 1.6 pounds per foot.
1/2 BBB weighs 2.8 pounds per foot.

A standard recommended length for an all chain rode on a cruising yacht is 300 feet. This will give you the ability to anchor in 25 feet of water with a 5 foot freeboard and still maintain 10:1 scope for storm condition anchoring. The weight at these particular sizes are as follows: 

5/16 BBB would weigh 330 pounds.
3/8 BBB would weigh 480 pounds.
1/2 BBB would weigh 840 pounds.

This weight will help cause the chain to sag and pull towards the bottom, creating a catenary curve. The curve will make the chain fall vertically from the bow, but curve away from the boat as it runs. The chain will lay on the sea floor because of its weight and cause the load on the anchor to be parallel to the sea floor. This will help the anchor set, and hold, as all the load will be sideways and not upwards. 

In the years when BBB was introduced, crusing boats were all heavy displacement, full keel boats. This made them much less sensitive to how weight was loaded and how much weight was added to them. 480 pounds of chain with a 65 pound anchor meant that the ground tackle would weigh 545 pounds, all located at the tip of the bow. 

If you tried to do this same setup on a modern ultra light displacement boat, you would sink the bow into the water so much that the rudders would start to come out of the water! Modern light displacement boats are very sensitive to how much weight is added and extremely sensitive to where the weight is added, as it will drastically affect the trim and handeling of the yacht. 

When looking at BBB chain, an important feature to evaluate is Strength to Weight Ratio.  

5/16 BBB is 1,900:1.1 = 1,727:1 working load, and 6,909:1 breaking load.
3/8 BBB is 1,719:1 working load, and 6,875:1 breaking load.
1/2 BBB is 1,607:1 working load, and 6,429:1 breaking load.

Lastly, you need to evaluate strength to cost ratio, as this will directly affect your wallet; 

5/16 BBB costs $6.19 per foot
3/8 BBB costs $6.79 per foot
1/2 BBB costs $8.20 per foot

If you look at the pounds that can be held (of working load) per dollar, it starts to look like this: 

5/16 BBB 306.9 pounds per dollar
3/8 BBB 405 pounds per dollar
1/2 BBB 548.8 pounds per dollar

As you can see, the weight, cost, and strength of the chain all increase with size, but your money goes farther at holding your yacht as the size of the link increases. These numbers are all well and good, but how do they relate to your actual setup? Lets look at what the actual values would be of actual 300 foot rodes.

300 feet of 5/16 BBB 

Weight: 330 pounds
Cost: $1,875
Working Load: 1,900 pounds
Breaking Load: 7,600 pounds
Safety Margin: 4x
Bulk Discount Cost*: $1,182
Savings: $$693 

300 feet of 3/8 BBB 

Weight: 480 pounds
Cost: $2,037
Working Load: 2,750 pounds
Breaking Load: 11,000 pounds
 Safety Margin: 4x
Bulk Discount Cost*: $1,422
Savings: $615

300 feet of 1/2 BBB 

Weight: 840 pounds
Cost: $2,460
Working Load: 4,500 pounds
Breaking Load: 18,000 pounds
Safety Margin: 4x
Bulk Discount Cost*: $1,731
Savings: $729

When you buy large quantities of an item, most chandlery stores will give you a discount. Being how you are not buying 300 individual feet of chain, but instead a 300 foot length, this is a rough estimate of how much you should expect to pay if you can negotiate the price down, and thus the amount of money that you would save by negotiating. 

Liveaboard vs. Cruiser

It is funny, we lived aboard in a marina in Baltimore, MD, for five years and never encountered the "liveaboard" type of boater that we encountered while cruising. In Baltimore, everyone lived on their boat and was a liveaboard, but we all kept our boats nice and in the condition that they could be sailed at any point in time. 

Once we left our home port, we started to encounter tiny sailboats with a tarp over the boom, creating a tent over the cockpit. These small sailboats are covered in so much junk and trash that it is obvious they never move. There might be a window air conditioner hacked into the companionway, and some other lumps of junk strewn on the deck. 

The people in these vessels do not intend on sailing them, as these are merely tiny floating homes to them that just happen to be in the shape of a sailboat. 

This made it very clear to us, that there is a difference between "liveaboards" and "cruisers", and it explained why many marinas would openly advertise "no liveaboards". Then we would find that they had a large population of liveaboards there, but none of these tarp over the boom types. 

As cruisers, when we approach marinas, they judge us by the way we keep our boat. This quick judgement determines where they will place us and how they will treat us. By keeping your boat in sail ready condition, at least on the outside, you will be treated much better by marinas and other boaters that you will encounter on your voyages. 

Cooking Fuels: Wood

Wood stoves are an option, but lets be realistic for a moment. Wood stoves are popular in houses and campers, which are near land and trees where wood is found. On a boat, you are floating and all the trees are far away from you! 

Any wood you gather now needs to be brought back to the boat and stored somewhere! Where are you going to put all of this wood and keep it dry until you burn it? 

You might think that driftwood would be an excellent source of wood for the stove, but the problem is the wood is pickled with salt. This salt will escape while buring and combine with the high heat to rust out the inside of your stove in a very short amount of time. 

Wood stoves may sound cool at first, and will get the job done, but there is a serious logistical problem in getting the wood needed to the stove so that you can cook on it while cruising.  

If you liveaboard in a marina, this might not be a problem as you have ready access to land and all of its amenities, giving you the ability to find and store wood for your stove. 

Cooking Fuels: Alcohol

Alcohol stoves are not very popular thanks to the mainstreaming of propane stoves. Alcohol stoves burn at a cooler temperature, meaning that it takes longer to cook on them as compared to propane. Aside from this small detail, they do burn very cleanly, like propane, and also heat up quickly as well. You can easily start the stove and be cooking in a few minutes as the pan heats up rapidly.

Alcohol comes in two flavors, pressurized and wick. Pressurized alcohol stoves are a fire hazard and should be removed from the boat instantly. They are famous for causing massive flame flare ups that will set your interior ablaze and burn the boat to the waterline every time you use them! Wick alcohol stoves, on the other hand are very tame. 

The wick is soaked in alcohol and simply burns through a hole in the stove to reach the pan. The flame can even be blown out by a well directed puff of wind, like blowing out a candle. While the flame is not as hot as propane, so it will take slightly longer to cook, you are cruising and there is no rush! The meals are still prepared and we make dinner this way every night without ever feeling like "it is taking forever". 

Along the lines of having multiple fuels available, alcohol stoves are typically filled with Denatured Alcohol, but they can also be filled with paint thinner, as well as many other types of paint solvents that you can find in almost any hardware store. If you absolutely can not find any fuel for the stove, you can always setup a penny stove with diesel and have the flame rise through the hole in the stove to burn against the pan, allowing you the most versatility in cooking fuels around! 

Alcohol stoves may not be popular, but they are very simple to operate and maintain, making them a stove that will work well for you on a daily basis without complaints. 

Cooking Fuels: Diesel

Yes, diesel stoves and ovens are a thing. They work by burning diesel and heating up a cast iron stove top. The iron becomes hot and heats up everything around it. This will include your food, as well as the air and everyone in the cabin! 

Diesel stoves also take a while to heat up, usually around 20-60 minutes and several hours to cool down once the fire has been put out. In cooler climates, this is a great way to heat the cabin as well as prepare the meals, but in warmer climates, it means that the cabin will turn into an oven for the next several hours! 

Diesel stoves have the pleasure of using a very obtainable fuel source, as everyone uses diesel for their motors around the world! These stoves can also be adjusted to burn all sorts of other oils, such as kerosene and heating oil. This makes these stoves very versatile, but they do produce a lot of accessory heat in the cabin.