and short of money, I agree with your simple solution ;-). Got back in September from an all-too-brief five-month trip to Alaska and back, and am mentally planning the next longer trip, which is fairly firmly planned to happen in 2-3 years...seems do-able...but we'll see ;-) It took too long to actually leave the dock last time, so we've sort of resolved not to screw around anymore, since planning for a trip gets 'old' after 2-3 years.

Your idea for the short-term is a good one --buy the gipsy and just use short chain and rope for now; and buy all the expensive extra chain later on, when it will actually be needed...duh, the simple solution, which I hadn't thought of.

However, the concern in my head remains regarding chain size vs. length: I don't want to carry 200 feet of big diameter 10mm chain (3/8"+), b/c of the big increase in weight over my 200' of 5/16", but it's the only thing that'll fit on the rope/chain gypsy. So, not sure if I should go with a shorter length that'll weigh about the same as my current 200' of 5/16", or if this is a bad trade off and will affect the security of my anchoring system.

In sum, chain weight, or chain length...which is 'more important'. Or does it matter.