originally had 150' chain & 250' rode on both bow anchors - didn't work out so well in a hurricane

Now have 300' chain on EACH anchor on the bow (66# spade & 44# Bruce) 40' Caliber 24,000 pounds

I use a 30' or 50' snubber of 1/2" or 5/8" line depending on conditions - led to the waterline NOT the bow. I also put 50' - 80' of extra chain down on the bottom AFTER I attach the snubber to the chain. That 80 pounds of extra chain acts as a very heavy kellet to keep the chain between the snubber and the anchor on the bottom.

I never worry about the rode being abraded on rocks or chafing on the bow rollers. Have slept soundly in several 50 knot blows.

Spent 3 nights anchored in 12' with 10:1 all chain out (deserted Mexican anchorage) 15 knots gusting to 35. Spent a lot of time lying on the bottom watching the chain react to the gusts. Never saw more than 30 feet of chain picked up off the bottom during the biggest gusts. That is one of the primary advantages of lot's of chain - great shock absorbing ability since the weight of the chain (1.2#/foot) allows the gust shock load to be slowly dissipated.

You can read a lot more about this stuff at http://www.svmirador.net/July_6_2003.htm

I also have 60' of 1/2" BBB and 450' of rode on a FX 55 I keep in the anchor locker and I carry TWO extra 300' shots of 5/8" anchor rode for those really desperate situations.

The boat was designed to sail with 85 gallons of holding tank in the bow (600 pounds?) plus 600' of chain. I removed 60 gallons of that holding capacity (420 pounds?) and now carry that same weight in chain, rode and anchors.

No cruiser ever regretted having too many or too heavy anchors.