Whether you have all rope, all chain, or a combination rope/chain, you need to know how much anchor rode has been deployed to ensure you have the correct scope. Some cruisers keep track by counting the seconds as the rode goes out or the rotations of the windlass, but this is a rough approximation at best … not to mention that it's easy to become distracted and lose count. Nine of Cups has a chain counter with a digital display that keeps track of how much chain or rope is out – and it often works. Our backup method, which is 100% reliable and almost foolproof, is to mark the rode in some fashion, so that the amount of anchor rode deployed is easily determined visually.