One thing to remember is that if you have a
windlass—
you have to get chain that fits the windlass. If you don't you're going to be hauling up the
anchor and
rode by hand.
Also, backing down on an
anchor isn't really going to tell you if it will hold in a really bad storm...
most boats just don't have the horsepower to really test the anchor's set.
I would highly recommend getting a windlass, even a manual one. They really do make resetting or retreiving the anchor much simpler. If you get a powered windlass,
make sure you can't accidentally step on the foot switches while working on the rode—lots of people have gone to the hospital for that...some have even lost fingers.
Also, get an anchor the size up from what is "recommended" for your boat.
Most anchors are sized for relatively benign conditions, and won't really hold your boat in a blow. Going up a size usually remedies that.
Finally, as Newport41 said...don't forget to include the tidal range in your scope calculations, and don't forget to add the freeboard of your boat to the distance to the bottom for scope calculations.
For example—If the tidal range is 8', like it is around much of Cape Cod, your boat has 4' of freeboard to the bowroller, and you're in 10' of water at low tide, and want to have 5:1 scope—you have to let out 110' of chain, not the 50' that the depth would tell you to use. 110 = **10 (depth of water) + 8 (tidal difference) + 4 (freeboard)} * 5.
If you forgot to add the freeboard of your boat, you would be at 90' of rode, which would be about
4:1 scope.
If you forgot the tidal range, you'd be letting out 5*(10+4) or 70' of rode, which would leave you with a
scope of 3.18:1 at high tide.
If you forgot both the tidal range and the freeboard, you'd be at 50' of rode, which would leave you at
2.27:1 scope at high tide.