Ancor 10/3 AWG STOW Cable, 100 ft, 600V, 140F Rated

Ancor built its name solving the electrical headaches boaters run into once they leave the dock, and this 10/3 AWG STOW cable is a workhorse piece of that lineup. You get 100 feet of stranded, three-conductor cable rated at 600 volts, wrapped in a round, insulated jacket that's built to flex and take abuse. It's the kind of cable you reach for when you need a long, flexible AC run that won't crack the first time it gets coiled in the cold.

STOW cable is a portable-cord type, and that's the important part. The conductors are finely stranded instead of solid, so the cable bends around tight corners and coils flat for storage without kinking. On a boat that matters. You're routing through lockers, under gunwales, and around bulkheads, and a stiff solid cable fights you the whole way. This one pulls through conduit and around corners a lot easier. The three copper conductors come color-coded white, black, and green, so hot, neutral, and ground stay sorted the way they should on a 120-volt AC circuit.

Where does 10/3 land? Ten-gauge stranded copper is the common choice for 30-amp AC service. That makes this cable a natural fit for shore power feeds, portable generator runs, and onboard AC circuits on a mid-size boat. We see it used a lot on 35 to 45 foot sailboats and cruisers where the run from the shore pedestal to the panel is long and you want to keep voltage drop in check. And at 100 feet, you've got room to reach a far slip without splicing in extra cable.

A couple of honest notes from installing this stuff. First, the temperature rating is 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 60 Celsius. That's fine for most AC runs, but keep it away from engine spaces, exhaust risers, and anywhere it'll bake. Heat is what softens a jacket over time. Second, that round encasement handles chafe better than flat cord, so it holds up well in anchor lockers and high-traffic runs. But like any exposed jacket, it'll want UV protection if it lives in the sun season after season. Route it out of direct sunlight where you can, or sleeve it.

On a 100-foot run, do your voltage-drop math before you commit. Ten-gauge is the right size for 30-amp service over a reasonable distance, but the longer the run the more the numbers matter, especially if you're feeding a battery charger or sensitive electronics at the far end. If you're powering DC gear like an inverter instead of an AC circuit, this 600-volt cable will work, but it's honestly overkill and bulkier than you need. For heavy DC you'd step up to a larger gauge in a two-conductor cable. For AC shore power and generator work, though, 10/3 STOW is right in the pocket.

Terminating it is straightforward. The stranded conductors crimp cleanly into ring terminals and shore power connectors. Do yourself a favor and seal the green ground conductor well if any part of the run lives in a wet bilge, because bare ground wire is the first thing to corrode down there. A little adhesive-lined heat shrink at every termination goes a long way. Pair it with a proper 30-amp shore power inlet and a strain relief at the connector, and you've got a clean, safe run that'll last years.

This is sold as a 100-foot length of bulk cable, not a pre-assembled cordset, so you'll cut and terminate it to your boat. That's exactly what you want for a custom install where an off-the-shelf cord is always the wrong length. Ancor's reputation is built on cable that survives the marine environment, and this 10/3 STOW is a solid, no-drama choice for AC power runs on the water.