Need Suggestions...-gctid394771

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This weekend the mrs an i decided to head off to the beach on Wolfe Island for the day. It's a great spot, Big Sandy Bay, and it earns its name. Beautiful place to get away for the day. So once we get there, i pick out my spot where i want to set the hook (first time dropping anchor on this boat). All went well except for...dropping the hook in. Our anchor has been stored in the engine bay, so i grab it, climb over the dash thru the walk through and head to the bow. Well, here is the part that didn't go so well. I slipped with anchor in hand. I figure it's cheaper for me to heal then to patch a hole made by the anchor, so i twist to use my body to stop the anchor from going thru the topside of the boat. I now walk with a bit of a limp due to a nickle sized hole in my shin. I have a danforth anchor, no pulpit up front, and no cleat in the very front of the bow. What are my options for keeping an anchor on the bow that has 10' of 3/8 chain and 25' of rope. I want to be able to open the hatch up front and drop anchor. How would i store the chain and rope while underway so that it doesn't bounce around and such?Pics below are what i have to work with....

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[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/698418=29096-Photo0197.jpg[/img]

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It does not look like you have any locker top side. I have seen boats with the anchor lashed to the bow rail and then you would need something to hold the rode. Unless you would find a way to hang it from the rail as well. The other option would be a bow roller and a hole through the deck with a tube that drops the rode down through the v birth into the space under the v-birth. With you size boat you could even pick up a small windlass and set it up so everything could be done from the helm.

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deck shoes and a non skid path to the bow. i used to take my bowline from the eye you have and tie it tight to cleat on side of boat and just take anchor and rode/rope out of storage and attach leave a little jumper line attached to bowline so you can pull it all in. you will never have a need to be on your bow again.

[Guest Cleaning the Bilge Find all posts View Profile Close Guest]

you have tons of options...do you have a small locker or space in the bow??....if so a hause pipe would work fine....

first off....take the bow nav light off and split it..get one for the stbd and one for the port.....get a bow roller...1 cleat...start drilling.....screwing....and sealing that area.....install the bow roller with the cleat aft..and finally a hause pipe.....

then mount the lights ..

take some fiberglass skills but it's not a big issue...unless you don't have a locker fwd...

:arr ar

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Without changing anything it would be best as Jamie Mac stated; through the bow eye and up to a side cleat for tie off but with 25' of rode you will not be anchoring in very deep water.

I would suggest at the very least adding at least 100' of rope for day time anchoring only. If you do plan in the future to overnight on the hook I would definetly add and anchor roller and tie off cleat to the bow. I would also go with a minmum 200' of rode with the present chain you have.

If you use the golden rule and go with a 7 to 1 slope on your rode this would mean with 25' chain and 200' rope you can safely anchor in 32' of water (not including tides).

It looks to me that you could probably fit a rode locker in the front of your Vee. If you are thinking about doing a lot of anchoring I would investigate the propects of installing a line locker, Anchor roller, Front cleat(s), and moving you nav lights. Could be a coll project for your boat as it looks like it should fit okay.

[Guest Cleaning the Bilge Find all posts View Profile Close Guest]

I keep the anchor, chain, and rope under the front bow cushion in my 1952. I open the hatch, stand up, and toss it from there. Its a squeeze to get thru the hatch as it isn't designed for real men, but going over the winshield isn't an option for me when I have the bimini on.

Maybe use a milk crate bungied to the bow when you plan on anchoring? Ghetto, but cheap and would prevent recurring accidents.

Or toss from the rear, and just walk the rope to the front. I used to do that when I kept the anchor in the ski locker.

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I see 2 easy options:

1. Buy and install a set of deck chocks. Choose the right chocks for your anchor type. Secure your anchor to the foredeck, and you leave it there until you're ready to deploy it. Keep your rode flaked in a plastic pail in the engine room. Walk forward with just the pail of rode, attach the rode, secure the clevis pin with a zip tie and deploy the anchor.
2. Deply the anchor from the stern. Get your boat in position, with the swim platform over the place you want to lower the anchor. With engine(s) in neutral, lower the anchor over the side or stern and walk the rode forward. As the boat backs down in the wind or current, cleat off the rode. With this method, you might want to cleat off the bitter end so you can't lose it if you somehow drop it while anchoring.

Anchor deck chocks

Chain clevis

[Mileskb Guru Find all posts View Profile Close Mileskb]

Or.... after a couple of years of wondering WHY on earth someone would build a boat without even a forward cleat (Bayliner Santiago) I decided to put in what wasn't there. I'll post the whole story in projects section but once I got down to it, talking to a lot of locals, this is what I came up with for my 21' Santiago. I moved my bow light up to the railing.. then installed the rest.

1. Bruce style anchor and self-launching bow roller.

2. Anchor cleat

3. Round hawse pipe with little flip cover.

4. Anchor lock

While I haven't found the exact storage container to use yet, it's basically going to be a plastic carton pushed all the way forward on the v-birth. The chain will always be attached to the anchor, locked with the chain lock, wrapped around the cleat for additional security and down the pipe, into the container. We tested the layout tonight and using a pretty heavy duty container there is plenty of room to sleep cross-wise in the berth.

Deploying the anchor will be a simple case of pull the container so it's under the hawse pipe and head up through the popup hatch, disconnect the lock, remove from cleat.

I had contemplated long and hard about this, but a guy at my favorite place to hang out and look for boat stuff said something that put it all into perspective. (Pacific Marine btw) You want the anchor ready to go at all times. If you need it for safety, there's no time to be doing anything but getting that hook to the bottom. At a rough estimate, I figure no more than 30-45 seconds in non-turbulent waters to get the hook going down.

The reason for the carton, which may end up being an old cooler, is that it sits stable on the cushion in the v-birth and is easily slid into place, but won't slide around on it's own. When it's time for cleaning the line or draining, the cooler has wheels and a drain.

Anyway, hope this was a little useful.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

IMO, all boats should lend themselves to quick and easy anchor deployment. This is your emergency brake should you find yourself with engine trouble, while drifting into a dangerous area.

The last thing that you'll want to being doing, is reaching into an engine to grad the anchor, then fumble your way through the cabin up to the bow area...... anchor and rode in tow...... where you now have to deploy underneath the bow rail, and into the water.

I'd do whatever it requires to install a bow roller or pulpit system



....... and install a tie off cleat, and then perhaps a deck-pipe to accommodate the anchor rode.



Now your anchor is right where it needs to be for this situation.

You'd need to split your Nav Light up into two separate lights..... but that's fairly easy to do.

If you install a deck-pipe fitting, place it where it won't interfere with a future Windlass... (if that is in the cards for you).

Or perhaps place it exactly where a future Windlass may install.

Your call on that.

.

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thanks for all the replies guys, now i need to decide what will work for me and how much time i will be spending on the hook. A few options to consider here. The roller and haus pipe might not be a bad idea since i dont use the vee in the bow other than for storage.