Anchor woes

[fred1diver]

Hey everyone, still waiting to put the boat in the water, I was inspecting the foredeck and the PO’s weird system to keep the anchor chain and rode in the forepeak

The rode and chain is under the round plate and is held in place by a hook, I don’t want to have to fasten the anchor to the chain every time I beed to anchor and I don’t want to leave the hole open all season.

what would you recommend?

 

[jviss]

That is goofy! Is the chain locker isolated from the cabin, and does it have a drain? Could be no, and that's why he needed a weather-proof seal on the chain locker. If yes, get one of these:

$30 on Amazon.

 

[jssailem]

I’m guessing that the PO did not have a space for the anchor roller. Where did he store the anchor? Where will you locate the anchor roller? It may be possible if you solve that problem to set the windlass to use the pipe hole where you currently have the rode and chain.

Not a lot of available real estate on your bow deck.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

You can find a hanger for the pulpit that will support a danforth style anchor as it seems that there is not enough room for a bow roller. IF you hang your anchor, you can attach the chain and use the cap that @jviss suggests. Until you solve where to store an anchor at the bow, I wouldn't change the cap over the chain locker.

 

[NYSail]

The boat probably did not have a fore deck anchor locker so this was his solution. I would make sure there is a drain from the anchor locker to the outside before you go leaving an open hole in the bow….. could spell trouble in a spirited sail.
Good luck
Greg

 

[fred1diver]

The anchor rides on hangers on the pulpit, I thought of those caps, but I think the hole is too big
it drains to the bilge, not ideal I know

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I would leave well enough alone.

 

[DArcy]

My C&C 27 had the cap sort of like the one JVIS posted, but with a hook to hold the chain. When racing the anchor was stored below so the spinnaker wouldn't catch on it and the chain hung on the hook. When cruising I used the pulpit hangers for the danforth anchor with the chain attached. Hanging a link of the chain from the hook, even while attached to the anchor, keeps the cover closed.
Knowing the waters that fred1diver sails, this arrangement is just fine. A bit of rain water may find its way into the chain locker but not enough to be of concern.
The alternative is just leave it as is and attach the chain each time you want to anchor.

 

[capta]

I think it is a pretty nifty idea. It certainly keeps your foredeck clear of that stuff until needed. I'm pretty sure you can find a carabiner that would securely hold your boat and make the attachment easier and quicker.

 

[fred1diver]

Hmmm, a carabiner, locking of course, would that be appropriate?

 

[Parsons]

I used to race on a Grampian 26 - I know, it's not a race boat, but we had a good crew and would correct over everyone that didn't beat us around the marks by 10 minutes. Anyhow, that boat had one of those flip-top hawse hole covers. With the rode in there, it does not allow much water down there. If you wanted, you could replace that cover with a piece of G10 cut to size on the underside, epoxied to the deck, and filled above with some filler and glass. Drill a new hole through that and mount a cover. Not pretty perhaps, but certainly a DIY project.

Your quick-connect solution would work as well. Personally, I think that a screw-shackle would be about as fast as a carabiner, less likely to jam when full of mud, and more secure.

 

[fred1diver]

Good point about the mud, we do have a lot of that around here, I will have to look into that

 

[fred1diver]

I took a closer look at the cap and it has a recess to let the rode pass with the cap partly raised and will still prevent rain from coming in, now just have to figure if I’m going to use a shackle or a biner

 

[thinwater]

Hmmm, a carabiner, locking of course, would that be appropriate?

I used a similar system for a decade on my Stiletto 27. Thousands of miles of cruising. The little hawse pipe cover would NOT have kept the water out. I did not keep the anchor on the bow (no bowrail), I kept it in a locker about 10 feet back.

• Shackle ~ 6-10 feet of chain to the anchor and figure out a way to store that with the anchor. Loop it around. Something. You do NOT want a carabiner on the anchor shank. Too much side force, too many ways to cross load the gate (any biner can fail if the gate is cross loaded--ask a climber), and will restrict burying. You need a D-shackle and some chain to more the carabiner away from the shank.
• Use a carabiner between the chain and the rope. No side force, no chance of cross loading the gate, and it does not need to bury. In fact, I used a non-locking carabiner for more than 100 cycles before I changed. It is actually very, very difficult to unclip a non-locking carabiner when it is between two flexible points. Climbiners take advantage of this for intermediat anchors, extending them just 6 inches or so with slings.

If I were doing it now, I'd probably use an old style Wichard locking tether clip, but I don't think they even make them any more. Very strong, very secure, very reliable, but not easy to work as a tether clip.