Anchoring (storage) a trailer sailor

pgandw · 2026-09-24T09:42:47-0700

I was storing my anchor and rode loose in a cockpit hatch in a tangled mess. And I'm usually single handed. I don't like anchoring by the stern especially in a low freeboard Mariner, I like to be headed into the wind to back down and set the anchor. Just didn't have a good arrangement. Then another Mariner skipper presented what he did.

I mounted my 8lb Danforth-type anchor to the bow pulpit with hooks on the pulpit. In the cockpit locker is a small clothes basket with 10ft of chain and 200ft of nylon rode. At the anchor end of the chain is a strong mountaineering style carabiner (yes I checked breaking strength of the carabiner to get at least as much as the chain) that I hook on to the anchor. The bottom of the basket has a hole with the bitter end of the rode so I can cleat it off before deploying. In relaxed circumstances, I simply go forward with the basket, tie off the bitter end, clip the carabiner to the anchor, and tend the anchor from the bow.

In real world single handing when it's not nice, before I leave the dock, I'll often bring the anchor back to the cockpit, and pre-run the rode through a forward chock and back to the anchor outside of the shrouds. I installed convenient midships cleats for both docking and anchoring. Probably will end up with a second anchor one of these days and do a similar rig for it.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P

JBP-PA · 2026-09-24T10:37:22-0700

Anchor plait stows much more compactly with less tangles than 3 strand. You can also get nylon webbing/ribbon anchor rodes that roll up on a reel. Ankorlina is one brand.

Ribbon anchor rodes

I believe Ross's reference to ribbon anchor rodes in the thread about uncovered halyards was a jab at the guy who thought downward water pressure on the anchor rode was what stops a boat from moving.Well, they really do make a ribbon anchor rode. The "Ankarolina" material is like seat belt...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Practical Sailor has an article about boats without anchor lockers

Handling Anchors on Boats Without Anchor Lockers - Practical Sailor

If your boat doesn't have an anchor locker, you can use a combination of options to keep your anchor securely mounted and chain stowed.

www.practical-sailor.com

Will Gilmore · 2026-09-24T11:34:01-0700

I haven't much experience on my Mariner 19, with anchoring. Currently, I keep two anchors, one on either side of the CB trunk. It's the rode I keep forward, or will, when I've finished everything I'm planning to do to prepare Aquaria for overnight sailing.

SteveHughessails said:
Will I ever be in a position where deploying the anchor must happen seamlessly and immediately?

Yes!
An anchor is an important piece of your emergency safety equipment. You may never be out in a situation where you needed to stop your drift towards a bridge or rocks, but an anchor could be the best solution to rescue yourself at times.

We lost our anchor during a storm in Mobile Bay one night, many years ago. It was a 60' S&S cutter, I was 14. The spare anchor was lashed on deck, under the dinghy. My father and I worked at getting that dinghy untied to get to the spare anchor, but we hit the sandbar before we got the dinghy shoved aside. We would have saved ourselves a mayday to the CG, had that anchor been ready to deploy.

-Will

shemandr · 2026-09-24T12:24:37-0700

One way to keep it neat is to make two coils - one for the length you actually need and another for that reserve section you might need. The reserve goes on the bottom of the basket, milk crate, bucket or whatever container works. The coil for what you will actually use on top of the reserve coil and anchor chain on top that and the anchor on top. The coil should be a flaked with some wraps around the middle to contain it.
I like the idea of pre running the rode from the anchor cleat on the bow to the cockpit where the rest of the anchor and rode would be. Deploying an anchor from the cockpit works as long as there is minimal forward way and the ancho is attached to the bow. For boats which don't have a usable foredeck a suitable turning block could be on the bow and the rode led back to the cockpit where it could be adjusted after deployment.

dlochner · 2026-09-24T19:15:55-0700

SteveHughessails said:
Safety wiring the shackle pin would make storing the rode away from the anchor arduous. Will I ever be in a position where deploying the anchor must happen seamlessly and immediately? Have you?

For short term anchoring, i.e., overnight or a few days, use a small zip tie to secure the shackle pin. Black ones are UV resistant. Emergency anchoring is a rare event, how much of an emergency really depends on the type of sailing you do and where you sail.

SteveHughessails said:
5/16 shackle on a 10 kg Bruce?

The shackle is usually one size larger than the chain, with a ¼" chain 5/16" would be fine. A larger shackle won't fit the chain.

SteveHughessails said:
2 shackles must be used to get the best motion at the anchor?

One shackle is all you need. Adding a second shackle only introduces another failure point and more cumbersome. And don't bother with a swivel. I have hundreds of nights at anchor and never used a swivel.

Before you head out for an overnight, spend an afternoon or two practice anchoring. That way you'll figure out what works best for you and your boat before you have to anchor for the night or in a rare emergency.

rgranger · 2026-09-25T06:46:04-0700

Here is how I used to store my anchors on my McGregor 22. It would look better if I had used black PVC pipe. Later, I modified this by putting an endcap on the bottom with a weep

hole drilled in it and I would store 10 feet of chain inside the pipe already attached to the anchor. It’s a much better set up with the chain already attached and stored inside the pipe.

Stu Jackson · 2026-09-25T08:57:36-0700

Good plan, Steve. We learned to anchor on our C22 at Clear Lake, CA, during the summers when we'd trailer up from San Francisco. All summer the boat would be in a Clear Lake marina, but when we came up on weekends the marina rules did not allow staying on the boat in the marina overnight (this was in 1983 to 87). So we'd putter out of the marina on Saturday afternoons, sail around for a few hours and head up to the northwestern corner of the lake or the small bay outside the state park at the south end of the upper section of the lake and anchor out. It taught us a lot. Like anything else in sailing, it's practice, practice, practice. With a small boat and light anchoring gear, it's no challenge to spend a few hours one nice afternoon just anchoring, over and over again. I found the most important thing we learned was how to properly deploy the anchor. Don't just throw it overboard. We would slowly lower it until we felt it touch bottom and then slowly back the boat up with the engine while letting out more rode and only then "set" the anchor. I learned all these techniques pre-internet days from Patrick Royce's excellent book Sailing Illustrated. it is still available and I frequently recommend it to all new small boat sailors. Those techniques translate very well to the bigger boats we eventually owned over the next 35 years. Practice docking repeatedly one afternoon, too, 'cuz it's another one of those skills you'll need and that most people only do once a sail and then wonder why they're no good at it!

SteveHughessails said:
Our plan, practice anchoring safely and make sure we can do it.