Catalina 27 - anchor storage & deployment

[brrader]

Hi all,
I am a new Catalina 27 owner with a conundrum. I have owned little boats (including a couple of very sweet Catalina 22s) and big boats (including a 37' Passport). Now I have a very nice 1985 Catalina 27 (standard rig). I love the boat. Sweet sailing, comfortable. All in all a great compromise of features that suits the kind of sailing we do here in Puget Sound.

The problem I am having is how to store & deploy an anchor (other than a danforth). I like the anchor locker (deep, holds lots of chain & rode), but it is so far forward that if you try to store an anchor on the bow roller, the anchor locker hatch is in the way of the anchor shank & the chain. The bow roller on the 85 standard rig is pretty disappointing... integral to the stem fitting & wayyyy too short to store a real anchor (Delta Fastset, Bruce, CQR, Manson, etc., etc.) without the point of the anchor banging into the fiberglass on the bow. I had a Delta. It would fit in the (huge) anchor locker as a storage option. But, I could not figure out how to deploy it. It would not fit through the bow pulpit. I could not imagine trying to haul it up from the side of the boat (without the help of the rollers).

I have walked the docks a lot trying to figure this out. I would like to avoid a solution that involves some welding and/or extended bow roller (though this might be the only option). We love to anchor out. We are comfortable doing so in just about any weather as long as we have the right gear properly deployed. I am really hoping I am missing an easy solution here & that one of you has a setup that works well: easy to deploy & retrieve, easy to store, good hardware that gives you excellent holding in most conditions. Anyway, I would really appreciate any ideas from the more experienced C27 owners out there. There has to be a great solution to this problem!!!

Thanks in advance. I appreciate this forum. Lots of great ideas!!!

Brian.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Brian, we still have what we call our "toy" anchor rollers.

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4457.0.html

With a roll bar anchor, you could tie it up, then pull up on the shank to open your chain locker.

Some of those photos have longer rollers, but look at the ones with the short rollers (mine & waterdog's). See reply #19 on page 2.

Just barely misses hitting the bow underneath.

Good luck.

 

[brrader]

"Toy" rollers. Yes. I think that is accurate! I, too, was able to snug up an anchor with the tip of the fluke in contact with the hull, but just in playing around with this arrangement with a Delta & then with a Bruce copy I noticed that I was leaving marks on the bow where the tip of the fluke was interacting with the glass/gelcoat. In your post #9 in the thread you referenced, it looks like the tip is against the hull. Doesn't that leave marks? Waterdog's post #14 looks similar.

I think the idea of a stainless plate on the bow is a pretty good one. I think that could be pretty easy to install (compared to the larger bow rollers) & might look ok, if done properly. Don't like the idea of putting holes in the hull though, and I think it would be necessary to secure the stainless plate with screws and adhesive. Whining aside, some sort of plate to protect the boat would allow the anchor to be snuggled up against the boat in a secure manner (your story of unintended anchor deployment was freaking scary!).

Thanks again for the ideas. Love the C27. Just need to figure out this one very important problem.

Brian.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Brian, you almost answered your own question.

Yes, I have one teeny intsie bitty ding on the gelcoat after 16 years. I can live with it.

Stainless plate can be epoxied on, no screws required.

Or, just get a small can of gelcoat and slather it on.

Glad you read the link, thanks for doing that.

Steve aka waterdog went all the way from Vancouver BC to Mexico for a year. He still hasn't added stainless.