Anchor Locker Experience
Ok it has been over a year now that I have been using my anchor rode locker. I wanted to use a larger Bruce-type of anchor for the conditions in which I mostly sail- I am never in the saltwater. Most of my sailing is on large lakes where the wind direction follows the adiabatic and catabatic flow off of mountain ranges, and the wind shifts 180 degrees every night. The Bruce has great resetting ability, but is a little dangerous to store down below, or anywhere besides on a bow roller, so I started a new project: Bow roller with hawse pipe and below deck storage of the anchor rode. Most of the water here in the inland northwest is relatively clean, and storage of the wet rode is not a problem for smells. The cover of my anchor rode locker is a tough marine netting that I have sewn re-inforcments into and installed SS snaps to hold the coiled rode. I shaped a large plank of mahogany that has a thickness of 2 inches. I installed a bow roller on this plank. It was necessary to rout wood on the bottom of the plank to accomodate the two converging ridges on the topsides of the deck at the stem, to allow the plank to lie flat on the foredeck. I made a backing plate to bolt the plank to and sandwiched the assembly with lots of sealant and 4 3/8 SS bolts countersunk on the top of the plank. Of course I routed holes to clear the SS stem fitting. In fact, the factory stem fitting (mounted with one bolt on the side of the hull) had an extra hole that allowed me to extend the stem fitting upwards enough to clear the added thickness of the mahogany plank. At the same time, I replaced the bow eye. All of this work was done after removing the foremost bulkhead at the point of the V berth. There is a surprising amount of space in there. I require at least 200 feet of 1/2 inch anchor rode for my safety. I also have 10 feet of SS chain as a leader to the anchor with a quality swivel. Attached to the Bruce, I have never had a problem setting the anchor, and I have sat on the hook in steady 30 knots of wind (at Lake Powell) and gone to sleep in confidence. The ten feet of chain allows the rode to be out of the sun (UV damage). How does it store? Well it is tedious to feed the rode down the hawse pipe. I would recommend going as large as you can fit in here, mine is a 3x6 inch opening and I can work my hand down inside if necessary. I have never had a tangle, as the rope pays out just like it goes in and I use a kind of looping feed as I pull the rode up and stow it. It then sits in a mesh container and dries. My anchor has a hole drilled for a quick release self tehered pin to keep it in place and I usually wrap a bungy cord just to be sure the anchor has some give to its mount. How does it deploy? When I want to anchor I go forward, rotate and release the pin and push the anchor off of the bow roller and it is heavy enough to pull the rode up out of the deck pipe (the deck pipe has a hold open on the cap). I usually run the anchor line straight up the bow roller and replace the pin to capture the line on the bow roller assembly. The anchor will nicely balance itself on the roller til its time to drop it. A really great thing about the plank it is mounted on is that it is thick enough to easily support my weight (200 lbs of pure muscle). I often stand on the end of the plank and steady myself by holding the forestay when approaching a dock. If I ground the boat on the shore, the overhang of the plank allows access to the shore without getting feet wet. And if the shore is a steep bank, I often just step off and on the boat easily, holding onto the forestay. I'll post my picture link one more time. John S
