Ground tackle arrangement, 27-foot Hunters

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TN

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Sep 23, 2004
65
Catalina 350 Seattle, WA
I was familiarizing myself with the ground tackle setup on my new 27. The rode has 200 feet of rope and 35 feet of chain. The boat has a small stubby bow roller set dead center above the almost-plumb bow. The boat also has short, stubby stanchions and an equally short bow pulpit. The boat came equipped with a #13 Danforth-style anchor, which seems to be the correct size. The roller furler drum is right in the middle of the front-center section of the bow pulpit. Because of the size and positioning of all these elements, the anchor will not pass through the bow pulpit so that I can lay the rode in the bow roller to lower or bring in the anchor. When I brought this seemingly flawed design to Hunter's attention, they said they have always designed it that way for the smaller boats, and they have always designed the smaller boats so the anchor is stowed in the anchor locker instead of on a bow mount. If I continue to house the anchor in the anchor locker, the only way to use the bow roller is to disconnect the rode, hold the anchor on the outside of the bow pulpit, run the rode into the roller, and then hook the anchor back up. That doesn't seem very safe, and seems like a good way to lose an anchor or a person. I've looked at some Danforth mounts so that I could mount the anchor on the bow pulpit permanently, but the anchor seems quite large for the short height of the bow pulpit. And I still think I'd have to remove the chain rode since it would dangle, bang, and scratch if I left it attached and coming out of the anchor locker. Is this a normal predicament on a 27-footer? It just seems like bad design to me, but maybe I'm missing something from lack of experience...
 
Oct 3, 2005
159
Catalina 387 Hampton, VA
Put the danforth down below...

I changed to a claw and it made all the difference. Run the chain out of the locker over the roller and under the "loop" at the end. then attach the claw to it. The claw will allow you to pull the anchor onto the roller and not have it hit the hull and scratch. As for the chain, run it into the locker, over the eye that the end of your rope is tied to then to the cleat. you can get a good tension on it that way and it will fit perfectly without clanging or banging.
 
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