ODay 25 Bow Anchor locker

John Binns · Jan 29, 2014

I have read elsewhere on here (Trinka) is the boat name I believe about using a cut down milk creat for a portable rode locker. You could leave it on deck or stow it as needed.

Jackdaw · Jan 29, 2014

While hanging the anchor from the bow pulpit would be tempting because it is convenient, its hard to image a worse place for it. All the weight at the very tip of the boat, and the blades and base of danforth-style anchors catch on sails. And it looks silly.

I'd recommend that for the first season sailing, you stow it down below in a heavy canvas bag with the rode attached. Bring it up when needed. After the season, reflect on if you really need it on the bow.

cb32863 · Jan 29, 2014

My 77 25 came with those "anchor hooks" too..... yeah, went to push one out of the way and it snapped right off. Not a good idea to use those and also, like Jackdaw said, it's gonna look goofy and not be really much use.

Ward H · Jan 29, 2014

Someone recently had a spare set of cushions listed in the SBO Classifieds. You might want to look there.
Nice boat but I am a bit prejudiced.

Sunbird22358 · Jan 29, 2014

The anchor locker became standard when O'DAY re-tooled the deck of the 25 for the 1979 model year. I think the gas-tank locker was also added that year.

Kestle · Jan 30, 2014

While I have a different boat, I prefer to have my two anchors on the stern, each side, where I can drop them without going on the deck. I solo a lot, and in over 25 feet of water, the darn thing will swing to the bow point anyway before it hits the mud.

This also allows me to run every line to the cockpit.

Jeff

Brian S · Jan 31, 2014

I have a Lewmar Claw anchor (Bruce knockoff) with 15' of chain and 100' warp that I keep in a bucket down in the cockpit lazarette. I like the Claw because it fits in the bucket, and it's been holding well for me in mostly mud as a lunch hook, and benign conditions overnight. Manageable and easy to deploy from the cockpit, then walk to the bow once the hook is set. And keeps weight off the bow. I have hated Danforth style anchors since I was a kid in my 8' pram, because they are so awkwardly shaped and difficult to store. Heard about some Brits putting the anchor in a bucket, and that's when I realized there are other designs than the Danforth I grew up with. Besides, the Danforth is known to not reset well if it breaks free with a wide swing (due to large wind or current change.)

Gawd, I was watching a TV show "Bearing Sea Gold" on History channel or whatever, and I was mortified as the captains of the little gold dredge boats were just throwing their anchors out into the water to set them (and they were Claw anchors.) Oh, no, that's not how to set an anchor. Drop it down till you feel it hit, then drift or motor down slowly, allowing the rode to pay out freely and NOT DRAG the anchor at all. At a scope of roughly 4x, then I start to apply resistance, and back down to set the hook, to minimize any drag and collection of weeds. After that, pay out an appropriate scope as necessary, and walk the line to the bow. So, for a small sailboat, you can see how it's better to have a Self-Contained Anchoring Unit (the bucket, also a SCAU????

) easily accessible from the cockpit, and deployed from the cockpit.

topcat0399 · Jan 31, 2014

Our boat doesn't have an anchor locker either.
We have a 15 lb danforth, 30 feet of 3/8 inch chain,
and 300 feet of nylon rode. Most of the rode lives in
the bow compartment with deck access thru a small capped
hawse hole. Getting the rode out of the hawse hole is easy,
going back in is a royal pain so the nylon rode
we use most often (about 80 feet or so) lives on deck.

To deal with the chain we have a hook on each side at the bottom of the rear pulpit legs. The chain goes back and forth between the hooks when stowed.

For the rode we have a stretchy net affixed to the lifelines on each side of the fore deck. When bringing the rode in I flake it in long loops across the net. When the rode is all in I just pick up the net edge and hook it to the lifeline. The rode is just gathered up in the net nice and neat and out of the way.

When its time to let the anchor go let the net down and pay out the line.

The nets also come in handy to secure unused or doused hank on
head sails. From about 20 feet on the water you can barely tell that
the netting is there when empty.

I just can't warm up to the idea of stowing ground tackle below in the cabin.
I like it to be a little more ready than that. That's just me.

An anchor roller is planned for this season but will we probably keep the
chain net set up. We have to get a roller - maneuvering that damn anchor through the pulpit is awful, especially in weather.

In the far future I think I can squeeze a usable anchor locker into this boat.
Its amazing what can be done with plastic.

Happy sails.

Golden Road · Feb 2, 2014

I don't think the brackets from the bow pulpit are bad. Had them on my Father's Seafarer 31 years ago, I believe the rode came up thru the deck. I wouldn't leave the anchor in them on a huge heavy weather beat, but other than that no problem - still sold in Defenders - "Schaefer Pulpit Mounted Anchor Hanger".

sdstef · Feb 10, 2014

Panera said:
Hello,

Just purchased an 1978 O'Day 25 full keel in Portland ME. Formally I owned an 1960 vintage O'Day Mariner full keel version. When hunting for a boat I toured several makes and decided on the O'Day 25 as the right boat for me.

This boat, unlike all the other 25s does not have a bow anchor compartment. Looking for ideas on how to handle the anchor and rode. Looks like there are some clamps for hanging the anchor from the bow pulpit but not sure how to secure the rode.

Another task is to get new interior cushions... References? Ideas?

Re-wire the mast, update the mast lights...

Would appreciate ideas and suggestions.

:

Same here on the anchor mounting hooks on the bow pulpit. I keep mine up there and coil/wrap the rode up around it and tie it off. never had a problem, but yes it does not look pretty. I have to remove it when flying the cruising spinnaker to protect the sail from damage. I envy those with the anchor locker. On the cushions, I dropped mine off at a local upholstery shop just yesterday. New mods for me this year are a wash down pump, new knot meter and depth meter, and a new stereo and speakers. I got all the stuff over winter little by little, and as soon as the snow melts I am installing all the new toys. I rewired my mast last spring and installed a mast head light. Have the original spreader lights and they work fine.

Brian S · Feb 11, 2014

Panera, you might just forget about a mast head anchor light. In our boats, a white light to stern and a steaming light up on the front of the mast are ok for motoring according to colregs.

As for anchoring, many people think (as do I) that a mast head 360º white is too high for the majority of power boaters out and about at night who are likely to encounter a sailboat tucked up in a cove. Hanging a 360º white from the backstay about 1/3rd of the way up the mast on the main halyard might give you better results.

I could suggest the Davis Mega-Light http://www.davisnet.com/marine/products/marine_product.asp?pnum=03300 which I believe is now all LED, or the FrankenBebi, which is an open soure reengineering of the Bebi Owl light which is no longer in production. http://frankenbebi.com The FrankenBebi should be available by this season.

I have not used either of these products, but the Bebi Owl was an extremely well-regarded piece of equipment, and I will probably buy a FrankenBebi when they start selling them. Just to have.

I have used a simple battery operated LED camping lantern hung from my backstay. It only has to be visible at a mile, and even a kerosene lantern works for that spec. On the other hand, I anchor at night on a lake - a lake where I'm not supposed to sleep on the boat overnight. Whatever…

Panera said:
Starting on re-wiring the boat and mast. Hum... No Anchor light!! Replacing all lights with LED versions and new wiring and switch panel.

Jackdaw · Feb 11, 2014

Brian S said:
Panera, you might just forget about a mast head anchor light. In our boats, a white light to stern and a steaming light up on the front of the mast are ok for motoring according to colregs.

As for anchoring, many people think (as do I) that a mast head 360º white is too high for the majority of power boaters out and about at night who are likely to encounter a sailboat tucked up in a cove. Hanging a 360º white from the backstay about 1/3rd of the way up the mast on the main halyard might give you better results.

I could suggest the Davis Mega-Light http://www.davisnet.com/marine/products/marine_product.asp?pnum=03300 which I believe is now all LED, or the FrankenBebi, which is an open soure reengineering of the Bebi Owl light which is no longer in production. http://frankenbebi.com The FrankenBebi should be available by this season.

I have not used either of these products, but the Bebi Owl was an extremely well-regarded piece of equipment, and I will probably buy a FrankenBebi when they start selling them. Just to have.

I have used a simple battery operated LED camping lantern hung from my backstay. It only has to be visible at a mile, and even a kerosene lantern works for that spec. On the other hand, I anchor at night on a lake - a lake where I'm not supposed to sleep on the boat overnight. Whatever…

Two ideas.

The Davis-style utility light is a good idea for a smaller boat. The only down side is that your cockpit will be flooded with dead bugs in the morning. Seems when they fly-and-die near the mast top they blow clear.

MarineBeam sells a very good clone of the David light for 15 bucks less.

http://store.marinebeam.com/utanliwiduto.html

If you buy a Davis, made sure it's LED. There were incandescent until last year.

Next,
If you want to have a dual mode, all-LED masttop light, and do not want to have to run another set of wires, NASA Marine makes a very nice unit.
http://www.nasamarine.com/proddetail.php?prod=SupernovaCombi

I wrote about this and other LED fixtures in my blog.
http://rarerarebird.blogspot.com/2014/02/260-mod-led-lighting.html

Brian S · Feb 11, 2014

Jackdaw, thanks for the link to your blog. I look forward to reading through it!

I recently picked up a red/warm white LED replacement for my bayonet style cabin dome light. It might even have come from Marine Beam, I can't exactly remember. I haven't installed it yet, and the way this winter is going, I wonder if I'll ever be able to… haha, no, I'm serious :cry: Anyway, last year, I replaced the incandescent dome bulb with a red LED, and that was nice for mood lighting, but I still had to rely on battery operated LEDs to really dig around and find something. With this dual mode LED, I think I'll be much happier, and have fewer battery operated lights with failing stickum due to the heat of the summer. That is, if we have summer this year. Or something.

Ritdog · Mar 5, 2014

Will probably see you out in the harbor this summer- I had a 25 with my wife for 2 years, but she got that in the divorce last year. I now have another one, a 1979, that I am rehabbing from the hull in - everything.
We put our large anchor in the SB lazarette in a large rubbermaid tub with the road and 200 feet of line. We were usually on a mooring someplace, so had to manhandle it to the bow 4-5 times in 2 years, but it wasn't bad. The lunch anchor was in another tub with 125 feet of line in the quarterberth.
I have a 2nd complete set of cushions for a 25 that a guy in Syracuse has dibs on, but if he changes his mind, I will let you know. He's getting them at cost of shipping- about $150.

Swee Pea 1976 · Mar 5, 2014

Another Mainer! Great...We need our own get together in Casco Bay this year...
I use the anchor hooks and run the rode down into the 3 inch vent hole into the V berth.
I will try to get a picture up on here..WELCOME