I will state up front that I know this is probably wrong. I have a rope rode with only about 6 feet of chain. I sail a Hunter 34 with a Fortress anchor and do coastal cruising. Anchoring is almost always in very well protected harbors. Recently, however, I have had a couple of experiences where I had a lot of trouble breaking the anchor out of thick mud/tar-like sludge even with the rode straight up and down. That anchor grabs, and so does the bottom (anchor often comes up with a sludge ball sitting on it, yuch.). So I was thinking about the expense of a windlass; or just installing some blocks to run the rode back to a cabin top winch. Then, when thinking of blocks, I wondered if there was a way to rig a block and tackle in or around the anchor locker and run the anchor line through it to routinely get a mechanical advantage when lifting. Anyone ever tried this?