Setting up anchor on bow of small sailboat

[Snowdog2]

Hi, I have an O'day 19 sailboat and am wondering how others set up an anchor on the bow of their small boat. I don't have a pulpit or other rails on the boat, and there is no anchor box or chamber. In a prior larger boat I had a stainless bow pulpit I could hang it from. on this boat I have a front stay, with a flexible CDI furler to consider as well. How have others set up your anchor so that you can use it quickly and conveniently in emergency and for general anchoring. I have a cleat there, that is not a problem, just how to store it on the front. I am hoping there are some clever simple solutions out there. Thanks.

[Knotical]

Do you have to store it near the bow?

You can store the anchor in a cockpit locker or lazarette (if you have one) and throw it from the cockpit, tie it to the stern initially and then move the line to the bow or have a line connected to the bow cleat and brought back to the cockpit.

[thinwater]

A bucket in a locker is probably more versatile and faster than trying to hustle up front and untie something. You're talking about an 6- to 8-pound anchor and 3/8-inch line, not something hard to carry.


You'll probably drop the anchor from the stern, let it set with momentum, then walk the line to the bow. Easier, once the boat stops moving!

[Snowdog2]

Knotical,
Thanks for your suggestion. That is a possibility I had not considered - leaving it in the cockpit but attaching it to the bow. However, as I think about it, the lazarette will not close with a line running from it.
Also, I would prefer to have it out, as pulling from the lazarette, leaves possibilities of it being tangled in other things that are stored there. There is only one lazarette besides the box with the gas container.

[Pete7]

You might copy the way a rib will anchor which means staying in the cockpit rather than hanging on for dear life on the bow of a small boat.

You need a painter connected to the bow and just shorter than the length to the propeller under the boat. Any longer and one day the rope will be in the prop.

From the cockpit chuck the anchor over the side and let the chain rope out. When you have reached a suitable length stick a loop in the anchor rode and clip the painter to it with a carabiner and let go. Painter and a few extra metres of rode will go out before the whole lot pulls tight. Keep the end of the anchor rode in the cockpit for retrieving it.

Ideally clip the painter somewhere on the rails or cabin so it isn't dropped over the side when not in use.

Pete

[Snowdog2]

Thinwater and Pete7. First, a bucket to keep the rode and chain in would be really good! LoL,,, simplest of idea one doesn't think of. I already have lines on the front of the boat with strong carabiners for connecting to a mooring. So I would just need to connect an extension to get in the general area of the lazarette. and another carribiner. This is all helping me think this through. Thank you.

[Msgt3227]

I have an O’Day 22, and on the port side of the cockpit there is a storage space with a hinged top piece. I store my anchor there, and I deploy it off the stern and secure it to one of the cleats back there. Works fine for this old fart....

[hamburking]

On my C&C25 I carried 3 anchors. All kept in the cockpit lockers. 2 were kept in laundry baskets, complete with chain and rode. I could easily pull out the entire basket and walk forward when I was ready to anchor. Anchoring usually requires heading into the wind as the boat comes to a stop...this gives just enough time to walk forward with the anchor basket.

One was a 5kg bruce. This basket was light enough I could grab and go easily. Good for a lunch hook. OR, I would anchor with this little one, then put out a second, bigger anchor once safely at rest.

The laundry basket kept everything tidy and easy to grab. Caribbeaners on the basket as a safety, to keep it aboard. End of anchor line tied around the mast with a bowline or a double eight.

I also carried a 10kg plow for weedy anchorages (where bruce is no good). This was too big and heavy for any "quick" deployment, but was often used for overnight, for a good night sleep.

Later, I got a bigger boat, a Pearson 30 with a bow roller. But only space for one anchor. So I kept a second anchor, identical to the 10kg bruce on the bow, in a laundry basket on the floor below (tucked under the dining table, so it could not slide around). This second anchor was ready for emergency use from the cockpit, or as a second anchor. It also made the boat seem quite nautical below.

My daughter sailed a Siren17, which is more like your O'Day19. She carried a 5kg bruce, complete with chain and rode, in a laundry basket on the floor below, within easy reach. In the lazerette was a small danforth in a milk crate, also ready to go. On such a small boat, we would sail into a shallow anchorage, jump off the boat, walk the anchor out, and push it into the bottom. Shallow draft means you can do stuff like that.

Anchoring is one of the best things you can do on your boat. You get to enjoy your boat and your surroundings.

[Shrew]

Install a bow roller:

https://www.defender.com/search.html...roller&x=0&y=0

[TrentePieds]

Snowdog

Thinwater and Pete7 have really said it all and got you on the right track, but let me add something of a more philosophical nature:

Your first responsibility is keeping yourself safe, so you can keep your ship and your crew safe. Going on the foredeck of an O'Day19 is probably not the best way to do that :-)! Anchoring over the stern is just fine, for there is no rule that sez you must do things the way others do them, let alone do in a baby ship what is done in a grown-up ship.

TrentePieds is a five tonner with a nice commodious foredeck, and I have no problem going there, but I anchor over the stern nevertheless. The reason for that is that contrary to all common sense a previous owner fitted her with a roller furling jib. The windage induced by that makes her "hunt" when she is anchored over the bows, so why do it? Her anchor - a Bruce - sits nicely in chocks at the bow, so when I've set the hook in the same manner most people do it (over the bows), and cleated the rode on the foredeck, I go and haul another eight fathoms out of the chain locker and take the resultant bight outboard of the shrouds back the cockpit. I belay it on a sheet winch with a bollard hitch. Then I go and slip the rode from the foredeck cleat. Then TP will lie quiet, stern to the wind if a bit squint, but quiet, and with a nice little breeze coming down the companionway unless I close the doors.

Rather unorthodox, some may say. So what? It works for me :-)

There is a caveat however, one that would apply to the O'Day19 a fortiori: If the seas come up and threaten to poop me, I go and belay the rode on the fore deck again so she'll be bows to the seas and shake them off rather than take them aboard.

So the moral of my story is this: Think it through then do it the way that works best for you. It really doesn't matter how others do it :-)

Back in the days when they were le dernier cri I taught many, many people to sail on Cal20s. The Cal20 handles like a dinghy with a deck. I imagine the O'Day19 does as well. I always anchored the Cal20s over the stern because there was no way I, as a responsible instructor, would send a novice on the foredeck of a one-ton cockleshell :-)!

All the best,

TrentePieds

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Install a bow roller:

https://www.defender.com/search.html...roller&x=0&y=0

A bow roller only solves part of the problem...what about the chain and rode? If there is space below deck at the bow, you could install a hawse pipe and lead the line/rode below. I had this setup on my Pearson 30 and it worked pretty well.

[BugzyCan]

On my Macgregor 26, it came with a tube on bow rail to hold the anchor. The chain and rope were in a mesh bag up front. I found that to be difficult to use though, as the chain would drag along the deck and side rail, and when pulling it in, the anchor was often covered in Mud, that got all over the boat.
I bought some Starboard (HDPE) online, and built a pulpit with anchor roller for the front, and then added a port and starboard light. Now the anchor hangs out the front, is easy to deploy and retreive, and never messes up the deck.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by hamburking

A bow roller only solves part of the problem...what about the chain and rode? If there is space below deck at the bow, you could install a hawse pipe and lead the line/rode below. I had this setup on my Pearson 30 and it worked pretty well.

IMHO, storing the line and 20-30 feet of 1/4" chain is usually the easy part. For my dinghy we store that in a mesh bag and toss it into a lazerette. My spare stern anchor has the chain and line in a milk crate in a lazerette. It's usually the anchor itself that's bulky.

rather than using safety wire to mouse the pin on the shackle, keep a bunch of heavy duty zip ties around. connect the chain shackle to the anchor, zip tie the shackle pin and toss the anchor in.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Snowdog2

Hi, I have an O'day 19 sailboat and am wondering how others set up an anchor on the bow of their small boat. I don't have a pulpit or other rails on the boat, and there is no anchor box or chamber. In a prior larger boat I had a stainless bow pulpit I could hang it from. on this boat I have a front stay, with a flexible CDI furler to consider as well. How have others set up your anchor so that you can use it quickly and conveniently in emergency and for general anchoring. I have a cleat there, that is not a problem, just how to store it on the front. I am hoping there are some clever simple solutions out there. Thanks.

Having looked at pictures of that model the problem is more the chain than the anchor.. in the UK one can buy deck fittings the anchor can lie on with holes in them for a line to be passed through to tie it down.
The storage of the chain/rope is the bigger problem.. as has been stated drill a hole in the deck and rig a hawse pipe, or a low flat box to hold the line bolted on the fore deck back near the hatch.. Likely you'll be anchoring in shallow water so only need maybe 15ft of chain and 30ft of rope..
You could knock up your own wood deck fittings, two for the shank to sit in and a couple for the flukes.. a Danforth type anchor would be best as it will sit flat.

[somanyboats]

We made a canvas bag to hold the anchor chain and rode. It was easy to move and didn't get tangled with other lines.