Show Us Your Anchor / Chain Locker

[pressuredrop]

in my 30' allied seawind i have a very good amount of space infront of the vee birth for my anchor/chain locker, right now it is wide open space. i have 2 anchors, 1 off each side of the pulpit, each will have 150' chain plus 300' of rope im guessing. i was thinking about splitting it down the middle on the centerline and letting each one down on its respected side.
this is my first real boat so i have no practical experience and am wondering what configuration you guys find works best, pictures always help

thanks
Ben

[Vasco]

split it like this. Not right to the bottom though, about 6 inches off the bottom for drainage.

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12264166...94867/name/n_a

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Vasco

split it like this. Not right to the bottom though, about 6 inches off the bottom for drainage.

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12264166...94867/name/n_a

Rick,
Not sure if this is your boat, but I have a question.
Is your chain locker in front of your windlass?

Extemp.

[Vasco]

Extemp,

Yes it's my Beneteau 393. The chain locker extends under the windlass back to the forward bulkhead. The windlass is on a shelf. I had the dealer divide the anchor locker when I bought the boat.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Vasco

split it like this. Not right to the bottom though, about 6 inches off the bottom for drainage.

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12264166...94867/name/n_a

Couldn't tell from the picture.

My boat is set up that way, and it gives some piece of mind. It also allows for drainage over-board.

[Fishspearit]

Hi Pressure drop, I remember that our old Seawind had a nice size anchor locker. One thing that I miss on our current boat is the nice bow sprit that Allied put on. I carried two anchors on the seawind for the 7 years we cruised her, but never put a divider in like I have now. I've got mixed feelings on the divider, because with 180' of chain and 75 feet of rode on the primary I currently have, it really needs most of the anchor locker for the primary and now I sometimes have issues getting all the chain back in without it piling up.
Our Seawind had a shelf on the port side, and that's where we kept the second anchor's rode curled up. Just a mild inconvenience to go below and curl it after the occasional times that it was needed.
This is just my personal opinion, but 300' of chain in the bow of a Seawind is a little excessive. I'm also a firm believer that the second anchor should have no more than 25-30' of chain, because that's your kedge anchor, and it's near impossible to take 150' of chain out in the dinghy. Short piece of chain, long line, and a danforth makes a perfect second anchor/kedge anchor.

[Orion Jim]

I have a removable divider in my rode locker since I wasn't sure exactly how to divide the space. I have two anchors stowed on my bowsprit and a verticle windlass which does not self feed directly into the locker. I have to feed the rode through the individual deck pipes to the locker beneath them. I know it isn't ideal and when I replace this windlass things will change. I currently have 90' of chain and 175' of rode on my bower and 20' of chain and 200' of rode on my kedge. So far it works well.

[GMac]

Originally Posted by Fishspearit

I've got mixed feelings on the divider, because with 180' of chain and 75 feet of rode on the primary I currently have, it really needs most of the anchor locker for the primary and now I sometimes have issues getting all the chain back in without it piling up.
Our Seawind had a shelf on the port side, and that's where we kept the second anchor's rode curled up. Just a mild inconvenience to go below and curl it after the occasional times that it was needed.

We see just as many problems caused by anchor locker design as we do the gear going into it. I have the same reservations as Fish does. Pyramiding is a common problem which in turns leads to the winch not working as well as it could which in turns leads to excessive rode wear, especially the warps, which leads to a user who becomes Mr Big Grumpy Bum whenever the anchor is raised.

Whatever you do make sure all your rode can 'fall' into it and you still have spare space. Hight is far far better than width and in an ideal world, with all your gear in the locker there is a very minimum of a foot between top of pile and the underside of the deck. More height the better things will 'fall' into it. I say 'fall' as winches do not push the rode into the locker, they rely on the gear just falling out from behind/under it. So when sizing do not pack or push the rode in just let it fall with all the resulting apparent wasted space.

This is just my personal opinion, but 300' of chain in the bow of a Seawind is a little excessive. I'm also a firm believer that the second anchor should have no more than 25-30' of chain, because that's your kedge anchor, and it's near impossible to take 150' of chain out in the dinghy. Short piece of chain, long line, and a danforth makes a perfect second anchor/kedge anchor.

Again I 99% agree (1% wobble with the anchor even though I recommend them myself a lot) with Fish here as well. I'm assuming you have 5/16" chain and so 300ft is 280lb or the same as having 1 decent sized bloke standing on your stem the entire time. Actually a fat bloke as wet warp is also quite weighty. Actually a fat bloke coming home from the supermarket as you'll have 2 anchors as well. That is a lot on a 30fter.

I have a 31fter at the moment and while she's only 1/2 your displacement my entire anchoring system weights 100lbs, that's both the primary and secondary rodes and anchors, both are identical. One set lives on the bow , the other in an aft locker ready to deploy immediately. I've sat through 50kts on one set alone and I sail like a mongrel at anchor, worse than a multi, unlike what I would expect yours to do. Even taking into consideration that I do race her sometimes, I know the gear very well so know when things are looking bad, they are alloy anchors and I know it's on the light side, you can see there is a massive difference in all up weight for pretty much the same result.

That weight can be very dangerous when sailing. Yes many say they move it but a lot of those many never do. Nice 25 up the bum, surf off down a wave and that weight can suddenly bite your arse. Basically a yacht does not like weight in the ends, especially if the are skinny and pointy. It'll take it but with reduced performance, decreased comfort and sometimes safety.

Not trying to scare you and while having a huge pile of gear handy when anchoring can be very reassuring, the 'while moving' side of the anchor gear equation also needs to be in the decision mix. It's something often overlooked. Any 30ft will feel 350lbs in the bow.

Do you need so much gear and if Yes, do you need it all in the bow?
The key is to remember 'need' and 'want' are 2 different things.

If you 'want' it there just to make you feel happy, I'd say go for it. If you don't 'feel good' when you're anchored you won't sleep well and just worry. That is not good. The 'feel good' factor is a massive part of anchoring. The ones who feel best sleep and perform best. We often spec gear up as we know the users is a little nervous or had bad experiences at anchor. The extra cost is tiny if you sleep well on nasty nights.

Lots of angles in all this anchoring milarky.

Down here where 25kts isn't a lot an average to heavier 30fter would have around about 50-60ft of 5/16" chain to a length of 7/16" warp. A 35lb plow/bruce type or a 25lb new style anchor. They would also have 25ft of chain to rope again in a locker down aft with, most likely, a danforth style anchor. A race one, we race our family cruisers a lot down here (tanks empty, squabs off, food off, heavy stuff off, good to go), would have a boat length of chain on it's primary and 20ft on the 2nd, minimum rule lengths. Big danforths, light and cheap. Some of the more serious will swap to bigger anchors when cruising. You don't need a big big locker to fit that in.