Anchor/rode weight on passage ...

[sneuman]

In the interest in keeping weight out of the ends, how many people stow one or more anchors that would normally be carried on bow rollers somewhere else aboard during a longish passage? What about heavy chain rode?

I think my boat would definitely perform better without so much weight in the bow, but I don't want to be having to manhandle all that back and forth either.

Thoughts?

[barnakiel]

All the big boats I have sailed on kept their anchors (plural!) on the bow rollers and their chains in their chain chambers located very far fore.

In our small boat (only 26' deck and very fine entry) we too kept our bower on the roller and the chain in a small locker just at the bow (even worse: above the waterline!). Not quite sure where else we could store them (unless the anchor were foldable). Anyways, I would not like carry the bower and the chain all the way back to the (possibly wildly rolling) deck should I need to use them during an emergency landfall.

So that's how it is in our case.

b.

[daddle]

Short passages: leave it. My opinion. I carry very little up forward anyway. On a long passage definitely no second anchor on the bow. Coastal, like from Mexico bashing up California I'd leave ore anchor and chain ready. Blue seas, the anchor and rode get stown until landfall.

Depends how much pitching you want. It makes a difference. But some cruisers have so much crap fore and aft, plus long overhangs, that maybe there is no difference.

[sneuman]

No overhangs to speak of in my case. Like I said, it would be a PITA to stow the stuff elsewhere, but if it really makes a difference (and I suspect it would in my case), it's probably worth doing.

[Doug Brown]

On long passages - 3+ days - I take the 44-lb Bruce off the bow roller and store it in the foredeck anchor well. While only moveing it about 2-ft aft, it really helps the boat's CG and performance by making the bow "lighter".

We store the 22-lb Bruce about 3-ft from the stern so we have one anchor ready to deploy if needed.

I think it is worth all the hassle to do it.