Ian McColgin
07-07-2007, 09:39 AM
The problem is that the foredeck - all one square foot of it - is a tad small for handling the anchor unless I add a pulpit, which I won't for aesthetic reasons and anyway that does not solve the problem of getting back aft past a vagrant boom, and that cocky rotrousse bow invites damage unless I add an anchor platform, which I won't for aesthetic reasons and because that would keep me from snugging bow in at my favorite waterfron bar. Let's keep our priorities.
So I deploy from the cockpit, usually dead stick on a broad reach. Works great. I'm even planning a set of pads to keep the anchor up on the side deck when sailing.
The rode leads from a snatch block on the bow down the side deck outside of the midships cleat, keeping it off the trunk, and is secured at the aft cleat.
But retrieval remained elusive through last year. I was using a trip line system that I liked well enough, especially as I figured how to keep excess line out of the way by having the trip pass through a shackle under the little buoy to a bit of chain which would then pull the excess back down, keeping the buoy neatly above the anchor.
To retrieve I'd sail up grabbing the pick-up as I passed it and hauling in. The problem was that this involved some nasty simultaneous work, especially if under sail in a crowded anchorage.
It also involves some tricky lifting over the side of the boat to do it without scaring the hull. I thought about a deployable strut and roller to haul over but could not come up with a good system.
So, the night of the Cotuit fireworks I was visited with a dream that recalled for me something I may have heard or read about and modified.
I shackled a largish fender – well able to support the 35# CQR – over the rode. Before departure I took the rode off the snatch block and put it through a loop starting on the far side of the stem, over the rode, back around the stem and thence back to the stern. That way I could free the rode from the bow without having to go forward. The line is short enough to drag over the bow without fouling the anchor.
So, dropt the rode off the bow and simply motored ahead, bringing in the slack as I went. As I passed straight up and down I cleated the rode and carried on ahead. The anchor of course broke out easily and then as it was pulled back, the buoy’s resistance pushed it back and down the rode, raising the anchor to just below the surface where it towed just fine – lots of water resistance between anchor and buoy but overcomable. And towing the anchor astern easily washed the anchor off.
I realized as I pulled it in that I can quite easily make a roller platform that will brace over the after cleat and make for very easy recovery without risking the transom or even standing up outside the cockpit.
So I deploy from the cockpit, usually dead stick on a broad reach. Works great. I'm even planning a set of pads to keep the anchor up on the side deck when sailing.
The rode leads from a snatch block on the bow down the side deck outside of the midships cleat, keeping it off the trunk, and is secured at the aft cleat.
But retrieval remained elusive through last year. I was using a trip line system that I liked well enough, especially as I figured how to keep excess line out of the way by having the trip pass through a shackle under the little buoy to a bit of chain which would then pull the excess back down, keeping the buoy neatly above the anchor.
To retrieve I'd sail up grabbing the pick-up as I passed it and hauling in. The problem was that this involved some nasty simultaneous work, especially if under sail in a crowded anchorage.
It also involves some tricky lifting over the side of the boat to do it without scaring the hull. I thought about a deployable strut and roller to haul over but could not come up with a good system.
So, the night of the Cotuit fireworks I was visited with a dream that recalled for me something I may have heard or read about and modified.
I shackled a largish fender – well able to support the 35# CQR – over the rode. Before departure I took the rode off the snatch block and put it through a loop starting on the far side of the stem, over the rode, back around the stem and thence back to the stern. That way I could free the rode from the bow without having to go forward. The line is short enough to drag over the bow without fouling the anchor.
So, dropt the rode off the bow and simply motored ahead, bringing in the slack as I went. As I passed straight up and down I cleated the rode and carried on ahead. The anchor of course broke out easily and then as it was pulled back, the buoy’s resistance pushed it back and down the rode, raising the anchor to just below the surface where it towed just fine – lots of water resistance between anchor and buoy but overcomable. And towing the anchor astern easily washed the anchor off.
I realized as I pulled it in that I can quite easily make a roller platform that will brace over the after cleat and make for very easy recovery without risking the transom or even standing up outside the cockpit.