On many boats stowing anchor rodes, whether they are all chain or a chain rope combination, can be a problem.  Many chain lockers, especially on older traditional designs, are too small for more than one rode or they are too far forward and/or too high in the bow.  If you are using a chain rope combination rode where the length of chain is short, say under 50′, then an anchor locker high in the bow probably won’t have much effect on your boats motion.  On the other hand, if you are using an all chain rode and it is not stowed as low and as far from the bow as practical the chains associated weight can have a detrimental effect on your boats motion.

Many new boats have deep dedicated anchor lockers in the very bow, these boats have been designed with the weight of chain and a windlass in mind.  Generally, these lockers are deep so the chain is stowed very close to the waterline, the bow is generally sharp and is not overly buoyant, unlike older designs with full rounded bows.

Weight distribution on any boat is critical, too much weight anywhere will have a detrimental effect on motion.  Too much weight in the ends and she will pitch unnaturally, too much weight up high and her roll motion will increase.  Motion on a sailboat can be bad enough without our contributing to it in a detrimental fashion.

Anchor gear is one of the heaviest items we need to find room to stow.  To give you an idea of how much anchor gear the average cruising boat carries let’s look at what we carry onboard Malaya.

Malaya’s primary anchor is a 45lb Delta Plow on 300′ of 5/16″ (8mm) High Test Chain. 5/16″ (8mm) High Test chain weighs in at 1 lb/ft.  so our 300′ of chain weighs 300lbs.  In addition we have a second anchor rode in the bow that is 300′ of 5/8″ 3 strand nylon with 50′ of 3/8″ chain.

Our secondary anchor, a Danforth 20lb, is stowed in chocks on the cabin top.  In the Bilge we have a large aluminium Fortress and a 55lb Luke 3 piece Fisherman, both of which are disassembled for storage.

Under the cockpit is another 300′ 5/8″ 3 strand nylon rode with 50′ of 3/8″ chain.

The primary anchor and chain in the bow stows where our old head sat, which on most boats would be under the forward end of the V-berth.  Before we removed the head and built the chain locker here the chain was 3′ higher and 4′ further forward in the forepeak where it caused Malaya to hobby horse when going to windward.  Moving it further aft and lower down markably improved her sailing motion.

While the Danforth is not immediately ready to go it only takes a few minutes to remove the lashings and bring the anchor forward, attach and mouse the rode and drop it over the side.  In the past 15 years we find we have to do this maybe once a year, usually because the bottom is too soft for any other anchor.

The two anchors in the bilge are rarely used.  The Luke hasn’t been used in many years, though we keep it on board for when we find a rocky bottom in the northern latitudes where nothing else will hold.  The Fortress came with the boat, has been out of its bag and assembled to make sure all the parts are there but has only been bent onto a rode once while we sat out a hurricane in St. Margrets Bay Nova Scotia.  We didn’t end up needing it as our plow held us nicely so I cannot make any comments on how well it does or doesn’t work.

What is important about anchor storage is;

-Keep the weight of chain and anchor as low down and as far aft as practical

-Your primary should be quick and easy to deploy

-Have a windlass or mechanical advantage of some sort to retrieve your anchor, it will save your back and fingers!