Walkers Edge said:
CJ,
Question about that roller on a 208 with no pulpit:
Does this allow you to secure your anchor to the bow when not anchored?
If so how does your chain drop into the locker? Did you enlarge the hole the rope feeds through when the locker door is closed?
I use a 13lb danforth knock-off, it fits into the anchor locker after cutting off an inch or so from each side of the pivot bar the flukes are welded to. So no, it's not stored on deck, it stores into the locker as stock.
I run 30' of 1/4" chain and 250' of 7/16 3-strand nylon. You have to 'dig a hole' so to speak, into the line and chain at the bottom of the locker to fit the shank of the anchor down into.
I spliced the line onto the last chain link so the whole chain and line would feed out over the roller. If you use a swaged link it catches on the roller guides.
Pulled the pin and threw it away.
In retrospect I would use 1/2" line, not for strength, but to make it easer to grab for retrieval. Would probably be even more difficult to get all of that into the locker though.
I put a marker at 150' so I have an idea of how much line is out. At a 5:1 scope, 150' is good for 30' of water. Rarely anchor in deeper depths unless it's for fishing with a short scope.
When we go to the river lakes I also bring a sand anchor, one of those folding deals, with a springy-recoil rode and 50' of floating poly, and an iron beach stake. Handy for tethering the boat off the beach, stern-in. Pic below with this setup. You just wade ankle deep and step up on the swimstep. Getting on and off the bow while beached-in is a royal pain.
My setup is easy to retrieve with the roller, and no dragging chain over the rub rail, that would be a no-no in my book! One might get by with a lighter high-tensile fortress, but I have always believed that more chain and more weight = better holding.