material to 'cuddle' an anchor ?

sarabande

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 May 2005
Messages
36,182
Visit site
I want to place the emergency Delta in a locker in the for'd cabin. The locker has no wood lining, so the hull is bare. There are several lines for securing the anchor made fast to the locker framework.

What material is best for either lining the locker, or wrapping the anchor, so that even after a long storage time the angular edges of the anchor do not dig holes in the hull ? Sheet rubber, dense foam, wood, carpet, HDPE...?

The criteria are - easy to fit to compound curvature of hull, not absorb water, resist sharp steel edges.
 
The forecabin locker in which my spare anchor is stowed has shaped hardwood chocks which hold the anchor firmly in place whilst still allowing it to be easily lifted out.

If I had an anchor in a bow locker, I'd make a similar arrangement.
 
I want to place the emergency Delta in a locker in the for'd cabin. The locker has no wood lining, so the hull is bare. There are several lines for securing the anchor made fast to the locker framework.

What material is best for either lining the locker, or wrapping the anchor, so that even after a long storage time the angular edges of the anchor do not dig holes in the hull ? Sheet rubber, dense foam, wood, carpet, HDPE...?

The criteria are - easy to fit to compound curvature of hull, not absorb water, resist sharp steel edges.

I lines my anchor locker with old rubber conveyor belting. Tough and hard wearing.
 
There was an article in PBO where someone used a plastic trug to line the anchor locker. These are thick HDPE and about £5 from your local diy shed or garden centre. Easy to cut to size.
 
at the moment I am disinclined to work out the probable force of a sharp edge of a 16kg steel anchor bouncing up and down, but on a previous boat the monster Bruce chomped its way through a 12mm epoxied ply base plate in under a year with only 1 fraction of a mm movement.. Lashing the hook down on something impervious and rigid must be the answer: any movement will result in damage.

That's what aircraft loaders do when they put big vehicles into C130s and similar. The tyres are flattened, and the vehicle is strapped right down so that the rims are tight against the special under vehicle pallets which spread the load across the aircraft floor. Mark you, they do have quirky air pressure to deal with as well, which we sailing types don't.
 
The RNLI who carried their 2 Deltas on the foredeck and on the new Shannon class carry one Spade on the foredeck use blocks to secure the anchors - so the previous posters who use hardwood chocks etc are in very good company.

Jonathan
 
A good 10 years ago I made a skeletal liner for my chain locker from old tender gunwhales ...two triangles which were lashed together at the sides which fitted into the inner stem. I published it in PBO under the title "A liner for the chain locker" as far as I can recall. A nice thing about using the gunwhales is that they are curved and fit pretty well against the curved sides of the locker. It still works well, being held in place by the chain with the anchor just sitting on top.
 
Top