Should your anchor always be on the bow roller?

[Robin]

There I have corrected that for you.

Just as my anchor is much bigger than yours, so is my legal team.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

2 of my 5 live on the bow roller

Go on - tell us how many metres of chain you have for that lot. 200? 300?

 

[RupertW]

It's horses for course, I think. On my 24 footer which is anchored rarely it sits under the forward bunk and gets hauled out for use. On the 42 footer which is anchored almost every night when we are away from the home Marina then the bow roller is the only sensible place given it's weight and the need to deploy quickly at any time.

Tend to be stern-to so doesn't affect the pontoon walking but we get hit fairly often in the Summer by people who have no interest in learning how to park and the pulpit takes as much of the damage as the anchor. If we are on board and I hear a bow thruster then I get up on deck fast with a fender but otherwise I'm not aware until I hear the shouts just before impact.

 

[NealB]

Most of the boats here on the East Coast actually drop their hook on about 2% of their outings, the rest of the time marina hopping or daysailing from-to their home port.

An interesting statistic....but I wonder where it comes from?

I'm an east coaster, and anchor on much more than 2% of outings....maybe on about 1 in 3.

Also, I avoid marinas as far as possible.

 

[prv]

Can't leave my anchor on the bow roller as there's a bowsprit in the way. When I lower it, I drop it over the side by hand then drop the chain into the roller. Similarly when i pull it up, I haul in until the shackle appears over the roller and then go to lift it bodily on board. No deck locker, so the anchor lives in chocks on the foredeck. I try to make a habit of casting off the lashings before going into a river or other confined space under power, just in case the engine packs up again.

As for hitting other boats with it, that surely ought to only be a problem when racing. And indeed, the rules for the only races I've been in (BKYC in Germany) require anchors to be taken inboard. We did once, due to a jammed jib sheet, swing round and take a chunk out of another competitor with our bow roller; the chunks would have been much bigger with an anchor on there!

People on pontoons should look where they're going

Pete

 

[Simondjuk]

...leaving it tipped on the roller...

The proper term for which is 'anchor a'cock Bill'. As in the order is given to 'Make the anchor a'cock Bill'. When it has been made so, the confirmation from the bow would be, 'Anchor a'cock Bill.'

Seriously!

 

[whipper_snapper]

The proper term for which is 'anchor a'cock Bill'. As in the order is given to 'Make the anchor a'cock Bill'. When it has been made so, the confirmation from the bow would confirm, 'Anchor a'cock Bill.'

Seriously!

Thank you, I will use that term at every opportunity and thus confirm my reputation as a salty sea dog and/or a bit of a pratt.

 

[TQA]

Two of them live on their bow rollers ready to go at a moments notices. IMHO that is where they belong.

Crossing oceans I would stow them below.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

How lazy to leave an anchor overhanging the bow 'Just in case', as most yachts carry their anchor forward, is it not a matter of going forward to deploy it ?
the additional 15 seconds to get the anchor from the foredeck and over the bow roller is unlikely to make any real difference to the outcome of an engine failure etc.
Carrying an anchor overhanging the bows which in the majority of cases is never used anyway is pointless, dangerous and generally rude. Most of the boats here on the East Coast actually drop their hook on about 2% of their outings, the rest of the time marina hopping or daysailing from-to their home port.
As a racing sailor I have been on the receiving end of a ' Just in case' bow hung anchor that has only been used TWICE in the current clumsy owners five years of use !
Luckily the damage received was fairly minor but strong words were certainly exchanged...
Keep it on deck or in the anchor locker where it will not bother anyone else.

An interesting point of view, but lifting my 35 kg anchor over and around the steelwork is a job for two people and takes way longer than 15 seconds. Not to mention cutting the seizing wire, undoing the shackle and then stowing it in the anchor locker.

Hang on! I haven't got an anchor locker.

Instead I would have to build something on the foredeck which would prevent me carrying the dinghy there, be a trip hazard, foul my headsails and look s***e as well.

I havent hit anyone yet, it doesn't overhang the pontoon unnecessarily. No one should be bothered by it.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Dangerous & rude?

How on earth did you get there?

2 of my 5 live on the bow roller, never overhang a pontoon and would look awful and pointless lying around on the deck. No where else to put them. Takes about a second to deploy single handed without leaving the cockpit with a wireless remote.

But dangerous and rude? Strange comment.

Ok, obviously if you feel the need to carry FIVE anchors you may have to have the odd few hanging dangerously and rudely off the bow, but for most normal yotties a single bower anchor and a kedge are sufficient for all their needs !
Doubtless were you to be involved in a collision your armour plating would save your vessel and you could perhaps deploy the remaining anchors as hard points along the topsides in the style of a chieftain tank.
Working one's way along a pontoon festooned with overhanging anchors is possibly pleasurable to some but I for one have no masochistic desire to remove lumps of flesh on thoughtlessly positioned hardware.
So, Dangerous yes, Rude, yes because many people dislike overhanging anchors on pontoons and finally, if it were good practice ,the racing rules would no doubt be altered to ensure anchors as 'Ready to deploy.
'

 

[Storyline]

Normally we keep our main anchor on the bow roller which has been designed around the anchor. Like others, we are big believers that around the coast it should be ready to launch with the minimum of fuss. Fortunately we do not need to rely on a pin to keep it in place. If that were the case it would not live there - bent pins - been there - pain in the ar$e.

If we are going an appreciable distance offshore we now always take it off and lash it to the foredeck. Whenever we are in big seas I just feel uncomfortable to see the bow ploughing through green water with an anchor attached.

20kg Rocna 36' Sloop

 

[RupertW]

if it were good practice ,the racing rules would no doubt be altered to ensure anchors as 'Ready to deploy.
'

Obviously I disagree with your position on anchors as to me it sounds like somebody saying, "How rude to leave the bumpers and wing mirrors on your car when you are not driving it, instead of taking the 15 seconds needed to dismantle them and put them in the boot"

However the quote above puzzled me a great deal more - what on earth have racing rules got to do with good sailing practice? I've never seen racing rules saying sensible things like "Spinnaker not to be hoisted if feeling a bit lazy or want to finish the next chapter of my book" or "Leave ideal tack for 10 mins as eating curry while it's still hot" or "Tow dinghy to next harbour as we'll only have to lower it again and if we take an hour longer most of the lunchtime crowd will have cleared from an anchorage"

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Obviously I disagree with your position on anchors as to me it sounds like somebody saying, "How rude to leave the bumpers and wing mirrors on your car when you are not driving it, instead of taking the 15 seconds needed to dismantle them and put them in the boot"

Clearly, you miss the point on purpose, hardly a case of saying ' Remove the bowsprit and pulpit' But simply pointing out that poorly berthed vessels overhanging the pontoon from both sides,with large lumps of unused iron projecting across a walkway, is in fact an indication of ignorance or, "Rudeness". Mooring cleats on pontoons are normally within 6-9" of the edge and avoiding them is part of yachting. Being obliged, by thoughtless and lazy boat handling, to duck around anchors and bowsprits is on the other hand entirely avoidable.

As to racing rules, The reason anchors are banned from being left to project beyond the stemhead is simple, It is dangerous and can be avoided without cost or indeed any great amount of effort.

Good luck to you in your sailing and I truly hope you never need to find out what happens when a large anchor drives itself into your topsides.

 

[mcframe]

Ours lives in it's locker when it's not being used.

The one time I lost drive from the engine, after hitting a bit of wood on the river Trieux, I was able to launch it in no time at all.

<blink>
Ah, not the river Trilux.
</blink>

My spade is in the locker 'cos the bow roller is normally occupied with swinging mooring line, but crew are usually briefed with either:
(a) How to deploy, or
(b) Hold the helm whist I deploy.

It's one of those gaffa tape/WD40 things, isn't it? :
Anchor ready to drop/mainsail(or jib) ready to hoist.

 

[ChrisE]

G o G

I don't think that anyone would disagree with you regarding overhanging pulpits in marinas with or without anchors.

What I struggle with is why having an anchor on a roller represents more of a hazard to shipping than, say, out of control racers?*

* that was irony, btw.

 

[Robin]

Obviously I disagree with your position on anchors as to me it sounds like somebody saying, "How rude to leave the bumpers and wing mirrors on your car when you are not driving it, instead of taking the 15 seconds needed to dismantle them and put them in the boot"

Clearly, you miss the point on purpose, hardly a case of saying ' Remove the bowsprit and pulpit' But simply pointing out that poorly berthed vessels overhanging the pontoon from both sides,with large lumps of unused iron projecting across a walkway, is in fact an indication of ignorance or, "Rudeness". Mooring cleats on pontoons are normally within 6-9" of the edge and avoiding them is part of yachting. Being obliged, by thoughtless and lazy boat handling, to duck around anchors and bowsprits is on the other hand entirely avoidable.

As to racing rules, The reason anchors are banned from being left to project beyond the stemhead is simple, It is dangerous and can be avoided without cost or indeed any great amount of effort.

Good luck to you in your sailing and I truly hope you never need to find out what happens when a large anchor drives itself into your topsides.

This is cure the symptom not cure the problem syndrome.

I have no argument at all that it is rude and inconsiderate to have overhanging bits in a marina berth such as to make it difficult for others to pass by, it is unnecessary. The same applies to careless lead of power cables and to 'stuff' left on pontoons, even all the spare sails and gear left there by raceboats lightening ship for the day's race round the cans.

The argument that anchors should be removed to prevent greater damage in a collision is different, the solution is to prevent the collision in the first instance. Racing is a different case and raceboats expect to be in constant near miss situations, hence in some cases rules exist to remove anchors, fine no worries go ahead.

The argument that a bow anchor on a stern to parked boat can cause damage when another boat cocks up getting into an adjacent berth is again placing the blame on the innocent rather than on the incompetent new arrival.

As I said and did others, size matters. On a larger cruising boat the anchors unsurprisingly are going to be larger too, so inevitably making them difficult in the extreme to lift and feed through the pulpit to stow somewhere else unspecified, not every boat having an anchor locker anyway, never mind any need to unshackle a wired connection to the chain.

 

[Seajet]

This is cure the symptom not cure the problem syndrome.

I have no argument at all that it is rude and inconsiderate to have overhanging bits in a marina berth such as to make it difficult for others to pass by, it is unnecessary. The same applies to careless lead of power cables and to 'stuff' left on pontoons, even all the spare sails and gear left there by raceboats lightening ship for the day's race round the cans.

The argument that anchors should be removed to prevent greater damage in a collision is different, the solution is to prevent the collision in the first instance. Racing is a different case and raceboats expect to be in constant near miss situations, hence in some cases rules exist to remove anchors, fine no worries go ahead.

The argument that a bow anchor on a stern to parked boat can cause damage when another boat cocks up getting into an adjacent berth is again placing the blame on the innocent rather than on the incompetent new arrival.

As I said and did others, size matters. On a larger cruising boat the anchors unsurprisingly are going to be larger too, so inevitably making them difficult in the extreme to lift and feed through the pulpit to stow somewhere else unspecified, not every boat having an anchor locker anyway, never mind any need to unshackle a wired connection to the chain.

+ 1, though I might argue with the term 'Parking' a boat; it seems to be increasingly used and I'm guilty of it myself, but I thought I was being tongue in cheek !

A large family cruiser is going to have trouble stowing a heavy anchor centrally, which is why I pondered about designing in handling systems, but for most of us having the anchor ready to deploy quickly is the major consideration.

Talking of consideration, one should think of others and not berth with large bits of ironmongery overhanging pontoons, maybe a relevant metaphor to think of would be someone with an oxy-acetylene torch removing any item in the way...

 

[Conachair]

Ok, obviously if you feel the need to carry FIVE anchors you may have to have the odd few hanging dangerously and rudely off the bow, but for most normal yotties a single bower anchor and a kedge are sufficient for all their needs !

Not actually over the top for a cruising boat kitted out for places where you are completly on your own,no marinas, no one to come and help you.

Doubtless were you to be involved in a collision your armour plating would save your vessel and you could perhaps deploy the remaining anchors as hard points along the topsides in the style of a chieftain tank.

Quite ironic, you complaing about rudeness then being rude yourself.

Working one's way along a pontoon festooned with overhanging anchors is possibly pleasurable to some but I for one have no masochistic desire to remove lumps of flesh on thoughtlessly positioned hardware.
So, Dangerous yes, Rude, yes because many people dislike overhanging anchors on pontoons and finally, if it were good practice ,the racing rules would no doubt be altered to ensure anchors as 'Ready to deploy.

You should be whinging about people not mooring boats properly.

 

[Conachair]

Go on - tell us how many metres of chain you have for that lot. 200? 300?

think it's 60m on the main, 10 or so on the second one on the bow then there's another 30 or so in the bilges. Lived on the hook for ages, does tend to make you a bit obsessive when the nearest place to tie a yacht up might be a week away.

 

[capnsensible]

Top Tip.

To avoid hurting yourself on anchors, cleats or bollards, simply look where you are going.