Anchoring with a closed bow....tips?

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mgros483

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May 29, 2014
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Location
SW WI
So I know I'm speaking to the minority here, but for other tinboaters that have closed bows, how do you anchor?

My current process is to climb on the bow cover, over the windshield, burn my feet on the hot aluminum, then tie up to the front cleat or bow eye, then do it in reverse and try not to break anything on the boat/my body in the process. I feel that there must be a better way. The previous owner had an "anchor mate" davit on the bow and a hand crank, which I'm sure worked well, but I don't like how it looks and don't want to do that.

So, any advice would be appreciated. Also, I'm working with a blank canvas here, so to speak. I haven't done my paint job yet so I can set up new cleats or other hardware wherever on the bow cover to make this easier.

Here's a pic of my rig just for fun.

GOPR1416 by Photo 144, on Flickr
 
We anchor like that all the time when fishing offshore for tuna in hundreds of feet of water. It allows us to un-clip from the anchor rode (float ball on the bitter end) in an instant! As we fight the fish away from and off the anchor rode ...

But more importantly, we can set it out from the safety of the cockpit without going forward in NASTY seas and weather. I think in this case a picture is worth a lot more than words. See if my simple sketch makes any sense to you!
 

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Basically, you're creating an anchor trolley, commonly used on Kayaks. pretty easy to do with three carabiners and a couple of strong pulleys. clip one carabiner/pulley to your bow eye and one more carabiner/pulley to a secure point where you can reach it. Take a rope and pull it through both pulleys and tie both ends to the third carabiner. Now you can simply clip your anchor line into the third carbinerr and use the rope to pull the carabiner and anchor rope to the bow. When you're done, pull it back and unclip the anchor line.

Nice thing with the carabiners is that you can un-clip the entire assembly when you're not using it, so it doesn't get in the way.

Good luck!
 

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